Legal Consumer began in 2006 when owner and founder Albin Renauer created LegalConsumer's "Bankruptcy By Zip Code" section.
As a coauthor of Nolo's How to File for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy for 22 editions, Albin spent years trying to make filing for bankruptcy as easy and non-threatening as possible.
In 2005, the U.S. Congress enacted sweeping changes to the bankruptcy law to make filing for bankruptcy more costly and intimidating.
When that law passed, Albin vowed to do something about it. The result was the first Legal Consumer website, Bankruptcy By Zip Code (bankruptcybyzipcode.com)
Albin wanted anyone considering bankruptcy to be able to quickly and easily learn about the full range of resources available to them:
- free information
- low-cost, high-quality books
- online services
- form preparation services and
- full-service bankruptcy lawyers.
Bankruptcy By Zip Code endeavors to gather and organize these resources and present them all in one place.
Legal Consumer.com was always intended to be about more than just bankruptcy. Over time, other distinguished authors added:
- Obamacare by Zip Code,
- Inheritance Law (Probate) by Zip Code
- Unemployment Law by Zip Code,
- Wage and Hour Law by Zip Code
- Child Custody by Zip Code
- and
- Democracy by Zip Code