Posted On: June 10, 2010
Jacksonville Bankruptcy Filings Hit Record High in March
Bankruptcy filings in Jacksonville spiked to 1,216 in March, reversing a five-month trend of declines since September of 2009, according to U.S. Bankruptcy Court records for the Middle District of Florida.Jacksonville bankruptcy filings were up over 11 percent in March from the same month one year ago. For the first quarter of 2010, bankruptcy filings in Jacksonville totaled 2,799 – up almost 10 percent from the same period in 2009.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court Middle District of Florida – which covers Baker, Bradford, Citrus, Clay, Columbia, Duval, Flagler, Hamilton, Marion, Nassau, Putnam, St. Johns, Sumter, Suwannee, Union and Volusia counties – had over 63,000 cases pending at the end of March. Based on the current rate of closure for the court of 5,500 cases for the month of March, this represents a backlog of almost one year.
Most Jacksonville legal advisors expect this trend to continue since bankruptcies are a lagging economic indicator, and filings are not expected to slow down until other indicators improve.
According to a Florida Times-Union article on the record Jacksonville bankruptcy filings:
People file for different types of bankruptcies depending on their financial condition. People unable to pay 25 percent of their credit debt with their disposable income may opt for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which liquidates certain assets and wipes out debt. People who have too much disposable income to qualify for Chapter 7 can opt for Chapter 13, in which they pay a trustee who pays debts on a plan. People with more than $1 million in home mortgages and rental properties can’t qualify for Chapter 13, so many are opting for Chapter 11, a reorganization plan typically favored by companies that seek bankruptcy but want to stay in business.
To fully understand what you need to know about filing bankruptcy in Florida, contact our Jacksonville, Florida bankruptcy law firm.
Greg Gilbert
Keith Maynard
