January 11, 2006: 8:20 AM EST
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - The number of consumer
bankruptcy filings surged to a record high in 2005 amid changes to
bankruptcy law, according to a survey released Wednesday.Filings soared 31.6 percent to 2.04 million last year, with about one in every 53 households filing for bankruptcy, according to Lundquist Consulting, an industry group that tracks bankruptcy statistics.
"The number of consumers seeking relief of their debts through bankruptcy was at an all-time high in 2005. However, since the new law went into effect on October 17, relatively few consumers have used the new bankruptcy system," said Chris Lundquist, founder of Lundquist Consulting.
A new bankruptcy law went into effect last year, making it harder for consumers to prove that they should be allowed to clear their debts in what's known as a "fresh start" -- or Chapter 7 -- bankruptcy.
Those filings, which provide consumers with the greatest relief of their debts, increased 47.2 percent in 2005, according to the survey. Chapter 13 consumer filings, which require consumers to repay a part of their debts, declined 7.9 percent.
Fewer than 2 percent of all 2005 filings were made after the new legislation was enacted as households rushed to file early and take advantage of the old bankruptcy law, the survey said.
According to the Lundquist survey, bankruptcy filings increased in all regions, with the largest number found in California, where filings rose about 36 percent to nearly 165,000.
END | SOURCE
Comment from Webservant of Jesus-is-Savior.com...
It is appalling that so many American families are being FORCED into bankruptcy. While America's own citizens can't find a decent job, tens-of-millions of American jobs have been sourced out to foreign countries. Motorola has over 10,000 employees in China alone. General Motors shut down their Flint Michigan plant in 1988, laying off 30,000 American citizens...and then the company went to Mexico. Flint Michigan became a welfare town, and crime skyrocketed.
Everything we buy today is made in another country. Why did this happen? Because of greedy corporate owners who desire to exploit poor people in third world nations (working for pennies on the dollar, with no benefits), and because we have been betrayed by our own elected officials in Washington who have sold us out. Of the 525 members of congress, I submit that 500 of them should be fired, and many imprisoned. Our own government leaders have stabbed us in the back, by allowing all of our manufacturing jobs to leave the country, and by allowing the greedy private bankers to control America's banking system. As of March, 2006, America's citizens OWE $9,000,000,000,000 to the PRIVATE bankers ... the Rothschilds, Warburgs, Rockefellers, et cetera. ($13,000,000,000,000 as of January 2011).
America is headed for bankruptcy as a nation! Our economy is deliberately being hollowed out by Washington criminals who have no loyalty to America's citizens. Our borders have been wide open for years, and 5% of the American workforce is now ILLEGAL immigrants. They don't pay taxes; BUT, they put their kids in our schools, collect welfare, go to our hospitals, and hurt the economy. No wonder personal bankruptcies are skyrocketing!!! And it's going to get MUCH WORSE! The big problem in fighting against this evil, is rallying the American people together. If we don't stand together, then we'll hang separately. Unfortunately, the lying propaganda coming through the TV is so powerful over people's minds that they are totally brainwashed. END
