Bankruptcy filings decline in Hawaii

Hawaii’s improving economy and low unemployment rate are keeping bankruptcy filings on a downward trend.

The number of filings in March declined 3.7 percent to 157 from 163 in the year-earlier period to mark the 48th straight month that bankruptcies have been flat or down, according to data released Wednesday by U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Hawaii.

"I keep talking to people out there in the world among acquaintances and other downtown professionals, and everybody talks about how strong the economy is, especially the construction sector," Honolulu attorney Blake Goodman said. "So there seems to be tons of employment out there. The last time I tracked the bar charting the ups and downs of bankruptcies for the last 25 years, it’s very coincidental with the employment graph. It just seems to be very strong out there."

Hawaii’s unemployment rate in February was 4.1 percent for the second month in a row to rank the state in a tie for the 11th lowest in the country.

The state’s labor force, which includes those who are employed and those who are unemployed but actively seeking work, was a record 674,900.

Last month Chapter 7 liquidation — the most common type of bankruptcy — fell 11.6 percent to 107 from 121. Chapter 13 filings, which allow individuals with regular sources of income to set up plans to pay creditors over time, rose 14.6 percent to 47 from 41. And there were three Chapter 11 filings, which allow businesses to reorganize, compared with one in March 2014.

For the quarter, statewide bankruptcies declined 6.5 percent to 406 from 434. Goodman expects that slight downward trend to continue.

"The only thing that’s going to make the bankruptcies go back up this year is a huge portion of these Kakaako condos come online and sell miserably, and flood the condo market at the wrong time, or at the same time rates might be creeping up and there’s a big jolt in housing, especially in condos by these buildings all being completed in the next 18 months," Goodman said.

Statewide, bankruptcies fell last month in three of the four counties. Hono­lulu County bankruptcies dropped to 99 from 106, Maui County filings declined to 27 from 32 and Kauai County filings dipped to two from four. In Hawaii County, bankruptcy filings rose to 29 from 21.