The latest round of bankruptcy filing numbers is out and it paints a picture many in the debt relief industry see firsthand, a decrease in demand for debt relief services.
Since the debt relief industry fails to provide any specific numbers about consumer demand, the best measure we have is to use the U.S. Courts bankruptcy filing numbers as a guide.
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While a percentage of people may seek help with their debts through debt settlement or credit counseling they also seek the legal protection of bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy filings for the last 12-month period ending June 30, 2014, fell 12 percent compared to the same period ending in 2013. – Source
| Year | Business | Non-business | Total |
| 2014 | 30,113 | 969,970 | 1,000,083 |
| 2013 | 37,552 | 1,132,772 | 1,170,324 |
| 2012 | 46,393 | 1,320,613 | 1,367,006 |
| 2011 | 54,212 | 1,516,971 | 1,571,183 |
| 2010 | 61,148 | 1,470,849 | 1,531,997 |
With consumer bankruptcy chapter 7 and chapter 13 filers, the downward trend is consistent.
| Year | Chapter | |||
| 7 | 11 | 12 | 13 | |
| 2014 | 699,976 | 8,347 | 394 | 321,278 |
| 2013 | 804,885 | 9,811 | 463 | 355,081 |
| 2012 | 958,757 | 11,339 | 606 | 396,175 |
| 2011 | 1,118,481 | 13,051 | 743 | 438,788 |
| 2010 | 1,100,032 | 15,251 | 605 | 415,966 |
I went back and took a look at the general interest of people searching for other solutions like “credit counseling” and “debt settlement” to see if those trends continued a downward slope as well.
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