Commercial Chapter 11 filings increased 19 percent in August from last year, according to data provided by Epiq Systems, Inc. The 432 commercial Chapter 11 filings in August 2019 were up 19 percent over the 364 filings registered in August 2018. Overall commercial filings also increased in August, as the 3,337 filings were a 3 percent increase over the 3,231 filings in August 2018, the American Bankruptcy Institute reported.
Conversely, the 66,478 total U.S. bankruptcy filings for August represented a 3 percent decrease from the August 2018 total of 68,547 filings. The 63,141 consumer filings in August also represented a 3 percent decrease from last year’s consumer filing total of 65,316.
The 432 commercial Chapter 11 filings recorded in August represented a 3 percent increase over the 421 commercial Chapter 11 filings in July. August business filings increased 1 percent to 3,337 from July’s business total of 3,304.
Total bankruptcy filings in August represented a 3 percent increase from the 64,310 total filings in July. The 63,141 consumer filings in August represented a 4 percent increase from July’s consumer total of 61,006.
“Increasing trade costs and rising debt loads present challenges for financially distressed families and businesses,” said ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano. “Legislation was recently signed into law providing better access to the financial fresh start of bankruptcy for struggling small businesses, veterans and family farmers.”
President Donald J. Trump on Aug. 23 signed the “Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019” (H.R. 3311), “HAVEN Act” (H.R. 2938) and “Family Farmer Relief Act of 2019” (H.R. 2336) into law. The bipartisan bills, which ABI testified in support of in June, passed the House in late July and the Senate on Aug. 1
The average nationwide per capita bankruptcy filing rate in August was 2.51 (total filings per 1,000 per population), a slight increase from the filing rate of 2.50 during the first seven months of 2019. Average total filings per day in August were 3,022, up from the 2,980 total daily filings recorded in August 2018. States with the highest per capita filing rates (total filings per 1,000 population) in August 2019 were:
- Alabama (5.68)
- Tennessee (5.45)
- Georgia (4.40)
- Mississippi (4.24)
- Nevada (3.81)
ABI has partnered with Epiq Systems, Inc. in order to provide the most current bankruptcy filing data for analysts, researchers and members of the news media.