Racing to beat the Oct.17th deadline on bankruptcy

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has a story on the rush to declare bankruptcy before October 17th:

While the number of personal bankruptcy filings nationwide has been rising steadily in recent years, the latest quarter ended in June was a record-breaker, with 458,597 filings compared to 393,086 for the same three-month period in 2004 -- a rise of 16.6 percent.


"The phone is ringing off the hook," said bankruptcy attorney Ken Steidl, of Steidl and Steinberg, Downtown. "It's like, 'Oh my gosh, we have to do this now, or we'll lose this right forever.'"

The new bankruptcy laws, which President Bush signed in April, include 150 changes for those filing under Chapters 7, 11 and 13, but hit those seeking Chapter 7 protection -- which allows them to discharge the most debt -- the hardest, Steidl said.