Hawaii bankruptcy filings increased in August for only the third time in more than five years.

The number of cases last month rose 3.4 percent to 123 from 119, according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Hawaii. But bankruptcy attorney Michael Collins of Cain & Herren LLP in Wailuku says he doesn’t think the down month is an indication that a shift in the number of filings is underway.

“The No. 1 reason why people come into my office is because of foreclosure and foreclosure-related deadlines,” Collins said. “I wouldn’t say that I’m detecting a trend reversal in (those areas). The issue is that the most popular loan modification program (the federal Home Affordable Modification Program) is set to expire on Jan. 1, 2017, so there has been a rush to do modifications.”

The Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, was created in 2009 to modify loans and make payments more affordable. Typically, a three- to five-month trial plan is negotiated while the underwriter is drafting up the terms of the permanent loan modification.

“It (HAMP) gets the debtor back on monthly payments, and if we’re doing it in the context of a 13 (bankruptcy), which sometimes we are, then the actual modification has to be approved by the bankruptcy court,” Collins said.

Chapter 13 filings, which allow individuals with regular sources of income to set up plans to make installment payments to creditors over three to five years, jumped 48.5 percent to 49 last month from 33 in August 2015.

“The 13 slows down the foreclosure process, and it creates a budget that the debtor can use to manage their debts,” Collins said.

Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcies — the most common type of bankruptcy — fell 12.9 percent in August to 74 from 85 in the year-earlier month. There were no Chapter 11 cases last month compared with one in the same month a year ago. Chapter 11 bankruptcies typically involve business reorganization.

Collins said filing a Chapter 13 is more effective than a Chapter 7 in postponing a foreclosure.

Despite last month’s uptick, statewide filings have been flat or down from the year-earlier period for 62 of the past 65 months. A booming construction sector, low unemployment, a strong housing market and growth in the tourism industry have helped bolster the state economy.

The only other interruption in the downward trend was in October and November 2015, when bankruptcies were up slightly over the year-earlier period.

For the first eight months of the year, bankruptcies were down 12.4 percent from the year-earlier period. At that pace the state will finish the year with 1,400 bankruptcies. That would be the lowest total since 1,381 were filed in 2007.

Across the state, the number of filings increased last month in two of the four major counties. Bankruptcies in Hawaii County rose to 14 from eight, and Maui County filings increased to 22 from 19. Honolulu County bankruptcies declined to 84 from 86, while Kauai County filings fell to three from six.