by Calculated Risk on 6/28/2009 10:29:00 AM

From the LA Times: Personal bankruptcies surge in Southern California

Going legally broke has made a big comeback -- especially in the Los Angeles area -- despite a mid-decade revision to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code intended to curb filings.

The number of Southern Californians seeking bankruptcy protection nearly doubled in 2008 from 2007 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court's seven-county California Central District, by far the biggest increase in the nation.

Bankruptcy is still booming. Personal filings from January through April, the most recent month available, rose 75% in the Central District compared with the year-earlier period.

Bankruptcy experts attribute the growth mainly to the mortgage meltdown, which hit the region's adventuresome borrowers particularly hard.

Ahhh ... "adventuresome borrowers" ... sounds better than gamblers or speculators.

Click on cartoon for larger image in new window. Repeat: Cartoon from Eric G. Lewis, a freelance cartoonist living in Orange County, CA.