The number of Chattanoogans going broke last month fell by 19.5 percent from the same period a year ago. In the Chattanooga office of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, 584 individuals and businesses filed for bankruptcy protection in July.
In the same period a year ago, there were 725 bankruptcy filings here. Nationwide, bankruptcy filings were down 18 percent in July, according to the National Bankruptcy Research Center.
"The continued decline in consumer bankruptcies in tandem with the sluggish economy is a reflection of the deleveraging of household debts and tightening of consumer credit over the past year," said Samuel Gerdano, executive director for the American Bankruptcy Institute.