Bankruptcies Down in First Half

[BankruptinNJ]

July 5, 2011

New numbers from the National Bankruptcy Research Center show 709,303 households filed for bankruptcy nationwide from Jan. 1 through June 30. That's an 8 percent drop from the 770,117 households that filed during the first six months of 2010.

"The drop in bankruptcies for the first half of the year shows the continued efforts of consumers to reduce their household debt, and the overall pull back in consumer credit," Samuel Gerdano, executive director of the American Bankruptcy Institute, said in a statement.

In Minnesota, 10,376 consumers filed for bankruptcy during the first six months of the year, a 10 percent drop from a year ago.

At this point last year, the state had never seen so many people go bankrupt through June since it began tracking the number in 1982. There was fear that the number might surpass 2005 levels, a busy year for bankruptcies since many people flocked to bankruptcy court ahead of a major reform to bankruptcy law that made filing a more expensive and arduous task. Fortunately, the pace of consumer bankruptcies slowed in the second half of 2010.

Nationwide, June bankruptcy filings increased 4 percent from the month before. In Minnesota, personal bankruptcies were down 4 percent compared with May.

Consumers have spent the last few years trying to spruce up their finances. It appears to be paying off. The credit bureau Equifax says credit scores are rising, with the average score climbing to 696 in May, according to a Bloomberg story. That indicates that people are paying bills on time and using less of their available credit.

And Federal Reserve data show that consumer loan delinquencies have dropped and families are spending less of their income to pay off debts.

I'll be watching jobs and bankruptcy numbers closely. Attorneys say that bankruptcy numbers can climb months into an economic recovery because some struggling families choose to wait to file until they have steady income, but too much debt to repay, and are looking for a clean slate. Then again, an event like the government shutdown, which added more than 20,000 Minnesotans to the unemployment rolls, could be the breaking point for some families.

http://www.startribune.com/business/125050449.html

[jjim120]

The interpretations put on this data by the federal government analysts are suspect. Much of the bankruptcy problems were a direct result of jobs lost in 2007-2008. The pullback in consumer spending is a direct result of jobs lost and reduction in household income. I seriously doubt that many people filed bankruptcy to get ahead of changes in the bankruptcy law, perhaps with the exception of a few lawyers.

The jobs picture is not improving much, but the real damage had already been done in 2008 as the banks ceased funding commercial loans, called construction and real estate loans "at will," and generally ceased lending to small businesses all over the country, forcing much of the job layoffs. While the big corporations provide some jobs, small businesses provide the vast majority of those jobs. Small business lending is not happening today. Until the federal regulators stop determining that all small business loans are too "risky" to allow the banks to lend, jobs won't pick up, consumer spending won't pick up, and the economy will be in stalemate.

[tobee43]

The interpretations put on this data by the federal government analysts are suspect. Much of the bankruptcy problems were a direct result of jobs lost in 2007-2008. The pullback in consumer spending is a direct result of jobs lost and reduction in household income. I seriously doubt that many people filed bankruptcy to get ahead of changes in the bankruptcy law, perhaps with the exception of a few lawyers. The jobs picture is not improving much, but the real damage had already been done in 2008 as the banks ceased funding commercial loans, called construction and real estate loans "at will," and generally ceased lending to small businesses all over the country, forcing much of the job layoffs. While the big corporations provide some jobs, small businesses provide the vast majority of those jobs. Small business lending is not happening today. Until the federal regulators stop determining that all small business loans are too "risky" to allow the banks to lend, jobs won't pick up, consumer spending won't pick up, and the economy will be in stalemate.

so right jjim, and now the new job creations numbers just came out for june ....a whopping 18,000 jobs were created...now raising our unemployment numbers from 9.0 to what?? 9.2%...now that we know is going to up the bk's for this second half of the year, one would think.

[Goteki45]

I believe the only reason Bk filings are down is due to the fact that banks are taking their time in going through the foreclosure process on bad loans. Once they ramp up again, people will be making the mad dash to the courthouse to file bankruptcy in an effort to save their homes.