Bankruptcy filings headed toward historic highs.
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Bankruptcy filings, led by over-extended consumers, are headed toward historic highs, with annual figures to be released in early March shattering the record. Illinois bankruptcies through Sept. 30 were up 14 percent, and 98 percent of those filings came from individuals, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. In Iowa, new bankruptcies in 2001 are projected to be up at least 33 percent over the previous year. Credit cards are not the only culprit. A declining stock market as well as mortgages and big-ticket items bought during the free-spending 1990s are adding to the problem. Banks and other lenders enticed people with expanded credit limits, and now much of what consumers were encouraged to buy is no longer affordable as the economy contracts and layoffs rise. “This is payback time for the ’90s, when there was no… |