The Akron Beacon Journal

Ohio’s rate of personal bankruptcies rose faster than that of any other state at the beginning of this decade, and the Buckeye State has the eighth-highest rate in the nation, according to a report released by Cleveland-based Policy Matters Ohio.

Bankruptcy rates in the state and the nation rose to records in 2003, the latest year the report examines.

There were 7.7 personal bankruptcy filings for every 1,000 Ohio residents, up from 4.6 in 2000; there were 5.5 for every 1,000 Americans, the group said.

Amy Hanauer, executive director of Policy Matters, blamed job losses in Ohio.

Hypothetically Speaking

From Policy Matters Ohio comes one more piece of evidence that central Ohio Congresswoman Deborah Pryce is spewing crap about how well workers and the economy are doing in Ohio…

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Ohio News Network

A new study has found that Ohio bankruptcies increased at more than twice
the national average from 2000 to 2003.

The 67% rate was higher than every state but Michigan, which saw
bankruptcies rise 72%.

The report, co-written by nonprofit groups Policy Matters Ohio and the
Center for American Progress, says the national rate of increase was 31%.
The report’s authors and other experts cite high unemployment, rising
household debt and medical bills as major factors in bankruptcy filings in
Ohio and the nation.

Since 2000, Ohio has lost around 200-thousand manufacturing jobs.

Overall, Ohio ranked eighth among states based on 7.7 personal
bankruptcies per 1,000 people in 2003, a record for the state and up from
4.6 per 1,000 in 2000.

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Dayton Daily News

Personal bankruptcies rose faster in Ohio from 2000 to 2003 than in any other state
as Ohio’s economy continued to resist the national recovery, according to a report released
Tuesday.

The study also showed that in 2003, the last year covered in the report, Ohio had the eighth highest
personal bankruptcy rate among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Among Midwestern
states, only Indiana, at sixth, had a higher rate.

Policy Matters Ohio, a Cleveland research organization, released the study, part of a national report conducted by the
Center for American Progress, a Washington-based research and educational institute headed by John Podesta. Podesta
served as chief of staff to former Democratic President Bill Clinton.

Ohio’s bankruptcy rate the number of personal bankruptcies per 1,000 people was 7.7 in 2003, a jump of 3.1
from 2000, according to the report.

Nationally, the bankruptcy rate in 2003 was 5.5. Tennessee had the highest rate, 11.1, and
Alaska, at 2.1, the lowest. The national and Ohio rates were the highest since 1980, said Amy Hanauer, executive
director of Policy Matters Ohio.

Among other neighbors and nearby states, Kentucky ranked 11th at 7.2, followed by Illinois, 14th, at 6.7; Michigan,
18th, at 6.2; and Pennsylvania, 31st, at 4.7.

The study concluded that a high level of borrowing was a reason for high bankruptcy rates. The study found that for the
first time since the Federal Reserve started collecting the relevant data in 1952, the average U.S. household had debt
totaling more than 115 percent of disposable income.

Families also have had to devote more income to servicing their debts, the study found.

Nationally, the study found a relationship between high bankruptcy rates and the lack of health insurance, high
unemployment and low incomes.

Hanauer said those factors don’t fully explain what has happened in Ohio.
While Ohio had the eighth highest bankruptcy rate, 34 states had lower health insurance coverage, 16 had higher 
unemployment rates and 26 had lower levels of personal disposable income, she said.

She said the lack of job growth in Ohio and what she said were weak state laws regulating consumer credit might be
factors in Ohio.

By December 2004, Ohio still had 236,900 fewer jobs than in March 2001, considered the beginning of the recession.
Also, from December 2003 to December 2004, Ohio and Michigan were the only states where the number of jobs did
not increase.

Hanauer said Ohio’s high bankruptcy rate and high foreclosure rate both are signs of the state’s economic troubles.
A study released last year by Policy Matters Ohio showed that the number of Ohioans who lost their homes at sheriff’s
sales caused by foreclosures skyrocketed in 2003, jumping by 26 percent from 2002 and 57 percent from 2001.

Data for the personal bankruptcy study came from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the
American Bankruptcy Institute and other sources

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Increase in rate led nation early in decade; rank now 8th
By Julie M. McKinnon

The Toledo Blade

Ohio’s bankruptcy rate rose faster than that of any other state at the beginning of this decade, and the Buckeye State
has the eighth highest rate in the nation, reports released by research institutes yesterday show.

Bankruptcy rates for both Ohio and the United States reached a record high in 2003, the latest year the reports deal
with.

There were 7.7 personal bankruptcy filings for every 1,000 people living in Ohio, up from 4.6 in 2000, and there
were 5.5 for every 1,000 people in the United States, according to studies from the Center for American Progress
and Policy Matters Ohio.

A weak labor market likely affected the bankruptcy rate in Ohio, which had 236,900 fewer jobs at the end of last
year than at the beginning of the recession in March, 2001, said Amy Hanauer, executive director of Policy.
“I think a lot of it is probably due to the job losses,” she said.

But the reports seem to question how much of a factor Ohio’s jobless rate is. Sixteen other states had higher
unemployment rates, and 26 states had lower levels of personal disposable income, the state study shows.

Ohio’s rate isn’t a surprise to David Fickel, supervising clerk for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Toledo. The northern
Ohio district, which includes courts in Toledo, Cleveland, and other cities north of Columbus, had the fourth highest
filing volume among 94 districts in the nation in last year’s third quarter, the U.S. Courts’ most recent statistics
show.

The Toledo court, which covers 21 northwest Ohio counties, had 5,531 bankruptcy filings in 2000 and set
successive filing records in each of the following four years.

Filings reached 10,623 last year, and last month’s bankruptcies were higher than they were in January, 2004

“We’re still seeing very significant increases,” Mr. Fickel said.

Health-care costs, credit card debt, and losses of jobs or overtime are common problems among bankruptcy filings
locally, Mr. Fickel said.

Some people use credit cards to get cash advances to pay bills, increasing their debt, he said.

One reason for more bankruptcies, the studies say, is the “unprecedented levels of borrowing.”

For the first time since the Federal Reserve Bank began collecting figures in 1952, the average U.S. household had
debt totaling more than 115 percent of disposable income, the studies say.

Federal and state officials need to beef up regulations on consumer credit, Ms. Hanauer said.

The federal government allows excessive credit card fees, for example, and Ohio permits payday loan businesses to
charge high interest rates on advances, she said. Thirteen states ban the payday establishments, she added.

The only other Midwestern state with a higher rate than Ohio was Indiana at 8.9 personal bankruptcy filings for
every 1,000 people, according to the reports.

But, by 2003, Ohio residents were 3.5 times more likely to file bankruptcy than they were in 1980.

Michigan had the nation’s 18th highest rate in 2003, at 6.2. That figure was more than four times its rate in 1980.

Tennessee had the highest rate nationwide at 11.1 personal bankruptcy filings for every 1,000 people, and Alaska
had the lowest at 2.1, the studies show.

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In 2003, the bankruptcy rate in the United States and Ohio reached a record high. Ohio’s rate climbed more steeply than that of any other state between 2000 and 2003. By 2003, there were a record 5.5 personal bankruptcy filings for every 1,000 people living in the U.S., and 7.7 personal bankruptcy filings for every 1,000 people living in Ohio. Ohio’s rate was eighth highest in the country and higher than all Midwestern states except Indiana’s.

This February 2005 report from the Center for American Progress, adapted and released locally by Policy Matters Ohio, explores the growth in personal bankruptcy, discusses reasons behind the trend and proposes preliminary solutions while calling for further study.

Ohio Press Release

Executive Summary

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National Report

Cincinnati Business Courier

Ohio outpaced the nation in the rise in personal bankruptcy filings between 2000 and 2003, a report by the Center for America Progress says.

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Seventy one of America’s largest and most profitable corporations paid no state income tax in at least one year between 2001 and 2003. This is one of the many troubling findings of a major new report on state corporate tax avoidance by Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ) and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP).

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The Toledo Blade

COLUMBUS – Gov. Bob Taft says there are not enough “bright spots” in Ohio’s economy, which has seen the loss of 236,000 jobs over the past four years.

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MSNBC

The Columbus neighborhoods where Carl Woodford spends much of his time these days aren’t the best, so the real estate agent takes precautions when navigating the rundown, crime-ridden streets.

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