U.S. consumer bankruptcy filings increased nearly 40 percent nationwide in 2007 from the previous year, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) relying on data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center (NBKRC). The data showed that the overall consumer filing total for the 2007 calendar year (Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2007) reached 801,840 compared to the 573,203 filings recorded during the similar period in 2006.
“The roughly 40 percent spike in consumer bankruptcies during 2007 presages even higher filings this year, as the heavy consumer debt load is made worse by the home mortgage crisis,” predicted ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano.
However, NBKRC’s data also showed that the 66,389 consumer filings recorded in December represented a 7.5 percent decrease from the 71,799 filings in November. Chapter 13 filings constituted 38.32 percent of all consumer cases in December, a slight decrease from November.