Contact: John Hartgen
703-894-5935
AUGUST
CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY FILINGS FALL 8 PERCENT THIS MONTH
September 1, 2010,
Alexandria, Va.— The 127,028 consumer bankruptcies
filed in August represented a 8 percent decrease nationwide over the
137,698 filings recorded in July 2010, according to the American
Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), relying on data from the National Bankruptcy
Research Center (NBKRC). Though a decrease from the previous month,
NBKRC’s data also showed that the August 2010 consumer filings
represented a 6 percent increase from the 119,874 consumer filings
recorded in August 2009. Chapter 13 filings constituted 29 percent of
all consumer cases in August, a slight increase from July.
“While monthly filings
are volatile, consumer bankruptcies are still the highest they have been
since Congress overhauled the bankruptcy law in 2005,” said ABI
Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano. “Consumer filings
remain on track to top 1.6 million filings in 2010.”
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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 12,600 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
color='#0000ff' size='3' face='Times New
Roman'>http://www.abiworld.org/conferences.html
size='3' face='Times New Roman'>.
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
size='3' face='Times New Roman'>http://www.nbkrc.com
size='3' face='Times New Roman'>.
*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.