As the U.S. economy struggles to recover from a deep recession, the number of Americans filing for bankruptcy continues to rise dramatically.
The total number of bankruptcies filed in the third quarter surged 33% in 2009 and is at the highest level since 2005, according to data released Wednesday.
Bankruptcy filings rose 30% during the government's 2008 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, according to figures released Monday by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
In 2005, Congress passed a bill aimed at reducing the number of personal bankruptcy filings. But that was before a housing meltdown, a credit crunch and a global economic downturn.
Most of the Supreme Court justices piled up a lot frequent flyer miles in 2007, jetting to such exotic locales as Austria, India and Hawaii, according to financial disclosure reports released Friday.
Americans aged 55 and older are filing for bankruptcy at a faster rate than the general population, a study released Friday reveals.
The number Americans filing for bankruptcy tumbled to its lowest level in nearly two decades last year - in part because filings had surged in late 2005 before a new bankruptcy law went into effect.
The number of bankruptcy filings dropped significantly in 2006, a year after reforms were passed to amend U.S. bankruptcy law in hopes of curtailing fraud and abuse in the system.
The number of Americans filing for bankruptcy jumped 30 percent last year to the highest on record as debtors rushed to file petitions before new restrictions took effect, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
A recent study says business bankruptcy rates are up to nine times higher than the government claims and also asserts that the new bankruptcy law may further hinder entrepreneurship, a newspaper said Wednesday.
Sad but true: These days bankruptcy attorneys like Jim Leshaw are busier than ever. That's because the economic slowdown has triggered a tightening of credit and a slowdown in business orders and c...