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A Profile Of Consumer Bankruptcy Petitioners, Jean Lown, Barbara Rowe
A Profile Of Consumer Bankruptcy Petitioners, Jean Lown, Barbara Rowe
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Utah ranks first in the nation in the number of consumer bankruptcies per household. This study describes 2,567 Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 cases filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Utah in 1997. Median debt level was $31,981 for Chapter 7 and $41,626 for Chapter 13 cases. While Utah boasts a high proportion of Chapter 13 repayment plans, only 10.8% of these cases were successfully completed. Debtors tended to be young, single earners, with short job tenure. Evidence also pointed to Utah’s low per capita income and large families as other contributors to bankruptcy.