People have been lending money to each other since the creation of currency – and before that they were lending goods and services. That means that there’s been a problem plaguing society since, basically, the beginning of time – what happens when someone borrows, but can’t pay it back?
The inability to pay back a debt has always had consequences. In Ancient Greece, debtors (individuals who borrowed money) who couldn’t pay back their debts would become a debt slave to their creditor (individual or group from which the money was borrowed). In many cases, the debtor’s family was also involved in working off the debt owed in whatever way suited the creditor. In Medieval Europe you had Debtors’ Prison. This practice was active in both Europe and eventually the United States up until the mid 1800’s. Individuals who could not pay their creditors during this time period were thrown in jail (Debtors’ Prison) and were not released until their family or friends paid off their debt. The situation could be quite harsh – individuals who didn’t have family or who had family who were unable to pay off their debt were simply out of luck.
Luckily, in modern, civilized society, we no longer utilize either of these techniques to solve the age-old question of how to handle borrowers who can’t repay their creditors. The modern solution is called bankruptcy. Modern bankruptcy law prevents the very type of crazy that was embraced by the Ancient Greeks and those who upheld Debtors’ Prison as the most viable solution.
Modern day consequences of neglecting to repay a debt reflect age-old tendencies: anger, frustration, stress, etc., But modern day borrowers also have modern day bankruptcy law to turn to in a crisis.
Bankruptcy keeps individuals off the pointless debt treadmill. If you find yourself with no way to repay your debt call the bankruptcy law experts at Westgate Law and find out how to get off the debt treadmill and back on track.