March figures push Utah bankruptcy filings up 31 percent in first quarter

SALT LAKE CITY — Talk of economic recovery hasn't slowed bankruptcy filings in Utah, which could be on pace to equal records set before laws were changed to make filing more difficult.

In March, 1,824 bankruptcy cases were filed in Utah. That's a 31 percent increase over the March 2009 filings and a significant jump from the 1,192 cases filed in February and 1,036 in January of this year.

"We saw pretty dramatic increases last year and still pretty large increases this year. If we stay on target — and there's nothing in the tea leaves I've been reading that says we're going to see a dramatic decrease in case filings — it's going to be in the range it was before they changed the law," said David Sime, clerk of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Utah.

"I think it will exceed those levels. The same thing is happening around the country."

"It's definitely increasing," said attorney Adam Brown of Dexter & Dexter. The bankruptcy specialist said he has seen clients from the construction and real estate industry in larger numbers, as well as people from all backgrounds who are now unemployed.

"They either had no work or it was really slow, and they tried to live off credit cards," he said of many of them. "We are more busy this year than we were last year."

Utah bankruptcies also include an increase in the number of large businesses filing, he said. Chapter 11 reorganizations jumped from a couple dozen in 2006 and 2007 to 77 in 2008 and 90 last year. So far this year, 15 have been filed, he said.

In 2009, the number of bankruptcy filings increased in March and then stayed fairly level at that higher rate through the rest of the year. If 2010 repeats that pattern, Sime said to expect filings at a pace of about 1,700 to 1,800 a month, which would be "a pretty dramatic increase over where we were last year."

Chapter 7 filings, through which assets are liquidated to pay debts, continue to be the most common type registered so far this year, with 2,665. That's followed by Chapter 13 filings, "debt adjustment" for individuals, of which 1,339 were registered. Besides the 15 business reorganizations, the numbers also include one "family farm protection" Chapter 12 bankruptcy.

e-mail: lois@desnews.com