"It was opening up and watching the flies go by," said Terry, of her Four Seasons Garden Center in Youngsville.

Tired of losing $4,000 a month, Terry filed for bankruptcy in March. Across the Triangle, bankruptcies are soaring as people and businesses, pulled down by bad luck and a bad economy, are giving up.

"It's the worst in 30 years of practice," said Richard D. Sparkman, an Angier bankruptcy lawyer.

Bankruptcies historically rise during economic downturns. This time, lawyers and court officials are seeing a surge in filings by businesses connected to the real estate industry, which has suffered as the nation's mortgage crisis deepened and bankers tightened credit.

"The last time we had this many real-estate related bankruptcies was in the 1980s during the savings-and-loan crisis," said Marjorie Lynch, bankruptcy administrator for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Eastern District.

For the four-county region of Wake, Durham, Orange and Johnston, first quarter bankruptcy filings totaled 777 -- or a 6.58 percent increase over a year ago, according to data from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District. The totals include Chapter 7 liquidation for individuals and businesses, Chapter 11 reorganization for businesses and Chapter 13 repayments for individuals.

Through May 27, 38 Triangle businesses declared bankruptcy. There were 20 over the same period last year.

At least eight of those Triangle filings were tied to real estate, and more are expected. Bankruptcies lag the rest of the economy by a few months, and lawyers say they are increasingly counseling struggling landscapers, subcontractors and builders. "I'm probably looking at a dozen imminent filings from builders or other people directly related to commercial real estate," Sparkman said.

The trend follows the nation: Bankruptcies jumped 37 percent from 2006 to 850,912 last year, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute. It estimates filings will hit 1.2 million this year.

Business 'went wrong'

Earlier this month, William P. Janvier, a bankruptcy lawyer in the Raleigh firm of Everett, Gaskins, Hancock and Stevens, filed a Chapter 7 for Custom Homes by Harry Krohn, a Raleigh homebuilder since 1992. The filing listed $1.3 million in assets and $1.78 million in liabilities.

Capital Builders LLC, a Raleigh modular home and window and siding business since 1993, filed Chapter 11 protection May 20.

Co-owner Pam Dickerson said a big supply of houses on the market -- boosted by record foreclosures -- caused falling sales since 2006. "We have no assets and liabilities of $300,000. There are so many houses built and foreclosures I can't compete," said Dickerson, who has a partner and one employee in the company.

Suppliers and investors have sued Capital Builders for $189,371 in unpaid debt, according to Wake Court documents. Dickerson said filing for Chapter 11 protection was the only way to stay in operation while the company develops a new niche -- building churches.

Terry, the garden center owner, filed for a Chapter 7 liquidation. When she and a partner bought the nursery two years ago, it was marginally profitable. It began losing money during the drought. Rising gas prices made a Christmas tree delivery unfeasible, further hurting sales. The building slowdown, which cut sales to homeowners and professional landscapers, killed it for good.

They cut jobs and tried to sell the business, but there were no takers. When the store was down to one employee, Terry filed for bankruptcy in March.

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