The September 30 Bankruptcy Numbers
From CardTrak:
1Q06 filings: 116,771
2Q06 filings: 155,833
3Q06 filings: 171,146
The 3rd quarter figure annualizes to about 685,000. The numbers are well on their way to the 750,000 - 800,000 peak that I estimated previously, and still believe, will take place in the 1st or 2nd quarter of next year.
These figures need to be looked at in conjunction with home foreclosures (which have been rising and bear watching), not only to get an idea of whether so-called bankruptcy “reform” reduced filings permanently, which it probably has, but also to see if the suffering has merely been shifted to those who decide that losing their homes is a better financial strategy than filing. If that’s what results, especially in the absence of meaningful lending reform, it will be hard to call that an improvement.
Working in Ohio and Michigan it appears that families are bypassing bankruptcy, letting the bank take the house and moving on as best they can.
Banks now have houses they can’t move, and many are being mothballed for the winter (that should really help the neighborhoods).
And jobs are still being moved to Mexico and China on a regular basis.
Comment by save_the_rustbelt — December 11, 2006 @ 11:06 pm
#1, China yes, Mexico, I don’t think so (I am told that China is taking theirs too).
The foreclosure situattion in NE OH and SW MI appears to be getting very very nasty.
Comment by TBlumer — December 11, 2006 @ 11:11 pm