Nevada bankruptcy rate soars

[Systematic Chaos]

In past year, 20,361 households filed for protection from creditors


By JOHN G. EDWARDS and JULIET CASEY
REVIEW-JOURNAL


Monica Castelan, a 42-year-old single mother with a 7-year-old son, looks like a good candidate for bankruptcy.

She is afraid of losing her house, because her niece, who helped her buy it, went back to Mexico. Castelan hasn't been fully employed since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, although she helps manage a fast-food restaurant on the Strip. She also works as a baby sitter to supplement her income.

Castelan sought assistance from the Consumer Credit Counseling Service this week, but, so far, she has avoided bankruptcy.

Thousands of other Nevadans were not able to avoid bankruptcy court in the past year.

In the past 12 months ending in September, 20,361 Nevada households filed for protection from creditors in bankruptcy court, a total that helped rank Nevada third in the nation in personal bankruptcies per 1,000 households, according to figures compiled by the Chicago Tribune.

According to the Tribune's review, 22.2 personal bankruptcies were filed for each 1,000 households in the state during the 2002 calendar year. That's lower than No. 1 ranked Utah's 27.2 per 1,000 households and second place Tennessee's 25.1 per 1,000 households rate, the paper reported. Further, personal bankruptcies rose 9.1 percent in Nevada during the 12 months ending in September, an even faster clip than the national rate, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

Nationally, the number of personal bankruptcies increased 7.8 percent during the same period.

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