Bankruptcy Filings Continue to Drop!

Last week I attended a meeting put on California's Eastern District Court.  This district includes the Central Valley from Bakersfield through Sacramento.

One of the round table discussions was the drop in bankruptcy filings.  Fewer and fewer individuals and businesses are turning to bankruptcy.  The peak of bankruptcy filing during the Great Recession was in 2011.  Since then, fewer and fewer debtors are filing bankruptcy.

One attorney joked that if bankruptcy filings continue at the present rate of decline, the last bankruptcy case to be filed in California's Eastern District would be in December of 2016.  Of course, the present rate of decline in bankruptcy petitions won't keep at this level, but it is illustrative of how many people had to file bankruptcy in the Great Recession.

The trend is not just in California.  Nationwide, bankruptcy filings are down.  Here is an article from the American Bankruptcy Institute:

Bankruptcy filings register largest percentage drop in 2014

Photo Credit: Francesca Gallo at Flickr