“The big story is, Congress wanted to suppress the number of filings, and they have succeeded mightily,” said Sam Gerdano, executive director of the American Bankruptcy Institute. He said that nationally, about 10,000 bankruptcy filings are being made weekly, about one-third the number in recent years.Credit counselors there, as elsewhere are finding that those referred to them don't really qualify for bankrupty alternatives.
Although early predictions were that filings would total close to 1 million in 2006, “a lot of folks downgraded their forecasts closer to 600,000,” Gerdano said. That’s compared with a record of nearly 2.1 million in 2005.
Catherine Williams, a vice president for Money Management International, said: “The goal was to help inform consumers about the variety of options they might have and help them see if a repayment program is a viable option. But the sad part is, the money just isn’t there after food, shelter, transportation and the bare necessities. They’re out of money.”
She said that Money Management International, which has about 140 offices in 23 states, including Texas, has counseled more than 45,000 U.S. consumers since Oct. 17.
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