Per Capita Bankruptcies
Utah has historically been a state with a high number of bankruptcy filings per capita. County by county bankruptcy filings per 1,000 residents are as follows:
Beaver – 4.31
Box Elder – 5.77
Cache – 3.67
Carbon – 8.15
Daggett – 5.31
Davis – 6.25
Duchesne – 5.4
Emery – 4.99
Garfield – 2.16
Grand – 5.07
Iron – 6.65
Juab – 3.9
Kane – 2.88
Millard – 3.42
Morgan – 3.37
Piute – 0.7
Rich – 6.48
Salt Lake – 7.2
San Juan – 0.93
Sanpete – 3.66
Sevier – 4.05
Summit – 3.79
Tooele – 8.28
Uintah – 5.35
Utah – 5.57
Wasatch – 6.67
Washington – 8.05
Wayne – 1.92
Weber – 7.16
The above number are from 2010 and come from statistics provided by the United States Courts. This puts Utah at about number 14 our of the 50 states in terms of highest bankruptcy numbers per capita. Hawaii and Alaska have the fewest bankruptcy filings per capita.
Total Bankruptcy Numbers in Utah for 2011 and 2012
In 2012 there were a total of 15,888 nonbusiness bankruptcy filings in Utah. Of those 10,698 were Chapter 7 bankruptcy filings, that is, individuals who sought to discharge their debts and completely clear out their debt load. 5,181 of those were Chapter 13 filings, meaning that those individuals were required to enter into a 3-5 year repayment plan and then anything leftover after the repayment plan term could be discharged.
Overall, bankruptcy filings were down 11.7% in 2012 from 2011. The decrease in bankruptcy filings would seem to suggest that the economy is gaining strength. At the same time one could look at the numbers and conclude that the spike in bankruptcies from 2009 to 2011 and the subsequent decrease in 2012 simply means that most of those debtors hardest hit by the crash have declared bankruptcy but that does not necessarily mean that they are now in an improved economic situation in terms of employment and income.
What is to Come?
Utah is likely to remain in the top 1/4 of states for bankruptcy filings per capita because household debt is excessive and savings continues to decline. Until Utahs save more and spend less bankruptcies will continue steadily.
Our law firm helps individuals through the bankruptcy process. Let us help you start fresh.
