In the crush of foreclosures and bankruptcies that have rocked the area and state economies, yet another tragedy is emerging ---- a rising tide of bankruptcies as people lose homes and jobs and their savings evaporate in credit card debt.

In all, Americans owe almost $1 trillion in credit debt, according to the Federal Reserve, up from about $10 billion in 1968. So severe is Americans' credit-card addiction that it has been the subject of several recent books, such as "Credit Card Nation," and documentaries, such as "Maxed Out."

TransUnion LLC, the Chicago-based credit reporting bureau, says the average American now owes almost $6,000 in credit card debt.

Until a few years ago, Americans could wash away that debt fairly easily by filing for bankruptcy. Tightening of bankruptcy filing requirements in 2005 erased the ability of many homeowners to divert credit card payments to their mortgages and probably helped trigger the foreclosure crisis, according to a report by the New York Fed, one of the member banks of the Federal Reserve.

Americans owe so much in credit card debt that some experts contend this recession was consumer-led. Banks encouraged homeowners to pay off credit card debt with equity loans on their houses, said Robert Manning, founder of the nonprofit Responsible Debt Relief Institute. The strategy worked as long as housing prices were appreciating.

"Banks make huge amounts of money on credit-card fees," says Barry Mishra, an accounting professor at the Graduate School of Management at UC Riverside. "Credit-card companies want to trap you and then suck you dry. They are playing a game they cannot lose."

And Riverside County's fragile economy is particularly vulnerable to the credit-card debt run-up.

Between June 2008 and June 2009, small-business bankruptcy filings rose 81 percent nationally, according to Equifax, the credit reporting agency. Riverside/San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Sacramento led the nation, Equifax said. That's particularly ominous for the county, because another wave of foreclosures looms as loans called Alt-A and Option ARMs (adjustable rate mortgages) will soon begin resetting.

Riverside County already is one of the foreclosure capitals of the nation, and as those loans reset to higher levels, a rush of additional foreclosures in the county is nearly certain, experts say.

Nationally, almost one-third of Option ARM loanholders already are delinquent in their payments, according to the federal General Accounting Office. The only question is how many more foreclosures are coming, says Chris Sorensen, a Temecula-based mortgage and banking expert.

And that will lead to more bankruptcies, Sorensen and others fear.

"More people are filing," said Ivan Trahan, a Temecula bankruptcy attorney. "People cannot pay off their credit card debt, and they have no equity left in their house to borrow."

People were living beyond their means, he said, and with the premise that they could pay off credit card debt with equity loans as their house increased in value.

Filings at his firm are up 50 percent, he said.

Moreover, he said, more formerly wealthy people are filing for bankruptcy. In addition, economists say the county's commercial property values have begun to fall, which probably will trigger more bankruptcies.

Besides the economic toll, people who have filed for bankruptcy to get out from under credit card debt often say it has chastened them and changed how they live.

Resident Karen Saldanha says credit card companies "hold you hostage" by raising interest rates on the cards.

Not so, says the American Bankers Association, which notes that about 6,000 companies issue credit cards in the U.S. It advises people to shop around for rates.

Saldanha filed for bankruptcy after running up her credit card debt, much of it for necessities, she said, after she hurt her back in a car accident and could not work. Then came $12,000 in medical bills.

Growth in her total debt was insidious, she said, and soon she was staring at $30,000 in credit card debt. She was working in real estate sales at the time.

She filed for bankruptcy, a move she fervently wishes she could have avoided.

After the court discharged her debt, she was bombarded with credit card offers ---- as many bankruptcy filers are.

Banks realize bankruptcy filers cannot seek that protection again for seven years, and they often offer either very low-limit credit cards or cards whose use is limited to money the holder had in the bank.

"What kind of credit is that?" Saldanha asked. She now has such a card ---- it's tethered to her bank account, so it's essentially a debit card.

"We're all hooked on credit," she said, although she added that she has learned to enjoy a simpler life with her husband, a car mechanic.

Now, she and a partner own and operate stores ---- one in Temecula; the other in Corona ---- that sell natural healing equipment and food supplements and also offer seminars on topics such as aromatherapy.

"We barely make it," she says. "But I have no debts in front of me."

In Murrieta, business at Sobak Loan Forensics and Sobak Credit Repair is up 60 percent, owner Tony Sobak said recently.

"People cannot afford to pay their mortgage and their credit card bills," he said. "Their hours have been cut at work; they are overwhelmed."

Dealing with the big financial institutions that issue the credit cards and the often complex rules frustrates consumers. A survey last year by CreditCards.org found 58 percent of respondents either "somewhat" or "strongly" distrustful of credit card companies, in part because they find the pages of terms so voluminous and hard to understand.

Then they are stunned when the interest and penalties start building, said Ben Woolsey, director of marketing and consumer research for the organization, which provides comparisons on credit cards.

Some are finding innovative ways to get out from under credit card debt.

Lynn Nelson is president of Temecula-based Lighthouse of Hope, a nonprofit debt and credit counseling service. He says he has successfully persuaded some banks to drop credit card debt for some of his clients by arguing that credit card transactions are not really loans, but rather an extension of credit, akin to that a casino makes in chips to its good customers.

It may be that the banks Nelson deals with this way want to avoid the expense of a court case, especially with members of the armed forces he often represents.

Banks do sometimes offer to reduce debt rather than lose all of what is owed them in bankruptcy filing.

Maria Garcia of Temecula says Citibank offered to reduce her $10,000 credit card debt by half if she would pay it off.

That's appealing, but Garcia works for a mortgage company and says the housing downturn has left her unable to raise that much.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Call staff writer Jeff Rowe at 951-676-4315, ext. 2621.