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Update December 2007: As of the first quarter 2006 Tennessee was ranked 4th. (Bankruptcy filings (most recent) by state)
#1 Georgia:
#2 Texas:
#3 Michigan:

Ref: American Bankruptcy Institute and http://www.statemaster.com/graph/eco_ban_fil-economy-bankruptcy-filings

But Bankruptcy filings (per capita) (most recent) by state:


#1    	Tennessee:   	1.099 per 1,000 people   	
#2   	Georgia: 	    0.953 per 1,000 people  	
#3   	Alabama: 	    0.809 per 1,000 people  	
#4   	Michigan: 	    0.661 per 1,000 people  	
#5   	Arkansas: 	    0.643 per 1,000 people  	
#6   	Indiana: 	    0.609 per 1,000 people  	
#7   	Kentucky: 	    0.542 per 1,000 people  	
#8   	Mississippi: 	0.538 per 1,000 people  	
#9   	Missouri: 	    0.534 per 1,000 people  	
#10   	Ohio: 	        0.512 per 1,000 people  	
#11   	Illinois: 	    0.482 per 1,000 people  	
#12   	Louisiana: 	    0.455 per 1,000 people

As of yet, we don't know the impact of the subprime meltdown for Tennessee. To quote Subprime Loan Crisis Jolts U.S. Economy by Heide B. Malhotra Epoch Times Washington, Sep 11, 2007:

"The combined threat of subprime loan defaults and excessive indebtedness has supplanted terrorism and the Middle East as the biggest short-term threat to the U.S. economy," according to NABE. The above assertion may not be so far fetched. Banks across the United States reported in the most recent Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) National Delinquency Survey that a large number of their subprime mortgage loans were not being repaid. Banks in Ohio were hit hardest. They had twice the number of loans in default or homes in foreclosure than banks in any other state. Payment delinquencies are also on the rise in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Pennsylvania...

Tennessee tops nation in personal bankruptcy

By MATTHEW LANE

GREENEVILLE - U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Marcia Parsons said she finds Tennessee's rising number of bankruptcy filings "distressing." Tennessee ranked first in the nation in per capita personal bankruptcy filings in 2002 with 1,078 cases of bankruptcy for every 100,000 people. That figure marked a 4.3 percent increase from 2001.

Tennessee also ranks 8th in the nation in total bankruptcy filings, with 63,028 filed in 2002. "It's a sad situation, and I wish something could be done about it," Parsons said. "It's distressing that that many people, proportionate- wise, are having to seek bankruptcy."

Parsons, who has served as bankruptcy judge for the Northeast District of Tennessee for 10 years, said she sees about 400 cases a month, a figure that has risen 23 percent in the past decade. Since the bankruptcy court opened in Greeneville 10 years ago, Parsons said there have been 33,141 cases go through the court.

"I think it says something about the state of the economy in Tennessee and the low wages paid," Parsons said. "It takes both the husband and wife working, and when one of them loses their job, usually there's no savings to tide them over. "Tennessee also has an extremely high divorce rate, and often divorces are followed in six months by bankruptcy because the family had a hard enough time supporting one household and now they have an even harder time supporting two households."

Parsons said she is not sure that tightening the current bankruptcy laws is the answer to reducing the number of bankruptcy filings. "To me, that's like closing the hospital doors to sick people. It's not going to stop them from being sick," she said.

Parsons said she thinks the key to reducing the number of bankruptcy filings is through education. "I think there needs to be more education, explaining in the high schools and in colleges the cost of credit, the dangers of credit cards, and what the true cost of credit really is," Parsons said. "I don't think everyone understands that if you miss a payment, there's a large charge and they can increase the interest rate for credit. "It could take you years to pay that $3,000 credit card bill."

After serving 10 years on the bench, Parsons said there is no common theme among people who file for bankruptcy.

"It's all walks of life. The majority of people in Tennessee are working class or middle class, so that's what I have," Parsons said. "But there are occasionally lawyers, doctors and teachers that have filed. Some of those are bad credit or investments that have gone bad or money mismanagement.

"I see tons more credit card debt." One person who stands out in her mind had 60 credit cards with $125,000 in debt and no assets to show for it, Parsons said.

"That was a person who made $30,000 a year, and there was no way that person could pay that debt off at 24 percent interest rate," Parsons said. "I think people are going to have to voluntarily pace themselves, and if they have a credit card to pay it off monthly and not incur any finance charges. "I really don't think they should use credit cards because you end up spending more when you use a credit card than if you use cash."

Part of the problem behind so many bankruptcy filings is also society, Parsons said, with advertisers creating desires in people that they have to have more than what they already have. "And credit provides the answer to that because it is freely given," she said.

Parsons said there is also a real danger on college campuses when colleges contract with credit card companies to solicit to students. "My son, who is 19 years old, started getting them in high school. And you go on college campuses today and you see something like 'sign up for a credit card and get a free T-shirt,' " Parsons said. "There's plenty of opportunities for people to get credit without the colleges sponsoring the credit."

Parsons said she advises people to cut up their credit cards and not incur any more debt while in bankruptcy. She said she worries about the state of the bankruptcy filings in Tennessee. "I see a lot of young couples just because they're trying to pay for home, cars and kids," Parsons said. "In the last three years I've seen more Chapter 11 filings than in the beginning of my career."

Copyright November 23, 2003 Kingsport Times-News.

On top of disrupting school over religion, we have a Rev. Poff that wants to ban Halloween as Satanic.

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