Washington: Bankruptcy filings by consumers and businesses in the US climbed by 38 per cent to 850,912 in 2007, the Administrative Office of US Courts revealed on Tuesday.

There were 617,660 filings in 2006, a drop from a record two million in the previous years because of new laws that made it more difficult to file for bankruptcy.

But the number climbed in 2007 in part because of the crisis in the housing market that caused an increase in home-loan foreclosures.

The number could worsen in 2008 because of sluggish economy and the ongoing credit and mortgage crisis.

There were 2,078,415 filings in 2005, a number that prompted Congress to toughen laws for people seeking debt relief.

The 2007 filings included 822,590 consumer filings and 28,322 business filings, according to the court office, which complies data from federal courts.

Source : IANS