![](https:/wp-content/uploads/sites/389/2022/01/0121UofI.jpg)
By Dave Dahl
SPRINGFIELD – Bankruptcy remains an option for some in financial turmoil, but a University of Illinois law professor who studies consumer credit says filings are actually down during the pandemic.
“I think some of the government programs have certainly helped,” Lawless says. “Mortgage foreclosure moratoria and programs like the child care tax credit that have put money in people’s pockets have eliminated the urgency to file bankruptcy.”
Lawless says there’s no “typical” bankruptcy filer, though most tend to be in the middle-income range, earning, say, $50,000 a year. The benefits of bankruptcy are that such people can hold onto what they already have, usually a house and / or car.
And Lawless says bankruptcy carries a stigma, a “palpable” one among the people who tell him their stories.
Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].