Phoenix-area bankruptcy filings drop

Amid signs that consumers are getting a better handle on their finances, metro Phoenix bankruptcy filings fell another 27 percent in June. The 1,770 Phoenix area filings last month brought the total for the first half of the year to 10,867, down nearly 24 percent from the 14,271 in the first half of 2011, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Arizona reported. The statistics cover January through June. The numbers were in line with a statewide filing drop of 25 percent in June and 23 percent over the first six months of the year. Both sets of statistics mirrored the national trend, in which filings fell 18 percent in June from a year earlier, with a decline of 14 percent in the first half of the year. "We are on pace for perhaps the lowest total (of) new bankruptcies since before the financial crisis in 2008," said Samuel Gerdano, executive director of the American Bankruptcy Institute, which released the national figures along with Epiq Systems In

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