ALEXANDRIA, Va. — American Bankruptcy Institute officials determined April's consumer bankruptcies dropped both month-over-month and year-over-year.

According to data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center, there were 134,720 consumer bankruptcy filings in April. ABI indicated that this amount was 7 percent lower than the same month last year when there were 144,490 consumer filings.

The institute went on to mention April filings also represented a 7-percent decrease from the March consumer bankruptcy total of 144,657 filings.

ABI added the percentage of Chapter 13 filings for April remained virtually unchanged from March at 26 percent.

"As consumer debt levels fall and families continue to shore up their finances, bankruptcy filings will continue to drop as well," surmised ABI executive director Samuel Gerdano.

"Consumer bankruptcies for 2011 will likely dip below the 1.5 million filings recorded last year," Gerdano predicted.