Hawaii bankruptcy filings down again in March, by 11.5%

Hawaii bankruptcies keep falling as the state’s job market continues to improve.

The 139 cases filed in March were down 11.5 percent from a year ago to extend a trend that has seen bankruptcies flat or down for 58 of the past 60 months, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Hawaii.

The only interruption in that trend was in October and November of last year when bankruptcies were up slightly over the year-earlier period.

Bankruptcy filings have been following the same trend as the job market, where the unemployment rate of 3.1 percent in February was at an eight-year low and the number of those employed, 666,400, was at a record high.

While the numbers keep improving, Honolulu bankruptcy attorney Ed Magauran said it’s not a rosy picture for everyone.

“There’s still lots and lots of people in debt,” Magauran said. “I mean, who isn’t in debt? Some people are managing their debt, and some people aren’t. I’m not sure bankruptcy filings are a good indicator of the economy. But, yes, the numbers have been down, and they’ve been down for a while.”

Last month’s 139 filings were down from 157 in the year-earlier period and marked the fewest bankruptcies for any March since 2007 when there were 127 cases. Although it’s still early in the year, the current pace of 342 filings through the first three months of 2016 would equal 1,368 for the full year and be the lowest total since 1,381 were filed in 2007.

Magauran said the bankruptcies he handled in March were indicative of why people file for financial protection.

“There are some people being foreclosed upon and want to save their house,” he said. “There are some people who are being garnished who want to stop garnishment. There are some people in medical debt. There are some people who had their hours cut. It’s kind of the standard mix of reasons why people file.”

Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcies — the most common type of bankruptcy — fell 9.3 percent last month to 97 from 107 in the year-earlier month. Chapter 13 filings, which allow individuals with regular sources of income to set up plans to pay creditors over time, declined 12.8 percent to 41 from 47. And Chapter 11 cases, typically a business reorganization, dropped to one case from three.

Across the state the number of filings rose in two of the four major counties last month and fell in the others. Bankruptcies in Honolulu increased to 102 from 99 and in Kauai County rose to six from two. Hawaii County filings plunged to eight from 29, and Maui County filings slipped to 23 from 27.