Contact:
Hartgen
(703) 739-0800
color='#0000ff'>jhartgen@abiworld.org
TOTAL
BANKRUPTCY FILINGS INCREASE 31 PERCENT, BUSINESS FILINGS SURGE 54
PERCENT IN 2008
size='3'>March 5, 2009 Alexandria,
Va.
size='3'>— Total bankruptcy filings in the United States increased
31 percent in 2008 over calendar year 2007, according to data
released today from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
(AOUSC). Bankruptcy filings totaled 1,117,771 for the 12-month period
ending Dec. 31, 2008, a significant increase over the previous
year’s total of 850,912. The 2008 filing total marks the first
year since the implementation of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and
Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA) that bankruptcies have
surpassed 1 million.
'Today's numbers confirm what we have reported previously, that
bankruptcies are on the rise, and will continue to spike upward in
2009,' said
Director Samuel
J. Gerdano. 'We expect filings to reach 1.4 million or even
more this year, especially if Congress changes the law to permit
homeowners to modify home mortgages via chapter 13.'
Business bankruptcies recorded
the sharpest percentage increase as the 43,546 business filings during
calendar year 2008 represented a 54 percent increase in filings from the
28,322 filings made during the 12-month period ending Dec. 31, 2007. The
12-month business filing total for 2008 was the highest since the
44,367 filings recorded for the 1998 calendar year.
size='3'>
The 1,074,225 consumer
filings during the 2008 calendar year represented a 31 percent increase
over the 822,590 recorded during the same period in 2007.
size='3'>The 714,389 consumer chapter 7 filings during the 12-month
period ending Dec. 31, 2008, comprised 67 percent of the total consumer
filings for the 2008 calendar year, up from 61 percent the previous
year. The consumer chapter 7 total for 2008 represented a 43 percent
increase over the 500,613 consumer chapter 7 filings during
2007.
The 358,947 consumers who filed
for chapter 13 during the 12-month period ending Dec. 31, 2008,
comprised 33 percent of the overall consumer filing total. The consumer
chapter 13 total for 2008 represents a 12 percent increase over the
321,359 consumer chapter 13 filings during 2007.
The 301,317 total bankruptcies
recorded during the fourth calendar quarter of 2008 (Oct.1-Dec. 31,
2008) represent a 31 percent increase from the 226,413 filings during
the same period in 2007. The 2008 fourth calendar quarter filing total
was the first time since the implementation of BAPCPA that quarterly
filings have eclipsed 300,000. The fourth quarter 2008 filing total also
represented a 3 percent increase over the third quarter (July 1 –
Sept. 30, 2008) total of 292,291.
The 288,416 consumer filings in
the fourth quarter of 2008 represent a 32 percent increase in comparison
to the 218,428 consumer filings for the same quarter of 2007. The
consumer filing total for the fourth calendar quarter also represented a
nearly 3 percent increase from the third quarter 2008 total of 280,787
consumer filings.
Business filings, which totaled
12,901 for the fourth calendar quarter of 2008, represented a 62 percent
increase from the 7,985 filed in the same 3-month period in 2007 (Oct.
1-Dec. 31). Business filings also rose over the previous quarter as the
fourth calendar quarter represented a 12 percent increase over the
11,504 business filings reported during the third quarter of 2008 (July
1- Sept. 30).
The chapter* breakdown
of BUSINESS
filings for the 3-month period ending Dec. 31, 2008, is
8,872 chapter 7s, 2,941 chapter 11s, 90 chapter 12s and 970 chapter
13s.
The chapter breakdown
of
size='3'>NONBUSINESS filings for the 3-month
period ending Dec. 31, 2008, is 193,246 chapter 7s, 234 chapter 11s and
94,935 chapter 13s.
States with the HIGHEST PER CAPITA
FILING RATE (Total Filings) for the 12-month period ending Dec. 31,
2008:
size='3'>Tennessee- Nevada
- Georgia
size='3'>Alabama- Indiana
- Michigan
- Ohio
- Kentucky
size='3'>Arkansas- 10. Illinois
Districts with the HIGHEST PERCENTAGE
INCREASE in Total Filings for the 12-month period ending Dec. 31, 2008
(compared to the identical period in 2007):
- Central District
of California: 93.5% - District of Arizona:
78.9% - Eastern District
of California: 78.1% - Southern District
of California: 76.6% - District of Delaware:
73.9%
Districts with the HIGHEST PERCENTAGE
DECREASEin Total Filings for the 12-month period ending Dec. 31, 2008
(compared to the identical period in 2007):
- District of the Northern
Mariana Islands: -29.4% - District of the Virgin
Islands: -21.7% - Southern District of the
Texas: -6.1% - Middle District of Louisiana:
-3.1% - Northern District of New York:
-2.2%
More information will be
available at
href='http://www.abiworld.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Online_Resources/Bankruptcy_Statistics/ABI_-_Bankruptcy_Statistics.htm'>
face='Times New Roman' color='#0000ff' size='3'>ABI’s Statistics
Page,
href='http://www.abiworld.org/statistics'>
color='#0000ff'
size='3'>http://www.abiworld.org/statistics
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>.
###
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>ABI
size='3'>is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization
dedicated to research and education on matters related to
insolvency.
was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public
with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues. The
w:st='on'>
size='3'>ABI
more than 12,000 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
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>ABI
size='3'>, visit www.abiworld.org. For additional conference
information, visit
href='http://www.abiworld.org/conferences.html'>
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face='Times New Roman' size='3'>.
size='3'>*Definitions from Bankruptcy Overview: Issues, Law and Policy,
by the American Bankruptcy Institute
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.
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.