ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 22, 1997 TAG: 9704220077
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF THE ROANOKE TIMES
Lawyers attribute trend to families facing illnesses, job losses, deaths and divorces.
Bankruptcy filings in the Western District of Virginia continued at a record-breaking rate for the first quarter of 1997, the federal court reported Monday.
Filings for the first quarter of this year reached 2,726, compared with 2,192 at the same point of last year, an increase of more than 24 percent.
Based on those figures, the court's clerk John W.L. Craig II, predicted district filings would reach 11,000 this year. That would be double the number of filings just four years ago. Last year, 10,904 cases were filed in the court, which has divisions in Roanoke, Lynchburg and Harrisonburg.
Area bankruptcy lawyers attributed the trend to families facing catastrophic illnesses and large medical bills. Also, job losses, death of chief breadwinners and divorce account for large numbers of filings.
The Roanoke division had the largest increase last year, but all three divisions experienced an increase of 24percent or more. The number of cases, he said, is "moving up everywhere."
The Roanoke division, however, had the largest numbers of cases, as it does most years. Roanoke received 1,223 bankruptcies in the first quarter, compared with 1,000 in Lynchburg and 503 in Harrisonburg.
The overwhelming number of cases were filed by individuals, not by businesses, according to Craig. Business filings, he said, were actually down a little. But he said it's hard to track because some people file as individuals when the petition shows they are really filing for a business.
More than 82 percent of the petitions filed seek liquidation through Chapter7 of the bankruptcy code, Craig said.
He said the number of people filing for wage-earner plans, known as Chapter13 petitions, fluctuates every quarter at between 13 percent and 17 percent of the total. During the last quarter, the figure was 16.58 percent. Fewer than 1percent involved filings for business reorganization and protection from creditors (Chapter 11) and reorganization of family farms (Chapter 12). Craig said the figure for that category of 0.7 percent compares with about 1.2 percent last year.
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