Today the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) came out with some very disturbing numbers that show no sign of lessening, after rising jobs lost and a continued recession. In fact, the Institute estimates that by December 31, 2009, bankruptcies in America will hit 1.4 million people, after rising more than a third this year.

More than 126,000 consumers filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. last month, 34 percent more than in July 2008, the ABI said in its latest report on Aug. 4. The increase came after a 36.5 percent rise in personal bankruptcies nationwide in the first six months, to 675,351, according to the ABI research group, which interprets data collected by the National Bankruptcy Research Center.

As most Americans who are struggling right now, this is not “news” to them. They know what is going on, contrary to what any report the government put out. Facts are facts.

Credit Card Losses

JPMorgan said losses in its Chase credit-card portfolio may be 10 percent next quarter and will be “highly dependent” on unemployment after that. Losses for cards issued by Washington Mutual, which the bank acquired in September, may reach 24 percent by the end of the year, the company said.

JPMorgan’s credit cards lost $672 million, compared with income of $250 million in the second quarter last year

Bank in October of 2005, Congress, though heavy lobbying by the credit card industry enacted the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, a legislative reform package intended to make it harder for consumers to get court orders wiping out their uncollateralized debt. That in turn has led more and more consumers into a debt reduction program such as ours. Companies like JPMorgan would much rather settle your credit card debt for a fraction of what you owe, versus you filing for bankruptcy whereby they get nothing in return.

For more information on this or how you can a debt relief company could help you, call us toll free at 800-890-6658.