Moody's Investor Service said yesterday that the number of municipal bond defaults have increased since the financial crisis but it added that defaults remain few in number, Reuters reported yesterday. In 2012 there were five Moody's-rated defaults and 23 since the beginning of the recession in 2008, with an average of 4.6 defaults per years, up from 1.3 in the 1970-2007 period. The five Moody's rated defaults last year were KidsPeace (a nonprofit in Pa.); Wenatchee, Wash.; Stockton, Calif.; American Opportunity for Housing in Colinas, Texas; and Oakdale Sewer Enterprise in Calif.
For further analysis of municipal distress and chapter 9, pick up a copy of ABI's Municipalities in Peril: The ABI Guide to Chapter 9, Second Edition from the ABI Bookstore.