THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 15, 1996 TAG: 9608150374
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: GREENSBORO LENGTH: 40 lines
As the hardship and stigma associated with filing for bankruptcy fades, more consumers are heading to federal court for relief.
Filing for bankruptcy is not the embarrassment it used to be, because banks and credit card companies have made it easier for people to receive credit after they file for protection, said J. Brooks Reitzel Jr., a High Point attorney who specializes in business bankruptcies.
Each of the state's three major district bankruptcy courts had an increase in bankruptcy petitions between 1994 and 1995. Based on the latest figures from those courts, the trend is not likely to reverse soon.
``I think in general we will continue to see an increase as more and more consumers become aware of the benefits the bankruptcy code provides,'' Reitzel said.
For the first seven months of this year, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of North Carolina in Greensboro received 3,941 petitions for bankruptcy protection. That's up 47.7 percent from the same period in 1995, the High Point Enterprise reported.
In the Western District in Charlotte, the number of petitions filed rose 42 percent to 3,154 during the first seven months of this year. In the Eastern District in Wilson, the filings climbed 40.5 percent to 4,937.
The majority of those cases are consumer bankruptcies. They also include business bankruptcies and a few bankruptcies filed by farmers.
Court and other legal officials attribute the increase to several factors, ranging from a greater public understanding of the bankruptcy code to high levels of consumer debt.
But while that changing attitude about bankruptcies may help the consumer, it can be a strain on a limited number of court employees.
For instance, the Eastern District has added a handful of employees in the past several years. But the district is still staffed at less than 84 percent of what it is technically authorized because of federal budget constraints.
KEYWORDS: BANKRUPTCY by CNB