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By Ashish Rajan, CardTrak.com

Americans filed a record number of bankruptcy petitions in April as the clock began to tick on new laws to take effect on October 17th. More than 170,000 filings were made during April, compared to 145,543 for April 2004. The 16.0% gain for April is the second month in a row that filings have moved up sharply after a steady two-year decline. Bankruptcy filings declined about 4% for the full-year of 2004. In January filings dropped 13%, and during February filings dived by 17% year-over-year. The steep rise in March and April is expected to continue through the fall of the year.