New Hampshire Foreclosures Driving Increase In Consumer Bankruptcy Filings, Say Local Attorneys

In New Hampsrire, The Union Leader reports:

• Personal bankruptcy filings in New Hampshire jumped significantly last year, and bankruptcy attorneys say the mortgage crisis is driving much of that increase. [...] Richard Gaudreau, a Salem attorney who specializes in consumer bankruptcy law, said the mortgage crisis is driving the increases in both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy filings. [...] Gaudreau said he's been turning away clients. "I don't have the staff or the time to handle everybody who needs to file," he said. [...] Concord attorney Mary Stewart is also handling more Chapter 13 bankruptcies. "It's because of housing," she said. "They're in default on their mortgages and they're trying to catch up. It's people who have paid their bills all their lives, and they're humiliated to be sitting in my office. It's not deadbeats. It's happening to people who never thought they would be here."

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• Peter Wright is the director of the Consumer and Commercial Law Clinic at Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord, which offers free legal help for low-income individuals. "We are seeing an unusually high number of requests for bankruptcy to help the client avoid foreclosure," he said. [...] Londonderry attorney Nancy Michels said most bankruptcy cases she's currently handling are mortgage-related; some people are "just walking away" from their homes.

For more, see Mortgaged first, then bankrupt.