Since the first quarter 2006 bankruptcy statistics were released, newspapers across the country have been headlining stories with lines like "Bankruptcy Filings Plummet!", but the comparison of 1st quarter 2006 statistics with 1st quarter 2005 statistics paints a very misleading picture.
In November, 2005 (the first full month after the law change), 5,460 personal Chapter 7 cases were filed. In January, that number climbed to 13,033, and in March there were 30,626 new personal Chapter 7 bankruptcy filings.
It's true that Chapter 7 filings are down considerably when compared to the first quarter of 2005, but with March filings totalling nearly six times the November filings, it appears that the numbers are quickly normalizing. And that's no surprise, since the law change created some additional complications, paperwork, and attorney responsibilities, but it didn't solve anyone's financial problems.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 19th, 2006 at 5:54 pm and is filed under Bankruptcy News and Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.