Bankruptcy on the Rise

Across the nation, 770,117 consumers, or one in 150 households, have filed, a 14 percent increase from a year earlier, according to figures from the National Bankruptcy Research Center. The American Bankruptcy Institute estimates there will be 1.6 million-plus bankruptcies by year's end.


Years of super-sized lifestyles on borrowed money, a depressed housing market, persistent high unemployment and stock market losses are fueling the increases. People in industries once considered secure and well-paying -- real estate agents, financial industry workers, tool-and-die makers, plumbers and chiropractors -- are filling attorneys' waiting rooms after being out of work or making do with reduced incomes for too long.

The average U.S. VantageScore is currently 749-- the average for Dallas & Miami-Ft. Lauderdale which are tide for last place out of  the 20 largest metropolitan areas is 719.