One of the most powerful couples in Michigan Democratic politics filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in December. Larry Owen, a former mayor of East Lansing, and Faylene Owen, a Michigan State University trustee, reported nearly half-a-million dollars in unsecured debts, including $109,781 in unpaid taxes. "We've had some significant business reverses in the last 18 months," said Larry Owen, a two-time gubernatorial candidate and former U.S. consul general to Bermuda. Among them were investments in two real estate ventures that "didn't make it in this economy," he said Friday. "We're not unique," Owen said. "It's happened to a lot of businesses and people. It's also happened to us." Owen said his wife was not responsible for the couple's financial difficulties and not even aware of them until late last year. "Faylene has been a passenger in the car and I've been the driver," he said. "She's suffering the consequences but didn't participate in the decision making." Chapter 7 bankruptcy involves the liquidation of an individual's assets in order to pay outstanding debts, though certain exemptions are allowed. In documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Western District of Michigan, the Owens list $1.36 million in assets - primarily from their Bath Township home, which is in foreclosure, and $1.39 million in outstanding debts. Those debts include $96,996 in state and federal income taxes and $12,785 in property taxes. That money will have to be paid despite the bankruptcy. "Almost all federal and state taxes don't get discharged in bankruptcy," said Scott Neuman, an Okemos bankruptcy attorney who is not involved in the Owens' case. "It's very, very rare." "As far as property taxes, if he's surrendering the property, then it gets foreclosed on and the mortgage company usually pays the taxes." There were more than 1.4 million consumer bankruptcy filings in the U.S. last year, a 32 percent increase over 2008, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute.