Bankruptcy filings at record high (up 19.4 percent)

[sabra]

http://www.insidebayarea.com/businessnews/ci_3108546

Bankruptcy filings at record high


NEW YORK — The number of personal bankruptcy filings is soaring as the effective date nears for a new law making it harder for consumers to seek protection from debtors.

According to Lundquist Consulting, which tallies weekly bankruptcy statistics, 102,863 bankruptcy filings were received in U.S. courts last week — more than 20,000 per day, on average.

The number of filings has climbed 19.4 percent year-to-date to 1.47 milllion, compared to 1.23 million during the same period in 2004.

A smaller surge was seen when President Bush signed the bankruptcy overhaul into law on April 20.

[Tempest]

1. This was expected

The real indicator of the state of the economy will be how many people default on their obligations after the bankruptcy bill goes into effect.

[Giant Robot]

2. I think a better indicator will be when people start

defaulting on their mortgages and the housing bubble bursts, not deflates. Then maybe we will see a rebirth of Dickens era poor houses that Bush seems to be trying really hard to re-create.

[Tempest]

8. Mortgages are a lagging indicator

The first obligations people default on are personal credit cards.

The second are auto loans.

Mortgages are historically one of the last obligations people default on.

[Giant Robot]

9. I'm with you on that

and thanks for the further insight. But I think that it will be the real wake up when foreclosures shyrocket and thousands of families find themselves homeless and needing shelter. That was my point. I think then that will be the real wake up call for our country. So maybe I was using the wrong word, rather then indicator I should have said something else.

[Tempest]

10. You're right, just not clear

;)

I see the credit card defaults as the first indication of a real problem.

The real wake up call for most Americans, as you said, will be the home foreclosures. And we're already seeing the first signs of this in Ohio.

[superconnected]

3. wow thats a lot of people.

Is america in this bad of financial shape. 20k a week filing bankruptcy? That's huge.

[jmowreader]

14. I don't think it's that bad

Remember, the bankruptcy bill is about to come down on America's head.

I think a lot of people who were marginal--who could have gone either way--are filing right now because they're still under the old rules. Under the new rules it's going to be very difficult to meet the requirements to file Chapter 7. But for now, we're under the old rules.

This explains the spike better than just about anything else.

[DemoTex]

4. That was also the headline in yesterday's Columbia, SC, "The State."

Hard times befall one of the reddest states, but they still don't get it. They would rather pray over the problems than do anything constructive. As gothic Southern writer Harry Crews said in The Gospel Singer, "Pray in one hand, and shit in t'other, and see which one fills up first."

[Tight_rope]

5. Can't say I'm all to surprised...Saw it coming miles away!

Now I'll just sit and wait for the housing bubble to bust.

[Viking12]

6. Why does the bankruptcy map look like the politcal map?

I thought those Repug voters were all about personal responsibility?

Change in Bankruptcy Rates


Electoral Map

[Yavin4]

7. Check Out Ohio

That whole state must be declaring bankruptcy.

[rainbow4321]

11. Oklahoma: 20 percent spike in new bankruptcy filings.

http://www.kotv.com/main/home/stories.asp?whichpage=1&id=91681

Soon, Oklahomans will have more hoops to jump through when it comes to filing for bankruptcy.

New rules will make it harder for some and impossible for others to wipe debt away. The deadline for filing under the old rules is just six days away.

News on 6 anchor Scott Thompson says Tulsa bankruptcy attorneys say just a small group of lawyers handles the majority of local bankruptcy cases. And that group is being swamped with clients wanting to file for bankruptcy before tougher laws take effect on Monday.

Attorney Brian Huckabee saw the surge to beat the deadline begin three weeks ago. He says in this last week, he can't take any new clients and doesn't know who to refer them to, because most every other bankruptcy attorney is just as busy as he is. "Maybe 10 days ago, there just weren't any appointment times

[sendero]

12. Here in Dallas..

... one of the more well-known lawyer firms that handle bankruptcy just announced that they were sorry but they already had all the filings they could handle before the deadline.

[SoCalDem]

13. Just wait for the holiday sales figures..

Lots of companies stay solvent due to their Holdiay Sales.. There will be A LOT of people with "no plastic" this year.. The days of ordinary folks "putting Xmas on the card" will soon be a memory..When people fear using their cards, or have already cut them up or have filed bankruptcy, cash only changes purchasing patterns..

People with cash spend less, because they see the result IMMEDIATELY..

and with people giving up/losing their plastic..combined with high prices for gas and plane tickets,. there might be more "close to home" celebrations..


Things are about to change..drastically..

[Sabriel]

15. Chalk up some of it to charging at the pump

You wouldn't believe how many of my students are already in arrears because of that. And they aren't even out of college yet.

If they could charge their gas & electric, they'd do that, too.

Yikes.