Embattled small-business lender CIT can now be called bankrupt small-business lender CIT. The company filed for Chapter 11 today under a plan allowing it to emerge from court protection by the end of the year. But this is one of the first times a financial firm has tried to restructure through bankruptcy, so no one really knows if it will work. CIT’s filing was the fifth largest bankruptcy in U.S. history and while you may be thinking “sucks for them,” it actually sucks for you too. CIT received $2.3 billion in bailout money late last year. The bankruptcy filing is expected to erase that debt.
