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Bankruptcy doesn’t discriminate—it’s an unfortunate situation that hits families in all income brackets and from every racial group. But a new study proves the discrimination comes into play as soon as bankruptcy lawyers get involved. Whether consciously or unconsciously, The New York Times reports that bankruptcy lawyers are more likely to steer blacks towards options that will not benefit them financially.

The study shows that the discrimination exists even between cases of families with the exact income, homeownership, assets and education.

“I don’t think there is any overt conspiracy,” Professor Robert Lawless, the author of the study said to The New York Times.

“But when you have a complex system, these biases can play out and the people within the system don’t see the pattern because nobody is in charge of looking at these big issues.”

Lawless wrote the study in conjunction with Dov Cohen, both professors at the University of Illinois, and Jean Braucher of University of Arizona.

Bankruptcy status can be filed under two different chapters: Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. Chapter 7, the code most debtors choose, generally allows the debtor to erase most of the debt after several months. It has a higher success rate and is less expensive than its counterpart, Chapter 13. Under Chapter 13, debtors are obliged to commit their disposable income to paying off their debts for several years.

Last year bankruptcy filing reached a total of 1.4 million. In that number blacks are almost twice as likely to file for Chapter 13 than any other racial group.

“Unfortunately I’m not surprised with these results,” Neil Ellington, the executive vice president of Consumer Education Services, a credit counseling agency in Raleigh, NC said.

“The same underlying issues that created the problem in mortgage lending, with minorities paying higher interest rates than their white counterparts having the same loan qualifications, are present in all financial fields.”

Choosing the wrong bankruptcy chapter can lead to serious consequences. Almost two out of three Chapter 13 attempts fail, leaving the debts and the debtor right in the exact same place. The result is not only a lack of progress, but a lack of favor in the eyes of a bankruptcy judge.

The reasons behind the discrimination are still unclear. Lawyers who advised blacks to file under Chapter 13 generally viewed them as “having good values.” In addition, Chapter 7 requires debtors to pay lawyer fees before the case is filed while Chapter 13 allows the debtor to pay the fees overtime. If lawyers believe that blacks are unable to pay the fee on time, they may suggest Chapter 13.

Henry E. Hildebrand III, a Chapter 13 trustee in Tennessee believes that it’s not important why blacks and other minorities are being pushed towards Chapter 13. What’s more important, he tells The New York Times, is using “this study as an indication that we should be attempting to fix what has become a complex, expensive, unproductive system.”