Consumer Bankruptcies Reach Record Since Reform

View from Max Gardner's Farm, No. Carolina

The American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) reported recently that the July 2009 consumer bankruptcies reached the highest monthly total since the Bankruptcy Code was reformed in 2005, according to the records of the National Bankruptcy Research Center (NBKRC). The July 2009 total was a 34.3% increase over a year ago, and an 8.7% increase over June 2009 filings of 116,365. Chapter 13’s are about 28.3% of all consumer cases, with the rest Chapter 7’s.

Obviously, the economy is pushing a lot of people into bankruptcy, with job layoffs and downsizing. I also see a lot of medical debt and people that can no longer work because of medical issues and disability.

One prospective client that came to see me with a chronic, life-threatening disease was told by his car finance company to “go ahead and die,” so that they could repossess his car. It’s really pitiful when one human being treats another like that.