U.S. Consumer Bankruptcies May Exceed 1.6 Million, Report Says

[marmar]

By Edvard Pettersson

Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. consumer bankruptcies, after rising 9 percent last month from June, might exceed 1.6 million this year, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute.

The 137,698 bankruptcy filings in July also represent a 9 percent increase from a year earlier, the institute said yesterday in a statement posted on its website, citing data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center.

“Debt burdens, unemployment and an uncertain economic climate continue to weigh on consumers,” Samuel J. Gerdano, the institute’s executive director, said in the statement. “The pace of consumer filings this year remains on track to top 1.6 million filings.”

Last year, there were 1.4 million consumer bankruptcy filings in the U.S., a 32 percent increase from 2008, the institute said in March. Total filings have been increasing since the implementation of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention Act of 2005, a change to the federal law that made it harder for individuals to seek protection from creditors, the institute said in March.

In 2005, a record 2 million consumer bankruptcies were filed as people tried to eliminate their unsecured debt before the new law went into effect. The following year, 598,000 consumer cases were filed and the number has risen in each year since.


http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aVJsZlpxQ_SE&pos=4

[Romulox]

1. Joe Biden made each of their lives harder, too.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jackson-williams/joe-biden-true-friend-of_b_120776.html

[closeupready]

6. I know, I remember. On top of that,

he and Obama promised to roll back these deforms on those with high debtloads related to medical bills.

Obviously, that's gone nowhere, and that's exactly where it will stay.

[earthside]

2. Big Deal.

The Dow Jones is up about three or four hundred points in just the past few days.

The sounds of recovery are singing at the exchanges.

So, stop harshing my mellow ... 1.6 million bankruptcies in a nation of 330 million people.
Really, what's the big deal?













:sarcasm:

[burnsei sensei]

3. I'm not surprised in the least. nt

[lunatica]

4. I'm one of those

I filed bankruptcy last month.

[whyverne]

9. I can't figure out how to afford it. n/t

[lunatica]

10. Afford what? Filing bankruptcy?

You don't need a lawyer to do it if that's what you're talking about. I went to a paralegal who told me everything I needed to get together and he did all the paperwork which I filed. Paralegals aren't allowed to charge more than $150. Filing the bankruptcy in the Courthouse costs $299. At least those are the charges in California.

[ixion]

5. Remember when they passed the so-called "Consumer Protection Act" that was really

a handout to the banking industry?

And then remember that they claimed that "no one could have foreseen" the meltdown.

Got that?

[xchrom]

7. Recommend

[Skink]

8. 30 percent interest rates and late fees made life difficult.

what does the lending industry think is going to happen? If you are late by one day tack on 30 dollars so next month it is even harder to make the payment.