Consumer bankruptcy filings climb 11%

[RuthCB]

October 4, 2010

U.S. consumer bankruptcy filings rose 11% in the first nine months of this year, versus the same period in 2009, the American Bankruptcy Institute said Monday, citing data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center. Filings totaled 1,165,172 nationwide during the first nine months of 2010, compared to 1,046,449 total consumer filings during the same period a year ago. The bankruptcy filings so far in 2010 represent the highest total since 2005. "We expect that there will be nearly 1.6 million new bankruptcy filings by year end," ABI Executive Director Samuel Gerdano said in a statement. Consumer bankruptcies totalled 130,329 in September. That was 3.3% up from August 2010.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/con...dist=afterbell

[helpmeout]

This is probably from the reform act that went into effect in February. To be honest, I expected it once minimum payments went up. It was one of the reasons why I didn't try to hang longer before filing.

[tod183]

Yes, the minimums going up helped force us into bankruptcy. We weren't doing well before (obviously), but we were able to make the minimums. With the minimums going up and then all the cards raising the interest rates at once, we were doomed! I tried opting-out on some cards to keep the interest rate the same, but I missed enough that it didn't matter.

[tobee43]

and the way that was done was a disgrace....i mean talk about the fox watching the hen house....


MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE....WE ARE NO LONGER GOING TO LET YOU RAISE INTEREST RATES IN 4 MONTHS FROM NOW....SO YOU BEST GET YOU ASSES WORKING AND RAISE UP EVERY HARD WORKING FAMILY IN THE COUNTRY SO THEY CAN SLIP INTO THE DEPTHS OF THE BLACK HOLE OF DEBT. HURRY GET EVERYONE YOU CAN ASAP!

personally for us...in 40 years NEVER late....all of our cc's we up because of illness NOT covered by insurance since we reached the max for the year.....we paid them at least 5k a month in a few cases much more than that...all of our cards were at 5-7% some we had over 25 years.....

one we called that had a 50k line...we had just pd 48k the previous month and i needed another surgery. the doctor wanted 20k THAT day...so i called the bank just to give them a heads up as i always did when there was going to be a LARGE amount charged...they said NO problem....until i got to the doctor's office and they ran the card and it was denied.............THEY CLOSED the line.....i called them and said you know this is for a LIFE saving surgery and we just PAID you 48k LAST month and you know we need this 20k for medical expenses...they said yes thanks for that payment and that you have been a customer for over 20years...but we really don't give a damn about you or you dying...so go die for all we care.

we had 3 other accounts with them...since all the bank mergers....what they did with them is drop the lines and change the interest rates ALL to
39.99%.........and we had NEVER, EVER been late.

thanks government for protecting the consumer....against the big bad wolves...when it's THEM who allowed all of this to happen to us.

when we filed BK...we had over 200k in medical expenses....most on cc's.

[Flamingo]

and the way that was done was a disgrace....i mean talk about the fox watching the hen house....


MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE....WE ARE NO LONGER GOING TO LET YOU RAISE INTEREST RATES IN 4 MONTHS FROM NOW....SO YOU BEST GET YOU ASSES WORKING AND RAISE UP EVERY HARD WORKING FAMILY IN THE COUNTRY SO THEY CAN SLIP INTO THE DEPTHS OF THE BLACK HOLE OF DEBT. HURRY GET EVERYONE YOU CAN ASAP!

personally for us...in 40 years NEVER late....all of our cc's we up because of illness NOT covered by insurance since we reached the max for the year.....we paid them at least 5k a month in a few cases much more than that...all of our cards were at 5-7% some we had over 25 years.....

one we called that had a 50k line...we had just pd 48k the previous month and i needed another surgery. the doctor wanted 20k THAT day...so i called the bank just to give them a heads up as i always did when there was going to be a LARGE amount charged...they said NO problem....until i got to the doctor's office and they ran the card and it was denied.............THEY CLOSED the line.....i called them and said you know this is for a LIFE saving surgery and we just PAID you 48k LAST month and you know we need this 20k for medical expenses...they said yes thanks for that payment and that you have been a customer for over 20years...but we really don't give a damn about you or you dying...so go die for all we care.

we had 3 other accounts with them...since all the bank mergers....what they did with them is drop the lines and change the interest rates ALL to
39.99%.........and we had NEVER, EVER been late.

thanks government for protecting the consumer....against the big bad wolves...when it's THEM who allowed all of this to happen to us.

when we filed BK...we had over 200k in medical expenses....most on cc's.

Banks are not emotional; they are in business to make money just like anyone else who owns a business wants to make money. So if someone starts running up multiple high cost medical expenses on credit cards, an alarm bell goes off for those creditors and your account and credit history will be examined to see if you pose a risk. If you have other late payments or non-payments and charge bills, or run up a bunch of bills at one time going close to credit limits, you just became a risk and the bank has the freedom to cut credit limits or close accounts (it's all in the little brochure or agreement copies you received/printed out when you signed for the credit). Many people tie their emotions into what the banks are doing as to their business and they don't care if you don't have any milk in the house or need that medical procedure and have no money to pay for it. That's not their problem. When you view the situation as it stands in reality, one wonders why they signed for that credit in the first place.

[wnguyen]

Banks are not emotional; they are in business to make money just like anyone else who owns a business wants to make money. So if someone starts running up multiple high cost medical expenses on credit cards, an alarm bell goes off for those creditors and your account and credit history will be examined to see if you pose a risk. If you have other late payments or non-payments and charge bills, or run up a bunch of bills at one time going close to credit limits, you just became a risk and the bank has the freedom to cut credit limits or close accounts (it's all in the little brochure or agreement copies you received/printed out when you signed for the credit). Many people tie their emotions into what the banks are doing as to their business and they don't care if you don't have any milk in the house or need that medical procedure and have no money to pay for it. That's not their problem. When you view the situation as it stands in reality, one wonders why they signed for that credit in the first place.

This is exactly what they did to me in 2008 and early 2009, even though I was carrying balances for years and never late on any payments. Besides raising interest rates and reducing credit limits, Chase and Wells Fargo went even further by closing some of my accounts down. Many of them including Chase, BOA, Citi gave the same cold response when I said I might default if the rates too high: "that's your business."

[Goteki45]

It's sad that 3 times more people are filing for bankruptcy then are able to get a job each month. I don't care what the so called experts say, the economy is getting worse not better.

[banca rotta]

It's sad that 3 times more people are filing for bankruptcy then are able to get a job each month. I don't care what the so called experts say, the economy is getting worse not better.

It's all the goverments fault too. The truth is that the boom is the problem and the bust we are now feeling is the solution, but politicians and the average person are having trouble accepting this.

Soon all fiat currencies around the world will go to it's true value of zero and we will all understand and accept this.

[gamama]

1...credit card companies got greedy by making their bottom line look good, jacking up interest rates
2. credit is a drug, just like heroin, 0% intro rate (first hit) and then you are addicted to the richness of it all...
3. marketing, marketing, more marketing. Live like the jones next door - here's #2 to achieve this, it's priceless :-)
4. FICO, credit reports.com and so forth...

then OMG; what happened ??? We can't make that payment this month...wait, i just remembered #2, i have a new card in the freezer and I can thaw it out to make that AMEX payment this month...whew, i did it. Oh-what - 30 days later that scum bag #2 wants more...

It's vicious! we wouldnt be on bkforum if we were responsible :-)

[Poorhouse64]

I think the new emerging job market might just be Title Insurance Researcher. There's going to be a big, big need for title researchers.......

[Goteki45]

1...credit card companies got greedy by making their bottom line look good, jacking up interest rates
2. credit is a drug, just like heroin, 0% intro rate (first hit) and then you are addicted to the richness of it all...
3. marketing, marketing, more marketing. Live like the jones next door - here's #2 to achieve this, it's priceless :-)
4. FICO, credit reports.com and so forth...

then OMG; what happened ??? We can't make that payment this month...wait, i just remembered #2, i have a new card in the freezer and I can thaw it out to make that AMEX payment this month...whew, i did it. Oh-what - 30 days later that scum bag #2 wants more...

It's vicious! we wouldnt be on bkforum if we were responsible :-)

I have to disagree on that one. The credit card companies didn't make me fill out their applications for their cards, I did that on my own free will. The credit card companies didn't force me to whip out the credit cards when ever I wanted to buy something that I didn't even need. That was my decision and mine alone. There are people who pay off their credit card balances in full every month after they use them, so they don't accumulate debt. That is what I should have done.The fact is that I can't blame the credit card companies for my own actions. I'm not saying that the credit card companies are some sort of victims or saints in all of this. Their business model is based on consumers being in debt.

[gamama]

No question - I take full responsibility for my irresponsibility with credit. I don't blame the banks, but I do have an addiction to spending and credit. Just like a drug addict, overeater, alcoholic, etc. It is a personality flaw. The banks just made it easy for me to be addicted by providing the elixir. I'm sure many others have the same addiction.

[wnguyen]

1...credit card companies got greedy by making their bottom line look good, jacking up interest rates
2. credit is a drug, just like heroin, 0% intro rate (first hit) and then you are addicted to the richness of it all...
3. marketing, marketing, more marketing. Live like the jones next door - here's #2 to achieve this, it's priceless :-)
4. FICO, credit reports.com and so forth...

then OMG; what happened ??? We can't make that payment this month...wait, i just remembered #2, i have a new card in the freezer and I can thaw it out to make that AMEX payment this month...whew, i did it. Oh-what - 30 days later that scum bag #2 wants more...

It's vicious! we wouldnt be on bkforum if we were responsible :-)

I agree and disagree with these. It's both consumers and the credit cards faults, if one wants to play a blame game.

Agree: the credit card companies are greedy. Credit card is a lucrative business and once they got the profits, they can't stop wanting to get more and more. If they find a way to fatten up their bottom line, they will do it. We are generally as consumers addicted to spending for generations and this may partially explain why granting credit cards is a lucrative business for many banks. Simply as this, if you spend more than you make, you owe, period. Many view that if one can't balance between spending and earning, it's irresponsible (at least the folks at collection agencies, the creditors said that to me when I told them I was unable to pay their minimum payment plus their insane fees).

Disagree: It's the credit card companies that allow consumers to spend. Going back years ago, my credit lines kept going up every six months and at one point, one of my BOA credit card accounts has reached a credit limit of $67200 (by the time this account closed, it still had $24K avail). This is not a typo and I myself thought this was crazy. If they call my debts irresponsible, then this is irresponsible lending.

[tay666]

Oh yeah.
I had 2 cards that each had credit limits higher than what I earned in a year.

[Flamingo]

It's sad that 3 times more people are filing for bankruptcy then are able to get a job each month. I don't care what the so called experts say, the economy is getting worse not better.

Not only is it sad, it's a big wake up call to everyone...it's the debt loads that caused all the filings; as soon as the job loss hit or money ran out, everyone was stuck with big bills and house payments with additional huge equity line payments and they wonder what happened. Hard lesson learned for many...