The number of Americans filing for personal bankruptcy topped 1.5 million last year, as high long-term jobless rates and depressed home prices drove more households to seek court protection.
Personal bankruptcies rose to 1.53 million, up 9% from 2009, the highest level since a revamp of the law took effect in 2005, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute, an association of attorneys and other bankruptcy professionals, and the National Bankruptcy Research Center.
A handful of Southwestern states accounted for much of the uptick in filings by households buckling under debt. "There are two groups of people who have had really high filings during the [financial] crisis—the Pacific Southwest and the Southeast," said Ronald Mann, a Columbia University law professor
Don't forget that a huge percentage of bankruptcies are because people can't pay their medical bills!
ReplyDeleteMaybe "Obamacare" isn't the total answer, but something needs to be done about our terrible health system. No, we don't have the best in the world, only the best money can buy. No money and you die. I have friends who could vouch for that, if they were still alive....