The number of bankruptcy filings in Hawaii tumbled 18% in March after three straight months of increases, according to data released Monday by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Hawaii.
There were 114 filings last month compared with 139 in the year-earlier period. It was the fewest in any March since 2006, when just 88 were filed a few months after cases surged ahead of a change in bankruptcy law. Statewide filings now have been flat or down from the year-earlier period for 66 of the past 72 months.
Maui bankruptcy attorney Mike Collins said some of the gyrations in bankruptcy filings could have something to do with the change in the federal administration.
"Loan modifications are still active, but it is unclear what the servicing guidelines are projected to be in the future," said Collins of the law firm Cain & Herren LLP in Wailuku. "That might have something to do with explaining the bankruptcy trends. Our clientele continues to be mostly homeowners, and many of them are attempting to address modification issues."
Modifications offer a reduction of an interest rate or a re-amortization of the term of the loan to bring down payments and make them affordable to borrowers. The deadline expired for the federal Home Affordable Modification Program at the end of last year, but modification programs continue to exist based on private investment guidelines that vary greatly.
"Right now our traffic is relating to homeowners who need assistance with modification," Collins said. "It is not leaning toward debtors who are trying to manage their debt through bankruptcy or other means. For us, modification filings have been exploding but bankruptcies have been less emphasized."
Collins says that if clients are facing an imminent foreclosure auction on their home, filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy creates an automatic stay, stops the foreclosure, gives them time to propose a payment plan on the debt that is in arrears, and gives them a second chance "to fix everything" with a modification that needs to be worked out with the servicer and is conditional on Bankruptcy Court approval.
Despite the state's low unemployment rate, Collins said many Hawaii residents continue to live paycheck to paycheck.
"They have jobs, but the cost of living continues to be an insurmountable challenge for many of the clients I'm dealing with," he said. "Access to consumer information is not readily accessible to the people of Maui. People just aren't aware of their options like they were during the bad economy."
Statewide, Chapter 7 liquidation — the most common type of bankruptcy — declined 16.5% in March to 81 from 97 in the year-earlier period.
Chapter 13 filings, which allow individuals with regular sources of income to set up plans to make installment payments to creditors over three to five years, fell 22% to 32 from 41.
Among the least common filings, there was one Chapter 12 case (for family farmers and fishermen) last month compared with none in the same month a year ago, and there were no Chapter 11 reorganization cases in March compared with one in the year-earlier period.
Across the state, the number of overall filings was mixed across the four major counties compared with the year-earlier period. Bankruptcies in Honolulu County decreased to 75 from 102, and Maui County filings dipped to 22 from 23. Kauai County filings remained at six while Hawaii County filings rose to 11 from eight.
