Colorado bankruptcy attorneys are seeing a surge in business. They say it's because of legislation passed by Congress recently that will soon make it harder for individuals to wipe their debts clean.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Denver reported a record three-thousand, 378 filings last month, which is a 24 percent increase over a year ago and the second consecutive month when filings in Colorado exceeded three-thousand.

The new bankruptcy law goes into effect October 17th. It's the most sweeping overhaul of the U-S bankruptcy code since 1978, requiring more documentation and trips to court.

Denver attorney Lee Kutner says the surge is undoubtedly because of the new law.

From what he's seeing, Kutner says anyone who has been thinking about bankruptcy relief is filing now.

Under the new law, debtors will have to get credit counseling and take a financial management course before a judge could erase their debts.

And higher income debtors are unlikely to qualify under the new law for a Chapter Seven liquidation, the most lenient form of bankruptcy that allows filers to essentially walk away from their debts.