| Q2 Bankruptcy (8/31/05)
During
April, May and June, there were 467,333 consumer and business
bankruptcy filings, an 11% increase over one-year ago driven
by new bankruptcy laws. The "Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention
and Consumer Protection Act of 2005," became law on April
20th, although many of its provisions will take effect on
October 17th. Year-to-date consumer and business bankruptcy
filings were up slightly to 1,637,254. Consumer bankruptcy
filings continue to stay above the 1.5 million annual level,
following a record of 1.66 million filed for the year ending
September 30, 2003. According to the Administrative Office
of the U.S. Courts, a record number of filings took place
in the quarter ending June 30, 2003, when 440,257 filings
were made. During the 12-month period ending June 30, 2005,
Americans filed 1,196,212 Chapter 7 petitions, and 443,945
Chapter 13 petitions. |