Posts Tagged ‘consumer bankruptcy’

In early April, the American Bankruptcy Institute detailed data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center (NBKRC) revealing that consumer bankruptcy filings were up 15.2 percent nationwide this past February as compared to January 2008 and up 37.3 percent from February 2007.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that a tough economy means more people filing bankruptcy.

With that in mind, an interesting editorial in today’s Minneapolis Star-Tribune pits the blame for this increase in consumer bankruptcy filings on the credit industry.

Give the editorial a read as it offers a a bankruptcy attorney's poignant perspective on the issue.

Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Warren and the other professionals affiliated with the Consumer Bankruptcy Project have collected significant data about the American families who file for bankruptcy protection and the reasons they file.

That data has been crucial in painting an accurate picture of the average American bankruptcy petitioner that stands in sharp contrast to the "deadbeat" portrait painted by the credit industry and presumed by the 2005 bankruptcy reforms.  You may even have seen Professor Warren on PBS recently, talking about debt in America, or on "20/20".

Now, the Consumer Bankruptcy Project is expanding its scope, and for the first time reaching for a national sample in its research.  That means bankruptcy petitioners across the country may be contacted or receive a Consumer Bankruptcy Project questionnaire.  If you've filed, or file, for bankruptcy protection and you receive the questionnaire, please consider participating in this important study.

Professor Warren assures us that the study has been approved by the human subjects review boards of several Universities and that all responses will be confidential.