The epidemic of bankruptcies in the past couple of years has slowed down somewhat, as fewer people are declaring Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 protection. However, a number of people are not filing for bankruptcy because they can’t pay for to do so.

Hemorrhaging slowing

From 2007 to 2008, bankruptcy filings in-creased 33 percent, and it increased 32 percent from 2008 to 2009, according to Deseret News. Lots of people ended up declaring personal bankruptcy between 2006 and 2008 because unemployment went up and the financial industry melted.

In 2011, there was a 12 percent decrease in the amount of bank-ruptcies field to 1.4 million, according to the New York Times. There were also decreases seen in 2009 and 2010, when filings for Chapter 11 and 7 increased only 8 percent.

The good data is not really all that positive when you consider the individuals are not declaring bankruptcies because they just cannot afford to, according to CNN.

Filing bankruptcy will cost you

The National Agency of Economic Research found in a recent report that the average cost of filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy is at least $1,500, which is estimated to put the cost of declaring bankruptcy out of reach for anywhere from 200,000 to 1 million individuals countrywide. The report’s authors believe that tax returns can be used to file for Chapter 7, the most common form of bankruptcy.

The bulk of the cost goes to bankruptcy attorneys. Of the $1,500 total, $300 is the mandatory federal court fee for filing to declare bankruptcy. When individuals file for bank-ruptcy, they are required to take debtor’s education courses and obtain pre-bankruptcy counseling, the fees for which add up to about $85 in most cases. That still leaves more than $1,000, most of which will go to a lawyer.

Get around the rules

Part of the expense involved is incurred by additional hoops to jump through and paperwork mandat-ed by the 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, which has made declaring bankruptcy more difficult to do. Inexorably, that involves more legal work and thus more in legal charges. The law was passed in order to reduce un-necessary or frivolous filings, but critics have contended the law puts bankruptcy further out of reach for the poor.

There are some attorneys who do not need payment to do the case. There are many places you can go to find these attorneys. If a person’s income is 150 percent or less of the federal poverty level, than a person can waive filing fees.

Are you in the midst of a reorganization problem and looking for somewhere to turn? Let the legal staff at SouthwellORourke help find you the best bankruptcy attorney Tri Cities WA around!