Contact:
Hartgen
(703) 739-0800
color='#0000ff'>jhartgen@abiworld.org
BANKRUPTCY
FILINGS DURING FIRST HALF OF 2006 FALL TO LOWEST LEVELS SINCE
1986
August 28,
2006,
size='3'>Alexandria
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Va.
size='3'>The total number of U.S. bankruptcies filed during the first
six months of 2006 were the lowest first-half calendar year filings on
record in 20 years, as filings for the period from Jan. 1 – June
30, 2006 fell to 272,604 from 868,482, the total number of filings for
the same period in 2005, according to data released today by the
Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. When combined, the 2006
second-quarter (April
1 – June 30) bankruptcy filings total of 155,833 and the
first-quarter (Jan. 1 – March 31, 2006) filings total of 116, 771
represent the lowest number of calendar filings for the first six months
of a year since the first half of 1986, when bankruptcy filings totaled
258,311. The 2006 first-half filings also represent a 68.61 percent drop
in filings from the previous year’s first-half filings (Jan.
1-June 30, 2005), when 868,482 bankruptcies were filed. The 2006
second-quarter filings also represent a 66.65 percent drop compared with
the 467,333 total filings for the same three-month period ending June
30, 2005.
Total consumer filings for the
six-month period from Jan. 1 – June 30, 2006 were 263,660,
representing a 69.04 percent decrease from the same period in 2005, in
which consumer filings totaled 851,683. The 8,944 business filings from
Jan. 1 – June 30, 2006, represented a 46.76 percent decrease from
the same period the previous year, in which 16,799 business filings were
recorded.
Due in large part to the new
requirements of the Bankruptcy Abuse Protection and Consumer Protection
Act of 2005 (BAPCPA), the type of consumer bankruptcies filed in the
first half of 2006 shifted considerably from the first half of 2005.
Chapter 13 filings represented 41.15 percent of all consumer filings in
the six-month period ending June 30, 2006, up from 24.15 percent during
the same period of 2005. Conversely, the percentage of consumer chapter
7 filings fell to 58.76 percent of total consumer filings in the
six-month period ending June 30, 2006, from 75.81 percent in the first
calendar half of 2005.
The 1,484,570 total filings
during the 12-month period ending June 30, 2006, represent the lowest
number of filings in a 12-month period since the 12-month period ending
Sept. 30, 2001, when there were 1,437,354 filings. Total filings
decreased from the 1,794,795 filings reported for the 12-month period
ending March 31, 2006.
Nonbusiness filings for the
12-month period ending June 30, 2006, fell 9.46 percent to 1,453,008
from the 1,604,848 total nonbusiness filings in the 12-month period
ending June 30, 2005. The 31,562 total business filings for the 12-month
period ending June 30, 2006 represented a 2.6 percent decrease from the
32,406 bankruptcy petitions filed in the 12-month period ending June 30,
2005.
Chapter 13 filings fell 29.48
percent to 313,085 in the 12-month period ending June 30, 2006, from
443,945 in the same period last year. Chapter 11 filings also declined,
falling 7.15 percent to 6,224 in the 12-month period ending June 30,
2006, from 6,703 in 2005. Conversely, chapter 12 filings rose 24.14
percent from 290 in the 12-month period ending June 30, 2005, to 360 in
2006.
size='3'>BUSINESS FILINGS for the three-month
period ending June 30, 2006, totaled 4,858, down 44.39 percent from the
8,736 bankruptcy business cases filed in the same period in 2005.
NONBUSINESS FILINGS
for the three-month period ending June 30, 2006,
decreased 67.08 percent from 458,597 in the same period in 2005 to
150,975.
The chapter* breakdown
of BUSINESS
filings for the three-month period ending June 30, 2006,
is: 2,940 chapter 7s, 1,079 chapter 11s, 99 chapter 12s and 729 chapter
13s.
The chapter breakdown
of
size='3'>NONBUSINESS filings for the
three-month period ending June 30, 2006, is: 91,674 chapter 7s, 131
chapter 11s and 59,170 chapter 13s.
Districts with the Highest
Percentage INCREASE in Total Filings for the 12-month period ending June
30, 2006 (compared to the identical period in 2005):
- District of Vermont:
11.86%
- Northern District of Indiana:
10.63%
- District of Alaska:
8.71%
size='3'>
- District of the
Mariana Islands
7.14%
- District of Nevada:
5.98%
Districts with the Highest
Percentage DECREASE in Total Filings for the 12-month period ending June
30, 2006 (compared to the identical period in 2005):
- Eastern District of Louisiana:
33.96%
- District of Utah:
31.92%
- Southern District of
Georgia: 29.88%
size='3'>
- Southern District of
Alabama: 29.67%
- Middle District
of
face='Times New Roman'
size='3'>Georgia
28.79%
###
ABI is the largest
multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and
education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to
provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy
issues. The ABI membership includes more than 11,500 attorneys,
accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround
specialists and other bankruptcy professionals providing a forum for the
exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on ABI,
visit www.abiworld.org. For additional conference information,
visit
face='Times New Roman' color='#0000ff'
size='3'>http://www.abiworld.org/conferences.html
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>.
*Definitions from
Bankruptcy Overview: Issues, Law
and Policy, by the
American Bankruptcy Institute.
size='3'>Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code
is available to both individual and business debtors. Its purpose is to
achieve a fair distribution to creditors of the debtor’s available
non-exempt property. Unsecured debts not reaffirmed are
discharged, providing a fresh financial
start.
size='3'>Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy
Code is available for both business and consumer debtors. Its purpose is
to rehabilitate a business as a going concern or reorganize an
individual’s finances through a court-approved reorganization
plan.
size='3'>Chapter 12 of the Bankruptcy
Code is designed to give special debt relief to a family farmer with
regular income from farming.
size='3'>Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy
Code is available for an individual with regular income whose debts do
not exceed specific amounts; it is typically used to budget some of the
debtor’s future earnings under a plan through which unsecured
creditors are paid in whole or in part.