Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability (or impairment of ability) of an individual or organization to pay their creditors a debt that is owed.
US Bankruptcy Facts
A declared state of bankruptcy can be requested or initiated by the debtor, or it can be requested by creditors in an effort to recoup a portion of what they are owed. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the bankruptcy is initiated by the debtor.
Bankruptcy is federal statutory law (Title 11 of the United States Code) based upon the Constitutional requirement for "uniform laws on the subject of Bankruptcy throughout the United States."
Bankruptcy proceedings are undertaken in the United States Bankruptcy Courts, part of the District Court system.
US Bankruptcy Statistics:
- The first week of October 2005 showed over 100,000 filings, up from approximately 68,000 the week prior. This was the fourth straight record week when more than 3 times the normal number of bankruptcies were filed.
- More Americans filed for bankruptcy last year in the United States than in the entire decade of the 1960s.
- During the 12 months ending June 30, 2004, a record 1.63 million bankruptcies were filed. This is about double the number that filed a decade ago in 1993.
- The median value of total outstanding debt owed by households rose 9.6% between 1998 and 2001.
- Household debt reached $8.9 billion in 2003 relative to disposable income.
- One out of every 73 households filed for bankruptcy in the year 2003.
- Utah had the highest per-household bankruptcy rate -- one out of every 47 -- followed closely by Tennessee, Georgia, Nevada and Alabama. Alaska had the lowest rate in 2003 -- just one filing for every 189 households, followed by Vermont, North Dakota and New Hampshire. (American Bankruptcy Institute)
- Both the poverty rate and number in poverty increased for people 18 to 64 years old (11.3 percent and 20.5 million in 2004, up from 10.8 percent and 19.4 million in 2003).
- Credit card lending quadrupled between 1990 and 2003
- 23.8% of American households have no credit cards at all -- no bank cards, no retail cards, nothing
- The American Bankruptcy Institute stated that during 2003, consumer bankruptcies were filed at a rate of 185 per hour.
- Approximately 98 percent of bankruptcy filings in the U.S. are non-business
- At least one "mega" debtor, (a company with more than $100 million in assets and 1,000 creditors), files for bankruptcy every week in Delaware.
- The highest hourly fee charged by a bankruptcy attorney was for the services of a Price Waterhouse partner who billed her time out at $930.00 per hour.
US Bankruptcy Code
There are several types of proceedings that fit under the general category bankruptcy. The U.S. Bankruptcy Code has multiple chapters, each describing a different procedure available for debt resolution.
Let the Bankruptcy USA website help you to understand Bankruptcy Chapters 7, 11 12, and Chapter 13, and which of them applies most appropriately to your specific bankruptcy case.
