Central Illinois bankruptcy filings continue to drop
Even some critics of federal changes that made it harder to wipe out debts through bankruptcy are surprised by just how much the numbers have dropped since the changes were enacted two years ago.
A report released Wednesday showed bankruptcy filings in central Illinois during the federal fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 were at their lowest level since 1995, down more than 34 percent from the previous year and picking up only slightly month-to-month.
“It’s interesting the numbers are still down. Maybe it’s just the harshness of the law,” said University of Illinois bankruptcy researcher and law professor Charles Tabb, who was among those arguing that the 2005 changes favor credit-card companies and other lenders over consumers.
“The underlying debt that was leading people into bankruptcy still exists. It looks like the draconian nature of the law, or at least people’s perception of it, is deterring a vast number of people from filing,” said Tabb.
Filings shot up in the weeks before the changes - including a tougher income test, debt counseling and repayment plans - took effect in October 2005. Nearly 7,000 people filed in the central Illinois district in the final month alone.
The clerk of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Central Illinois in Springfield said filings have picked up to about 500 a month since early this year, but the pace remains far short of the 1,000- to 1,500-a-month rate before the 2005 reforms.
“The general trend we’re seeing is a steady, but slow increase,” said Pam Sherry.
The central district includes the Springfield, Peoria and Danville regions.
Sherry said she recently attended a conference on filing trends where it was suggested a record number of home foreclosures could begin to show up in bankruptcy numbers, but there are no such signs yet.
Nationwide filings through September were not yet available, but were down nearly 50 percent through the first nine months of the fiscal year, said Karen Redmond with the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts in Washington, D.C.
She also said the numbers have increased in the last few months, “but it’s been slow.”
Tabb said what is more difficult to tell is whether the tougher rules enacted two years ago have actually forced more people to repay debts.
“It may be deterring people from filing for bankruptcy, but it’s driving them where?” he said.
Related Articles
Medical technology blurred laws on maternity and paternity
2 years, the house of surrogate mother of her pregnancy and her husband, State and sent to live with the biological father and his girlfriend. An ex-husband discovered, it is not the father of his girlfriend of the child after the payment of alimony for children 11 / 2 years and
Top 10 stories in 2005
The Illinois Supreme Court overturned a $ 10.1 million judgement in Madison County Bank, the price v. Philip Morris, revocation bonanza that Circuit Judge Nicholas Byron in 2003. In a 4-2 decision announced on December 15 The Court reasoned its decision on a portion of the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act, allows
Northern Illinois private bankruptcy 2Q
Declarations of bankruptcy in the territory, and the Chicago suburbs has jumped by 34% in the second quarter of the previous year period. In the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, including Chicago and Rockford, 6706 Non-business bankruptcies were during the second quarter, according to the latest figures
Comportement de la police recherchant Chouinard's Bureau
Bradley police confirmé vendredi qu'un mandat d'arrêt de la recherche de l'Office des assurances Chouinard, 115 p. M. Kennedy, Bradley, a été jeudi en tant qu'élément d'une enquête continue en ce qui concerne les accusations de fraude contre l'assurance-agents Larry Chouinard. Les allégations sont examinées par un certain nombre d'fédéral, provincial
Zoey had two mothers
Once upon a time a few years ago, fell in love with two women in another. They would have married if the law allows. They really wanted that one child. And it by artificial insemination. A partner birth to a beautiful young girl named Zoey, and both in their common
Authorizes the Illinois judge panel, hearing Casino revoke the license.
Staunchly assertion of state power to police its casinos, a federal judge decided Thursday that the Illinois Gaming Board can be equipped with a withdrawal of the consultation on gambling license Emerald Casino Inc. The verdict was a victory for Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan, blocking a proposal for an agreement
Disabled say UIS difficult to get around
Namely, Katelyn Murray's experience is to understand their perseverance. During his first semester at the University of Illinois at Springfield, Murray, quadriplegic, was not their room without someone to help me, or expecting a passer-by opening a blocked l ' entering their dorm's residential area. "As a dog sitting at the
The increase in Illinois Attorney General braces for exodus of top talent.
Several "to do" lists are scattered over Lisa Madigan's Office, meetings with committees and they make on issues of domestic violence on the Freedom of Information Act.Their goal is to extinguish all at zero, these lists before January 13, the day she is Illinois Attorney General. But as the state
All complaints Illinois
Why should Illinois offence reform? Look no further than the Web site of Chicago law firm McGowan & Hull (www.mcgowan-hull.com). These "injury" has a dress and a million possibilities, like you and me can be a goat by our courts. Illinois car accident "victims" can learn from Hull & McGowan, as "misinterpretation,
Dems foresee an increase in the Senate in Illinois star candidate
Three weeks of State Senator Barack Obama has proved a relief also among the eight Democrats are underway in Illinois for the candidacy for a Senate seat open. Today, three days after his victory erdrutschartigen ousted in this field, which describes itself "Skinny strange type with the name" is the favorite