U.S. personal-bankruptcy filings-all-time high

[Cheese]

Maybe credit card companies should bear some of the brunt?

Nearly 103,000 Americans filed for bankruptcy in the week that ended Friday, up from the previous weekly high of 68,287, according to figures from Lundquist Consulting Inc. of Burlingame, Calif., a financial-services advisory firm.

Typically, bankruptcy filings were about 30,000 a week.

Bankrupt

[Cube Inmate]

Originally posted by Cheese@Oct 13 2005, 11:23 AM
Maybe credit card companies should bear some of the brunt?

Why would you even suggest that?

Maybe the idiots who spend beyond their means should be forced to pay it back, instead of filing for bankruptcy.

Credit cards are a service. If used correctly, they can be a 100% *free* service, regardless of the ridiculously high interest rates. The people who are incapable of figuring that out are the problem...not the cards themselves.

[troutman]

One reason credit card rates are so high, is that a lot of people go bankrupt or die, and the debts never get paid.

[MarchHare]

I remember reading that the majority of bankruptcies in the US are caused by unforeseen healthcare expenses, not reckless credit card spending.

Say what you will about healthcare in Canada, but at least it isn't the leading cause of bankruptcy.

[Edit]

In 2001, 1.458 million American families filed for bankruptcy. To investigate medical contributors to bankruptcy, we surveyed 1,771 personal bankruptcy filers in five federal courts and subsequently completed in-depth interviews with 931 of them. About half cited medical causes, which indicates that 1.9–2.2 million Americans (filers plus dependents) experienced medical bankruptcy. Among those whose illnesses led to bankruptcy, out-of-pocket costs averaged $11,854 since the start of illness; 75.7 percent had insurance at the onset of illness. Medical debtors were 42 percent more likely than other debtors to experience lapses in coverage. Even middle-class insured families often fall prey to financial catastrophe when sick.

http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/conte...thaff.w5.63/DC1

[Josh]

The reason for so many people filing for bankrupcy is the laws regarding bankrupcy are soon going to change and it won't be as easy to do so anymore.

[Flame Of Liberty]

Originally posted by Cube Inmate@Oct 13 2005, 07:34 PM
Why would you even suggest that?

Maybe the idiots who spend beyond their means should be forced to pay it back, instead of filing for bankruptcy.

Credit cards are a service. If used correctly, they can be a 100% *free* service, regardless of the ridiculously high interest rates. The people who are incapable of figuring that out are the problem...not the cards themselves.

No kidding. But as always, evil capitalists are to blame when ######s get caught in the consequences of their own actions.

Personal bakruptcy, what a joke.

Whatever happened to personal responibility for your own actions?