Hawai'i's monthly bankruptcy filings swelled to their highest total in 44 months in June as individuals and businesses succumbed to the state's ongoing economic downturn.

Figures from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Honolulu show there were 271 bankruptcy filings last month, the most since the October 2005 rush to file before a change that made seeking bankruptcy more time-consuming and difficult.

The increase marked the 13th consecutive month that bankruptcies have increased by more than 45 percent compared with the same month a year earlier. Petitions for financial protection from creditors have risen dramatically as Hawai'i's economy has sunk into a recession and unemployment has more than doubled.

The June figure represents a 66 percent rise from June 2008, which also experienced a double-digit percentage jump in bankruptcies compared to a year earlier.

There are a variety of reasons why consumers are filing for bankruptcy, including people losing jobs, having mounting medical expenses and using their credit cards too much.

"In many cases, they're finding they're so far behind on their house payments," said Maui attorney Richard Berman, explaining that some people can't afford the high mortgage anymore and have watched the value of their home fall.

He said credit card problems and car payments also can be a drag on finances, especially for people who are one paycheck away from living on the beach.

"They aren't big spenders but they're just on the margins of Hawai'i's economy."

At A R Recovery Solutions of Hawaii, president Dave Ketzenberger said he is seeing more people trying to save their home by filing for bankruptcy. He said he was getting a few notices a week from bankruptcy court regarding cases he was trying to collect on, but that the number has doubled.

"There seems to be an ever increasing level of those," said Ketzenberger, who collects delinquent bills for credit card companies, pay-day loan firms, car dealers and others.

Ketzenberger said many people's hours are being cut, among a variety of reasons why people can't pay. "People are wanting to hold on tighter to whatever cash reserves they have because of this economy," he noted.

Hawai'i continues to have one of the lowest per-capita bankruptcy rates nationally, but its rate of increase in recent months ranks among the top in the nation. Figures from the AACER (Automated Access to Electronic Court Records) show Hawai'i in May had 2.24 bankruptcies per 1,000 people in the state.

That was sixth-best nationally, compared with No. 1 Alaska at 1.22 and No. 51 Tennessee at 7.66.

At the same time, the figures show Hawai'i's average monthly filings growing at the sixth-fastest rate when comparing 2009 with 2008.