ABI Notes Continuing Rise in Consumer Bankruptcies

March 02, 2010

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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The American Bankruptcy Institute determined Tuesday that 111,693 consumer bankruptcies were filed in February, according to data the firm reviewed from the National Bankruptcy Research Center.

Institute officials calculated that last month's total represented a 14-percent increase nationwide over the 98,344 filings recorded in February of 2009. They also found that last month's figure was 9 percent higher than the amount of consumer filings occurring in January.

Data revealed that 102,254 consumer filings were recorded in the first month of 2010.

In terms of specific kinds of bankruptcy filings, ABI officials mentioned that Chapter 13 filings constituted 27 percent of all consumer cases in February. They said that percentage represented a 3-percent decrease from January.

"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," explained ABI executive director Samuel Gerdano.

"Consumer filings this year will likely surpass 1.5 million filings, or the same number of annual filings averaged in the years leading up to the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005," Gerdano added.