Utah bankruptcies jump in 2010

SALT LAKE CITY — The number of Utahns filing for bankruptcy climbed 24 percent during the 12-month period ending in December 2010. According to U.S. Bankruptcy Court District of Utah, just under 18,000 filings were made during the calendar year, compared to 14,481 in 2009.

While the state's yearly bankruptcy figures were up significantly, some monthly numbers from this past year were especially striking, according to court clerk David Sime. He said every month saw year-over-year filing increases of at least 10 percent up to 36 percent from the same month the previous year.

Bankruptcy filings have increased each year in Utah since 2006. While Beehive State statistics continue to climb, nationally, the trend may be changing.

Data gathered by The Associated Press from the nation's 90 bankruptcy districts showed 113,000 bankruptcies in December, down 3 percent nationwide from the same month in 2009. That followed a similar year-over-year decline for the month of October. It had been four years since an individual month showed such an improvement.

In total, the nation recorded 1.55 million filings in 2010, an increase of 8 percent from 2009 and a far slower growth rate than the 32 percent jump recorded in the year before and the 33 percent jump the year before that.

At the law firm Mayer & Newton in Knoxville, Tenn., staff members continue to work six days a week to handle the massive bankruptcy caseload. But filings there have leveled off, and partner John Newton said the firm decided it did not need to replace an attorney that left about a year ago.

He said the economy in Tennessee, while still challenging, appears to be more stable than other parts of the country. And he said many of the people who need relief from their debts have already gone through the bankruptcy process.

"I think we've sort of turned the corner," he said.

Numbers indicated stark regional differences. Thirteen states recorded an annual decline, mainly in the South, with West Virginia leading the way with a 10 percent drop in cases.

Tracy Compo of Tucson, Ariz., said her family's financial troubles began about three years ago when her husband could no longer get overtime at work and mortgage payments became too costly. They tried unsuccessfully to get a mortgage modification before leaving the house to foreclosure.