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Bankruptcy filings continue to decline, both locally and nationwide

Posted: July 05, 2011

Buffalo, NY – Bankruptcy filings continue to fall, with Western New York experiencing even more steep declines than are being seen nationwide. Filings in the Western District of New York fell 18.6 percent for the period January 1, 2011 to June 30, 2011 compared to the same period in 2010. Nationally there was an 8 percent decrease over the first two quarters of the year compared to the first two quarters of 2010, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI). ABI uses data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center.

Locally, according to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Western District of New York, during the month of June alone filings were down 21.9 percent in the greater Buffalo area and 13.4 percent in the greater Rochester compared to the same month in 2010.

“We’re seeing even more exaggerated effects of the recession here in Western New York to what is taking place in the rest of the country. Consumers are reducing their overall household debt and they are not using credit,” said Jeffrey Freedman, senior partner, Jeffrey Freedman Attorneys at Law.

Western New York has always tended to be a more financially conservative area than other areas of the country, he said, and even though this area was not hit as hard as other areas by the recession, there has been a pull-back, particularly on large purchases.

“Consumer confidence is down so people aren’t spending. It’s a double-edged sword – positive because people are getting their finances under control – negative because consumer spending drives our economy and the result of slow spending is a slow recovery,” Freedman said.

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