A total of 249,152 individual Chapter 7 bankruptcy filings were made in the first nine months of this year in the United States.
That's an increase of 15%, per the American Bankruptcy Institute.
Chapter 7 is when the Debtor seeks full, complete, DISCHARGE from all debts. Clean slate. Starting all over again.
This is different from Chapter 13, wherein a Debtor can still make things work, but needs to catch-up on past due payments, and cannot negotiate new payment terms with Creditors. The Debtor files for Chapter 13 and asks a Court to force the Creditors to accept new payment terms.
In general, courts are really good at helping those severely behind, restructure the repayments and get back on their feet.
The fact that so many more people are seeking outright DISCHARGE of debts, is a staggering development. This generally means their debts are so far gone, there is no chance at all of them repaying.
In the Interest of full disclosure, I (me personally) had to file for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in 2010 after the FBI arrested me for an Editorial I wrote that the illegitimate Obama regime didn't like.
I was arrested, denied bail, kept in jail for 119 days until bail was finally granted, was barred by court order from working as a Radio host, was barred by court order from being on the Internet, thereby could not earn any money.
I was put on trial three times - (December, 2009, March 2010, and finally August, 2010) the first two trials ending in Hung Juries -- then finally convicted at trial number three where I was appointed a federal public defender because I couldn't afford my lawyers anymore. I was convicted at that third trial (Friday the 13th of August, 2010) and sent to federal prison for 33 months.
I was so far gone into debt, there was no hope at all of turning things around. I had to file Bankruptcy, and was discharged from my debt: about $95,000 in unsecured personal debt - most of which accrued keeping the radio show and website afloat. Which is why in this ongoing endeavor, I will N E V E R go into debt hoping the radio show and website will pay for themselves. That's why the monthly fund-raising is so critical - if funds don 't come, the whole thing gets shut down. No more debt for me HOPING my readers and listeners will come through. If they do, this goes on. If they don't, it gets shut down. Period full stop.
I learned VERY HARD LESSONS in that whole affair. I have no intention of ever going back down that road again.
