August Consumer Bankruptcy Filings Up 24 Percent Over Last Year

Alexandria, Va. — The total number of consumer bankruptcy filings in August reached 119,874, a 24 percent increase from the year-ago period, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute.

Despite the increase over the previous year, the August 2009 consumer filings represented a 5 percent decrease from the July 2009 total of 126,434. Chapter 13 filings constituted 28.3 percent of all consumer cases in August, unchanged from the July rate.

The filings are based on data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center.

"Consumers are continuing to turn to bankruptcy as a shield from the sustained financial pressures of today’s economy," said ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano. "As a result, we expect consumer filings to top 1.4 million this year."