Alexandria, VA, United States (AHN) - The American Bankruptcy Institute reported Friday that consumer bankruptcy filings totaled 770,117 in the first six months of the year.
Bankruptcies are up 14 percent compared to the 675,351 registered in the first half of 2009 as Americans continue to battle high debt levels and a weak labor market.
"Years of rising consumer debt and low savings rates, combined with the housing and unemployment crises, are causing bankruptcy levels not seen since the 2005 amendments to the Bankruptcy Code," said ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano. "We expect that there will be more than 1.6 million new bankruptcy filings by year end."
Bankruptcy filings in June reached 126,270, an 8.5 percent rise from the same month a year ago. However, June filings were 7.8 percent lower than May, which saw 136,142.
Of the bankruptcy filings in June, 27 percent were Chapter 13 filings. Chapter 13 is for individuals with regular income whose debts do not exceed specific amounts; typically such filings are used to budget some of the debtor's future earnings under a plan in which unsecured creditors are paid back.
No comments:
Post a Comment