BUFFALO BANKRUPTCY FILINGS DROP

Buffalo Bankruptcy filings drop. Buffalo and the rest of Western New York have been through brutal times. It is part of the cities in America known as the Rust Belt. Rust Belt cities used to thrive with factories that built this country into an industrial power. Companies began to search for countries that have cheaper labor to boost their profits. This resulted in factories closing in America and moving overseas. Factory workers lost their jobs. Many had to consult with a bankruptcy lawyer. Often this resulted in the filing of either a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case. The economy is only one of the region’s problems. The winter is brutal as well. Snowstorms and bitter cold are a fact of life in Buffalo. This is a far cry from the tropical weather enjoyed in South Florida. The bad news for Buffalo never seems to end. Finally snowy Buffalo has received some welcome news. The number of bankruptcy filings are declining. Bankruptcy filings in Buffalo and nearby Rochester declined 13.3 percent in 2014 from the previous year. The number of bankruptcy cases filed in the region in 2014 was 4,846 compared to 5,588 bankruptcy cases being filed in 2013. This was reported by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of New York. The news gets even better. The total number of bankruptcy cases has dropped for five straight years from the peak year of 2009. In 2009, 10,000 bankruptcy cases were filed. Experts credit the fall in the number of bankruptcy cases to two factors. Tighter credit by lenders has cut back on the number of shaky loans that cannot be paid back. Consumers have also cut back on spending in order to make ends meet. There are still those in Buffalo that need the help of a bankruptcy attorney to escape from debt. But the fall in bankruptcy filings is a positive sign for a region in need of good news.