As the economy improves and people find gainful employment around the state, bankruptcy filings have fallen. In fact, Arizona residents may be surprised to hear that this is the third straight year that bankruptcy filings have decreased-this year alone they fell 14.2 percent, according to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona.
Of course, not all cities saw the benefits of this decline-there were lower statistics for some areas than there were for others. Where the decline was high, population growth, income and job increases and home value improvement contributed to the lower bankruptcy filings.
Tucson is one of the places that saw a slower recovery process, demonstrating that economic recovery has been generally slower in that area. According to the director of the UA Eller College of Management's Economic and Business Research Center, this may be because it is dependent on federal government jobs and budget cuts have curtailed government employment.
For a state that saw double digit increases in bankruptcies ahead of the recession in 2007, the beginning of the fall of bankruptcies in 2011 signaled an improvement in the economy. Since then, there has been a steady decline across Arizona.
This does not mean that people are not facing economic pressures and struggling with making ends meet on a daily basis. Though they may not realize it, filing for bankruptcy is one of the ways they can alleviate these pressures and get a grip on their finances and subsequently on their wits. Whether it is Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, it is one way to wipe out most bills and get a fresh start financially.
Source: Tucson.com, "Arizona bankruptcies decline for third straight year," David Wichner, Jan. 17, 2015
