Statewide bankruptcy filings continued trending down in July

Bankruptcy filings in Hawaii fell in July for the 17th consecutive month, according to data released Wednesday by U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

A total of 199 cases were filed in July, down 26 percent from the 268 cases filed the same month a year earlier, the court reported. Bankruptcy filings have been trending lower since averaging 330 a month during the recent peak in 2010.

Bankruptcy filings also are falling nationally. There were 632,130 cases filed nationwide during the first six months of 2012, down 14 percent from the same period in 2011, according to a recent report from the American Bankruptcy Institute.

Low interest rates have helped consumers and businesses nationally to refinance their debt and strengthen their balance sheets, according to ABI officials.

However, the number of filings in Hawaii is still averaging 223 per month so far this year, significantly more than the 117 cases per month in 2007 before the recession hit.

Bankruptcies fell in all counties. In Honolulu County, the number of cases fell to 127 in July, a 24 percent drop from 168 the same month last year. Filings fell to 33 in Maui County, a 28 percent decline from 46 filings in July 2011. In Hawaii County filings fell 11 percent to 31 cases, and in Kauai County they fell 58 percent to eight cases.

A recent report from credit scoring website CreditKarma showed that Hawaii consumers continued to pay down credit card and student loan debt in June. The average credit card debt was $7,032 in June, down 3 percent from $7,248 the same month a year earlier. The average student loan balance fell 8 percent to $27,148 from $29,512.