Personal Bankruptcies Hit a High and May Keep Rising
Posted By Joseph Tosti on Jun 22, 2010 9:44am PDT
In the first quarter of 2010, the rate of personal bankruptcy filings in a dozen states increased by double-digit percentages over 2009's monthly averages. "What is surprising is that there are still hefty increases in states like Arizona, California and Florida," says AACER president Mike Bickford, referring to the fact that it might seem that the worst would be over in states hard-hit by the housing bubble. "Intuitively, you would think there might be some leveling off in these states, but that is not the case. In addition, there were large increases in bankruptcy filings in the Midwest, especially Michigan and Illinois."
The statistics show that
Chapter 7 bankruptcy filings are rising faster than the more complex
Chapter 13 filings. While the latter requires individuals to repay a substantial portion of their debt and prevents banks from foreclosing on their homes, Chapter 7 bankruptcy allows a debtor to wipe out his or her debts entirely and get a fresh start. "It is very fast and very deep debt restructuring," says Porter. Since 2005, Chapter 13 filings have dropped from about 35% of all personal bankruptcy filings to 25%, she says. "Systemically, that's a big change."