Area bankruptcy filings fall 17% for month

4/5/2011

Bankruptcy filings fell 17 percent in metro Toledo last month from a year ago, the seventh consecutive month of fewer new cases than the year before.

There were 880 new cases filed in March in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Toledo, which covers 21 northwest Ohio counties. Last year, 1,063 cases were filed for the same month. For the first three months of 2011, 1,792 bankruptcies were filed, also down 17 percent from the year-ago period.

March was the 11th month of the last 12 in which bankruptcies declined for the area. Nearly all of the recent decreases were in Chapter 7 liquidations. Chapter 13 wage-earner repayment cases have held steady so far this year.