A year after national laws made bankruptcies more expensive, more restrictive and just generally harder to go through, Maine filings have taken a nosedive.

By Oct. 17 last year, as people rushed to the court before the law changed, filings ballooned over 6,100.

So far this year, they haven’t even hit 750.

Experts can’t agree on why Chapter 7 bankruptcies have fallen so low. Did this year’s debtors rush to file last year? Are people put off by the greater cost? Or do they make too much money to file under the new law?

Experts do believe one thing: The low point won’t stay low for long.

“I think it’s probably an aberration,” said Paris attorney Jeff White.

Ten years in the making, the 2005 bankruptcy reform sought to shift some people away from Chapter 7 – in which people can walk away from most old debt – and push them toward Chapter 13 – in which they must pay back at least a little over three to five years. The new law forced courts to look at household earnings, not the money people have left over at the end of each month. Most households with incomes above the median (in Maine, $35,000 for one person, $64,000 for a family of four) now can’t file for Chapter 7.

So far, only one or two cases failed to meet that income requirement, according to Celia Strickler, clerk of the courts at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Maine.

The new law also increased filing fees from $209 to $274 and almost doubled the cost of an average bankruptcy case to $1,500. It required people to complete financial counseling before and after filing, and it required people to track down more income and asset records.

It also forced lawyers to vouch for clients’ assets, or lack of assets, and it restricted the advice attorneys can offer.

“Once the new law went into effect, the ability of most people to file bankruptcy was compromised significantly,” said Lewiston attorney Neil Shankman, state chairman of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

He points to the dramatic decrease in filings as evidence.

According to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Maine averaged just under 3,300 Chapter 7 cases by Oct. 17 between 2000 and 2004. That jumped to more than 6,100 as people rushed to file before the new laws took effect on Oct. 17, 2005.

Bankruptcies have dropped across the country, but Maine’s rate remains a little lower than the national average, experts said. This year’s bankruptcy filings – just under 750 cases – are about 23 percent of Maine’s average. They represent about 12 percent of last year’s boom.

Shankman doesn’t think the number of cases dropped because this year’s potential filers rushed to bankruptcy last year. He believes there are fewer cases right now because only desperate Mainers are daring to go through the more complicated process and pay the higher fees for a chance at bankruptcy.

“People really have to be pushed to the edge,” he said.

His bankruptcy cases have gone down. His divorce cases have helped take up the slack.

In Paris, White believes filings are down this year because of last year’s boom.

“The pent-up demand was pretty exhausted,” he said.

Like Shankman, White’s bankruptcy cases are down, too. But inquiries remain up. People take action more slowly.

White believes filings will climb back close to their original average. Bankruptcy laws may have changed, he said, but credit card policies haven’t.

“As long as they keep getting those credit card offers, human nature being as it is, they’ll charge until they reach the limit,” he said.