The number of Hawai'i bankruptcy filings in 2009 rose nearly 40 percent to a four-year high.

Figures through today show that a total of 2,906 bankruptcies were filed in U.S. District Court in Hawai'i this year, compared to 2,077 in 2008.

The number of filings was the most since 2005, when nearly 4,500 cases were filed.

"In 20 years of counseling debtors, I haven't seen the kind of urgency and desperation in people that I do today," said Wendy Burkholder, executive director of Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Hawaii, which conducts bankruptcy counseling services.

More than 2,300 of this year's cases were in the form of Chapter 7 personal bankruptcies, which was up about 5 percent from 2008.

Burkholder said that many of the personal bankruptcies are housing-related.

As the down economy has wreaked havoc on the personal finances of Isle residents, many have turned to bankruptcy to stave off foreclosure, she said.

"Many of these people have just exhausted their savings," she said.

There also were a number of notable business bankruptcies during the year. They included:

• The Honolulu Symphony Society, which filed for bankruptcy reorganization this month due to its heavy debt load and high operating costs;

• 'Aiea-based Hawaii Biotech Inc., which also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December after it ran out of cash to pay for research and clinical trial work;

• Two entities associated with local developer Brian Anderson, including the owner of the former W Honolulu-Diamond Head in Waikīkī;

• Honolulu Medical Group, one of the state's oldest physician clinics, which filed for reorganization in November.

Several Mainland companies with major Hawai'i holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this year.

They include Michigan-based General Growth Properties Inc., which owns Ala Moana Center, and the parent of the Hawaii Superferry, which shut down operations after the state Supreme Court ruled that the state erred when it exempted the state harbor improvements for the project from environmental review.