OTHER NEWS - March 21, 1996

Americans Going Deeper Into Debt Before Filing for Bankruptcy: The 596,798 people who filed under Chapter 7 last year owed an average of $41,716, up 15.2% from the 1994 average of $36,216, according to Santa Ana-based CDB Infotek. The public records information service said bankrupt debtors in New Jersey owed the most on average: $65,801. CDB said Utah residents who filed for Chapter 7 owed the least: a median $24,123. The average Chapter 7 filer owed $104,534 last year. The average is skewed higher by a relatively low number of bankruptcy filings involving more than $1 million, CDB said. The survey included only voluntary Chapter 7 filings, which account for the vast majority of personal bankruptcies and in which debtors are forced to liquidate their assets to pay off creditors. It did not include filings under Chapter 11 or Chapter 13 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.