Utah bankruptcy filings are steadily climbing as the nation's recession continues to take a toll on the financial well-being of more and more people.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Utah reported nearly 1,000 more filings in the first quarter of 2010 than the first three months of last year.

If the rate continues, the number of bankruptcies filed in Utah will be back to record levels last seen in 2005. That was the year Congress revamped the nation's bankruptcy code, making it more difficult for consumers to file for protection or walk away from their debts.

Before Congress tightened the law in October 2005, the number of Utah bankruptcy filings peaked at 21,784, said David Sime, clerk of the federal bankruptcy court in Salt Lake City.

Although the legislation lowered the number of bankruptcy filings for a time, the number of cases in Utah has continued to increase, reaching 14,481 last year as the recession tightened its grip.

"This first quarter is showing a dramatic increase,"said Sime. "At these rates, we could be looking at 18,000 cases this calender year."

The increase in filings shows that consumers in Utah and elsewhere are having an increasingly hard time paying off their debts, said Stephen J. Kroes, president of the Utah Foundation, a nonprofit and nonpartisan research organization that has studied bankruptcy trends.

"It takes awhile for people to get desperate enough to file for bankruptcy," said Kroes. "But it's still surprising that we're getting back to the level before the federal reform laws took effect."

Utah bankruptcy filings for March totaled 1,824, up from 1,192 in February and 1,036 in January.

About two-thirds of those filing this quarter sought Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which involves a court-appointed trustee gathering the debtor's assets, auctioning them off and distributing the proceeds to creditors.

In addition, 34 percent of Utahns who sought protection from their creditors filed for Chapter 13, which involves debtors filing a plan to repay a portion of their debts over time, usually three to five years.