Bankruptcies in Hawai'i down 17%

By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i bankruptcies are on pace to decline for the second year in a row, as consumers and businesses filed 17 percent fewer petitions to discharge debt through September.

There were 2,907 bankruptcy filings through the first nine months of the year, compared with 3,485 during the same period last year, according to U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Honolulu.

The drop, if it holds for the last three months of the year, would follow a 10 percent decline last year, and be another sign that the state's economy continues to strengthen and was largely resilient to effects of the war in Iraq, SARS and weak tourism from Japan.

Hawai'i bankruptcy filings in 2001 were the third highest ever, in part because of the post-9/11 economic crisis and expected reforms for making it tougher to qualify for bankruptcy.