Will the Ride-Through Ride Again?

The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA) fundamentally changed many aspects of the Bankruptcy Code, but its impact on certain parts of the law remains unclear. The “ride-through” is one of these parts. The ride-through provides debtors with a fourth option for their property; other than surrendering, reaffirming, or redeeming property, debtors can retain their property by continuing to make pre-bankruptcy payments. The pre-BAPCPA ride-through’s scope, however, was limited, as only five circuit courts of appeals recognized its existence, while five others held it was not a part of the Bankruptcy Code. This circuit split was not resolved before Congress passed BAPCPA, which modified the Bankruptcy Code sections relating to the ride-through. While some courts and commentators believe that BAPCPA eliminated the ride-through, a close look at its changes shows that this is far from clear. In addition, the elimination of the ride-through would strike at the heart of basic congressional intent in passing BAPCPA and could seriously injure low-income debtors. While the ride-through was not eliminated, BAPCPA also did not endorse its expansion by changing its language to expand the ridethrough. This Note argues that because of this lack of clear change from BAPCPA, courts should continue to perform the ride-through based on the pre-BAPCPA circuit split until Congress makes a clear change to the Bankruptcy Code.