Bankruptcy filings began climbing last year, as the housing crisis and rising consumer debt began to take their toll.

Crystal Erickson and her sons Mun Luak, 1, and Ramkel Luak, 3, in Portland, Me. She and her fiancé face foreclosure on their home and are considering bankruptcy.

Filings plummeted in 2006 after reaching unusual heights in 2005, when consumers rushed to declare bankruptcy before a tough new law took effect that October. Total filings of both consumer and business bankruptcies last year were still far below what they were in 2004, the last “normal” year.

Business bankruptcy filings nationwide fell 4.5 percent in the July-to-September quarter, according to Automated Access to Court Electronic Records, a bankruptcy management and data company.