The numbers are out and the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy has just released the latest statistics for the number of consumer bankruptcy filings in Guelph (versus business and corporate filings). Overall it’s very positive as the percentage of people who filed bankruptcy has dropped since 2009. To be more specific:
The first half of 2010, 150 Guelph residents had to declare personal bankruptcy. An additional 108 Guelph residents filed a consumer proposal. Essentially a total of 258 Guelph Residents (310 including surrounding areas) had to seek out the help of a licensed Trustee in Bankruptcy to help resolve their money problems. If these numbers are consistent for the remainder of the year we should expect to see 300 Bankruptcies and 216 proposals for a total of 516 consumer filings this year for Guelph alone.
How does this compare to 2009?
In 2009, a total of 734 Guelph residents had to file a personal bankruptcy or a consumer proposal; 509 and 225 respectively. To be precise, bankruptcy rates should drop by 41% and consumer proposal filings should drop by 4%: Overall that should be a decrease in filings by about 29.7% for Guelph residents.
This should not be a huge surprise because in 2009 the big economic storm hit causing a huge decrease in consumer confidence which was a hard hit to the manufacturing economy of Guelph. Using the 2009 bankruptcy statistic is a little misleading as the bankruptcy laws changed on September 18, 2009 which caused a sharp increase in people filing bankruptcy before the changes were implemented (changes that would make filing a bankruptcy longer and more expensive) which inflates the numbers to an unrealistic level.
If we look at the personal filings for Guelph in 2008 we’ll notice that a total of 497 Guelph residents filed either a bankruptcy or a consumer proposal: 340 and 157 respectively. Comparing this to 2010, we can estimate a drop of 11.7% for bankruptcies and an increase of 37.6% for consumer proposals. What does this mean?
Comparing 2010 to 2008 we see a noticeable decline in bankruptcies but a large increase in consumer proposals. This is a positive sign as it illustrates more people are choosing consumer proposals as a favourable alternative to bankruptcy and more companies are willing to negotiate some sort of repayment plan for the monies they are owed.
A consumer proposal can only be administered by a licensed Trustee in Bankruptcy and is a legal remedy to help resolve consumer debts. If you are interested in learning more about consumer proposals please contact me at our Guelph office at 310-PLAN or e-mail me today to arrange a no charge initial consultation.
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