Elysha Krupp, The Examiner
2008-06-13 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

BALTIMORE -

With no money to spare for parking, Kelly Williams, a struggling single mother of four, left her rented Dundalk home and drove downtown, double-parking her car near the Garmatz Federal Courthouse, as she delivered one last piece of information that would complete her bankruptcy application.

“I try not to focus on it,” said Williams, 35. “We have a can of beans today, and I am grateful for that. There are other countries where kids eat out of the garbage. When [my children] say ‘Mommy, there’s nothing here,’ I say, ‘Yes there is. We’ll find something.”

Williams, who earns $21,000 a year at a cosmetics store, is one of 4,445 Marylanders who have filed for bankruptcy this year, a 50 percent increase over the same period in 2007 and an almost 148 percent increase over the same period in 2006. 

While most debt is the result of credit cards gone wild, Williams simply fell behind on bills.

Nationally, according to the Associated Press, credit-card debt that was at least 30 days late totaled $17.6 billion in October 2007, up 26 percent from October 2006,.

The majority of bankruptcy filings are by individuals  — 871,186 nationally for a 12-month period ending March 31, an increase of 29 percent from a year ago.

“The credit crunch is still there, the depressed real estate is still there, the cost of energy is still high, and it all affects the staples of life,” said Mark Sammons, clerk in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland. “The struggles will continue.

“BRAC [Base Realignment and Closure] has helped by bringing in more jobs. But even with that, real estate is the biggest factor affecting our court.  We’ve had more foreclosures in Prince George’s County [home to BRAC-affected Andrews Air Force Base] than in any other county.”

Nationally, total bankruptcy filings have seen an almost 30 percent increase since 2007, rising to 901,927 this year.

“Most consumers took on a considerable amount of debt earlier this decade, due to low interest rates and cheap and easy credit,” said Anirban Basu, CEO of Sage Policy Group. “If you were going to create a perfect formula for widespread bankruptcy, this is it. You visit the witch’s house, she feeds you until you’re comfortable. But really, she’s getting ready to eat you.”