More Choosing to File Chapter 7 over Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, Report Says
According to a report in November by the
National Bankruptcy Research Center,
Chapter 7 Bankruptcy filings grew by more than 42% from 2008, whereas
Chapter 13 Bankruptcy increased by only 12% from the year prior. The declining share of Chapter 13 filings in 2009 - about 28% as of the end of November - contrasts with 2005 legislation meant to encourage debtors to choose the repayment route, the center says. November also marked the ninth month in a row that US Bankruptcy filings exceeded 110,000, bringing the first 11 months of 2009 to 1.3 million.
Nationwide, the filings to date amount was almost 11,500 filings per million households. The states with the highest household-adjusted filing rates are Nevada (two-and-half times the national average), followed by Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and Indiana (with household-adjusted filing rates more than one and a half times the national average). More than one out of every six bankruptcy filings this year has occurred in one of those States, even though those States include only one in twelve American households. Arizona saw the biggest increase in filings since 2008 (an 80% jump), followed by Nevada, California, Wyoming and Utah (all with increases of about 60%).
The lowest increases were in Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Alaska, Tennessee, and South Carolina. The lowest filing rates were in Alaska (less than a third of the national average), followed by the District of Columbia, North Dakota, South Carolina, and South Dakota (all less than half the national average).