Utah bankruptcy filings are down 80% to 461 in October

A total of 461 Utahns filed for bankruptcy in October, according to U.S. Bankruptcy Court data released Wednesday.

The figure compares with 5,680 filings in October 2005 and 499 in September this year. High figures during the summer and early fall last year were attributed to people trying to beat the deadline before a new bankruptcy law went into effect Oct. 17.

The October 2006 figure included 264 filings for Chapter 7 and 197 for Chapter 13.

Through October, the 2006 filing totals were down 80 percent when compared with those for the same period last year.