• 17
  • January
    2012

The economy has been so bad for so long that it's been quite a while since the overall number of bankruptcy filings actually went down. Finally, in 2011, the numbers were down across the country for the first time since 2006.

Florida bankruptcy filings were part of this national trend, which applied to all of the main types of bankruptcy: Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and Chapter 13.

Keep in mind, however, that the numbers remain very high. Nationally, there were still 1.38 bankruptcy filings last year. This was down from 1.56 million in 2010, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute.

By any measure, many people are still struggling in debt relief issues. A total of 1.38 million bankruptcy filings is still very high compared to pre-Recession levels.

Analysts are trying to interpret the data to understand what factors may have driven the decrease in 2011. One effect of the weak recovery from the Recession may be a pullback in consumer spending.

Samuel J. Gerdano, the executive director of the bankruptcy institute, subscribes to that theory. "As consumers continue to deleverage their debt and access to credit remains tight, bankruptcy filings will continue to decrease," he said.

In other words, Americans are revising their strategies about how to deal with debt. For many people, though, bankruptcy may still be a wise step to take toward debt relief.

This is particularly true, for example, for those with large medical bills. Mortgage problems, and the risk of foreclosure, are another common factor that can a bankruptcy filing a sensible decision, no matter what the national numbers say.

Source: "Bankruptcies fall in Florida, U.S. for first time in six years," Tampa Bay Times, 1-4-12