January Consumer Bankruptcy Filings Increase 30 Percent over Previous Year
January Consumer Bankruptcy Filings Increase 30 Percent over Previous Year
Contact: John Hartgen
703-739-0800
[email protected]
JANUARY CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY FILINGS INCREASE 30 PERCENT OVER PREVIOUS YEAR
February 4, 2008,
Alexandria,
“With over one million more subprime adjustable-rate mortgages due to reset during 2008, the payment shock for many households could lead to higher bankruptcies this year,” said ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano.
The overall consumer filing total for the 2007 calendar year (Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2007) reached 801,840, nearly a 40 percent increase from the 573,203 filings recorded during the similar period in 2006.
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ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes more than 11,700 attorneys, accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on ABI, visit www.abiworld.org. For additional conference information, visit http://www.abiworld.org/conferences.html.
NBKRC is an online research center that offers subscribers access to up-to-date research and statistics on bankruptcy filings. The database contains complete information dating back to 1995. For more information on NBKRC, please visit http://www.nbkrc.com.
*Definitions from
Bankruptcy Overview: Issues, Law
and Policy, by the
American Bankruptcy Institute.
Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code
is available to both individual and business debtors. Its purpose is to
achieve a fair distribution to creditors of the debtor’s available
non-exempt property. Unsecured debts not reaffirmed are
discharged, providing a fresh financial
start.
Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code is available for both business and consumer debtors. Its purpose is to rehabilitate a business as a going concern or reorganize an individual’s finances through a court-approved reorganization plan.
Chapter 12 of the Bankruptcy Code is designed to give special debt relief to a family farmer with regular income from farming.
Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code is available for an individual with regular income whose debts do not exceed specific amounts; it is typically used to budget some of the debtor’s future earnings under a plan through which unsecured creditors are paid in whole or in part.