American businesses and individuals filed 108,595 bankruptcies, which is up 13 percent from September according to a Bloomberg article.

October was the first month that more than 100,000 bankruptcies were filed since the bankruptcy law changed.

In 2005, right before the new bankruptcy law passed, a record 2.1 million people filed for bankruptcy protection.

The historic numbers were credited to people trying to clear their debts before the new law went into effect because it established stricter requirements for people seeking bankruptcy relief.

Since then, the numbers have steadily been rising each year. In 2006, there were 590,500 bankruptcy filings and, in 2007, there were 827,000 filings.

It is expected that there will be at least 1.1 million bankruptcy filings by the end of 2008. (For the first ten months of 2008, the daily rate of bankruptcy filings is at 4,284—with that number we’ll hit 1,080,000 filings for the 2008 calendar year.)

Is Filing Bankruptcy an Option For You?

Although the new bankruptcy law did establish new prerequisites and requirements to filing bankruptcy, most people still qualify to file bankruptcy.

If you’re considering filing bankruptcy and want to know if you are eligible, consider talking to a bankruptcy lawyer today.

Tags: bankruptcies, filing bankruptcy, new bankruptcy law