July consumer bankruptcies decreased 18 percent nationwide from July 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 July reached 113,470, down from the 137,698 consumer filings recorded in July 2010. It was the seventh straight month of fewer bankruptcies in 2011 than last year.
"The continued decline in consumer bankruptcies in tandem with a sluggish economy is a reflection of the deleveraging of household debts and tightening of consumer credit over the past year," said ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano. "Should these trends persist, we expect to see fewer consumer bankruptcies in 2011 than were filed in 2010."
The July 2011 filings also represented a 5 percent decrease from the June 2011 consumer bankruptcy total of 119,768 filings. The percentage of Chapter 13 filings for July was 29 percent, a 1 percent increase from June.