Utah's economic improvement credited for 2nd bankruptcy dip

Fewer Utahns filed for bankruptcy protection in 2004, the second consecutive year filings have declined.

For the 12 months ended Dec. 31, there were 20,629 bankruptcy filings in the state — 6 percent fewer than the 21,917 filings in 2003, according to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Utah.

Kelly Matthews, economist for Wells Fargo, said Utah's falling bankruptcy rate is tied to the state's economic improvement, and job gains in particular.

"The low interest rates, the stability in real estate prices and the improvement in jobs from the overall economic point of view are important," Matthews said. "If somebody starts getting in a little financial difficulty, more than likely there's some equity left in their homes."

Nationally, the total number of bankruptcy filers in 2004 will not be released until March.

Utah's bankruptcy boom peaked in 2002 with 22,052 filings, the highest number in a one-year period in the state's history.

According to the Virginia-based American Bankruptcy Institute or ABI, the top five reasons people file for bankruptcy are ease of obtaining personal credit and credit cards, loss of a job, financial mismanagement, medical problems and divorce.

However, "nearly nine out of 10 families with children cite just three reasons for their bankruptcies: job loss, family breakup and medical problems," according to Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren, a former adviser to the National Bankruptcy Review Commission.

In 2004, more than two-thirds of Utah filers sought protection under Chapter 7, a provision that sells off assets and erases unsecured debt, like credit cards. Less than one-third of the remaining filers fell under Chapter 13, which calls for budgeting some of the debtor's future earnings under a plan through which unsecured creditors are paid in whole or in part over a three- to five-year period.

Despite Utah's falling bankruptcy numbers, the state ranked first nationally in households per filing, with one of every 36.5 households in the state filing for bankruptcy for the 12 months ended March 31, 2004, according to the ABI. Nationally, one of every 72.8 households filed for bankruptcy protection during the same period.

A separate study by the Center for American Progress placed Utah tied with Georgia for the third-highest bankruptcy rate in 2003 on a per capita basis, with 9.2 consumer bankruptcy filings per 1,000 people.

Christian E. Weller, a senior economist for the Center for American Progress, a research group based in Washington, D.C., said Utah's high rate can be traced in part to lower-than-average per capita disposable income levels. In 2003, Utah was the fourth-lowest state in per capita disposable income at $12,392.