The number of personal bankruptcy petitions filed in U.S. federal courts has been dropping by an annual rate of 8.3%. According to CardWeb.com's CardData, the percentage of chargeoffs involving bankruptcy has declined from 42.3% to 37.2% over the past twelve months. The Administrative Office of the U.S Courts recently reported that personal bankruptcy filings have dropped from 1,378,071 for the year ending 3-31-99 to 1,263,096 for the year ending 3/31/00. For the first quarter 2000, there were 312,335 total bankruptcy filings compared to 330,784 for 1Q/99. The news comes amidst dimming hopes of passage of a new federal bankruptcy law. President Clinton indicated a few weeks ago he will veto the bankruptcy reform legislation in its current form.

              BANKRUPTCY  FILINGS  BY  CHAPTER
                (for year ending March 31)

           YEAR       CHAP 7          CHAP 13
            2000        908,802        381,568             
            1999       1,017,049       393,245
            1998       1,007,213       404,749
            1997        862,136        372,369
            1996        665,310        300,901
            1995        568,565        255,382

    Source Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts