August consumer bankruptcies decreased 11 percent nationwide from August 2010, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute, relying on data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center. The data showed that the overall consumer filing total for August declined to 113,432, down from the 127,028 consumer filings recorded in August 2010. Each month of 2011 has recorded fewer bankruptcies than last year.
"Consumer bankruptcies continue to decline over the past year as households deleverage and consumer credit remains tight,” said ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano. “As a result, total consumer filings will be lower in 2011 than the 1.5 million consumer cases in 2010."
The August 2011 filings also represented a less than a 1 percent decrease from the July 2011 consumer bankruptcy total of 113,470 filings. The percentage of chapter 13 filings for August was 30 percent, a one percent increase from July.