Increased Bankruptcy Filings Seen in Cochise County, Arizona

Written by CFB Blogger. Posted in Blog

According to a report in the Wilcox Range News by Dr. Robert Carreira, 237 bankruptcies were filed in Cochise County, Arizona, last year, an increase of 1.3% from 2012. This small increase follows a 27.8% decrease in filings the year prior. County bankruptcies declined in two of the past three years following increases of 42.9% in 2007, 30%in 2008, 44.9% in 2009 and 4.7% in 2010. While bankruptcy filings in Cochise County increased slightly last year, filings saw double-digit declines at the state and national levels. Bankruptcy filings statewide decreased 18% while national filings fell by 12.2%. Bankruptcy filings in Cochise County almost tripled from 2006 to 2010, emulating state and national levels. Despite those increases, bankruptcy filings during those years remained below pre-2006 levels. Those numbers were due to an extreme decline in filings in 2006, which saw bankruptcies at historic lows. The 2006 statistics, which saw filings in Cochise County decline by 80% with similar declines across Arizona and the country, were mainly due to the implementation of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, which became effective in October 2005. This statute requires most individual debtors to attend a special class from an approved credit counseling agency before filing for personal bankruptcy. The increase in bankruptcy filings from 2006 through 2010, in addition to the declining economy, probably reflected an adjustment to the credit counseling requirements of the 2005 legislation. Last year, 81.4 % of filings in Cochise County were Chapter 7 bankruptcies, up from 77.8 in 2012. 15.2% of filings were Chapter 13 bankruptcy, down from 18.8% the year prior. The remaining 3.4% of bankruptcy filings were filed under Chapter 11 bankruptcy. If, despite the slowly improving economy, you need to file Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you need the knowledgeable and experienced bankruptcy attorneys Client First Bankruptcy to help you with all of your legal proceedings. We have successfully guided thousands of consumers like you to the discharge of their overwhelming credit card debt and medical bills. Log onto our interactive website at www.clientfirstbankruptcy.com and call us toll-free 800-383-6004 for your free initial consultation. Our lawyers answer their phones Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m. Central Time. Don’t lose any more sleep over your debt problems, call us today.