U of I report says bankruptcy filings down during COVID-19 pandemic

Posted on January 21, 2022
Bob Lawless, a law professor at the University of Illinois, studies consumer credit and says bankruptcy filings are actually down during the pandemic. (Photo courtesy: University of Illinois)

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].

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…