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Article
Portraits of Bankruptcy Filers
Georgia Law Review
  • Pamela Foohey, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
  • Robert M. Lawless, University of Illinois College of Law
  • Deborah Thorne, University of Idaho
Publication Date
4-1-2022
Abstract

One in ten adult Americans has turned to the consumer bankruptcy system for help. For almost forty years, the only systematic data collection about the people who file bankruptcy has come from the Consumer Bankruptcy Project (CBP), for which we serve as co-principal investigators. In this Article, we use CBP data from 2013 to 2019 to describe who is using the bankruptcy system, providing the first comprehensive overview of bankruptcy filers in thirty years. We use principal component analysis to leverage these data to identify distinct groups of people who file bankruptcy. This technique allows us to situate the distinctions among filers’ financial and household situations within what bankruptcy laws and courts can and cannot provide. We critique the consumer bankruptcy system, based on the totality of people who have used it recently, to identify avenues for reforming bankruptcy and to underscore the broader economic, racial, and social issues that consumer bankruptcy filings highlight.

Publisher
University of Georgia School of Law
Keywords
  • bankruptcy,
  • consumer debtor,
  • consumer debt,
  • consumer credit,
  • debt collection,
  • mortgages,
  • auto loans,
  • student loans,
  • financial fragility,
  • racial disparity,
  • gender disparity,
  • divorce,
  • garnishment,
  • repossession,
  • foreclosure,
  • COVID-19,
  • legal reform
Citation Information
Pamela Foohey, Robert M. Lawless and Deborah Thorne. "Portraits of Bankruptcy Filers" Georgia Law Review Vol. 56 (2022) p. 573
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/pamelafoohey/190/