According to the American Bankruptcy Institute, relying on data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center, 111,693 consumer bankruptcies were filed in February. That represents a 14 percent increase when compared to the 98,344 filings during the same month in 2009.
The numbers posted for February also represented a 9 percent rise in the amount of filings seen the month before. January 2010 saw 102,254 consumer bankruptcy filings.
“While Congress and the Obama administration continue to consider measures to reduce high unemployment and mortgage burdens, families with increasing debt loads have little choice but to continue to turn to bankruptcy for financial relief,” said ABI executive director Samuel Gerdano.
Gerdano said that the number of bankruptcies filed this year could surpass 1.5 million. Meanwhile, a recent report from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts shows that the number of consumer and business bankruptcy filings was up 31.9 percent in 2009. In all, last year saw more than 1.4 million bankruptcy filings.
According to the AOUSC, most of the bankruptcies filed last year were put forward by consumers, rather than businesses. Consumer filings increased 32 percent from the 1.07 million seen in 2008. In all, 2009 business bankruptcy filings totaled 60,837, which is up 40 percent when compared to 2008.
The AOUSC noted that the number of bankruptcies filed has increased steadily since new rules regarding filings were passed in 2005 through the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act. The new rules make it more difficult for consumer to file for Chapter 7 protection, steering them instead toward Chapter 11 filings.
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