Consumer Bankruptcy

Alexandria, Va. — The total 43,425 bankruptcy filings for March represented a 39 percent increase over the 31,221 filings during the previous month of February, according to data provided by Epiq. Similarly, the 41,150 total noncommercial filings for March represented a 41 percent increase from the February 2021 noncommercial filing total of 29,256. The 2,275 total commercial filings in March represented a 16 percent increase from the 1,965 total commercial filings during the previous month. Commercial chapter 11 filings decreased 9 percent in March to 384 from the 420 commercial chapter 11 filings in February.

“While the government has extended economic stabilization measures and lenders remain flexible to meet the economic hardships of the COVID-19 pandemic, bankruptcy provides a proven shield to families and businesses with mounting debt loads and financial uncertainty,” said ABI Executive Director Amy Quackenboss. “Recent action by Congress and the administration will ensure that households and small businesses continue to have greater access to the financial fresh start of bankruptcy.”

President Joe Biden on March 27 signed the “COVID-19 Bankruptcy Relief Extension Act” into law to extend provisions providing financially distressed consumers and small businesses greater access to bankruptcy relief. The legislation will extend personal and small business bankruptcy-relief provisions that were part of last year's CARES Act through March 2022. Some of the key provisions of last year's relief packages were the increased debt limit to $7.5 million for small business debtors electing to file under subchapter V and allowing individuals to seek COVID-19–related hardship modifications, among other changes. Click here for more information.

For the first calendar quarter of 2021 (Jan. 1-March 31), the 106,958 total bankruptcy filings represented a 40 percent decrease from the 177,246 total filings during the same period last year at the start of the pandemic (filings started showing their largest decreases due to the pandemic in the second calendar quarter of 2020). Consumer filings also decreased 40 percent to 100,669 filings in the first quarter of 2021 from the 167,376 consumer filings during the same period in 2020. Total overall commercial bankruptcies decreased 36 percent in the first quarter of 2021, as the 6,289 filings were down from the 9,870 commercial filings during the first quarter of 2020. Total commercial chapter 11 filings dipped 25 percent to 1,283 during the first calendar quarter of 2021 from the 1,709 total commercial chapter 11s during the same period in 2020.

The average nationwide per capita bankruptcy filing rate for the first three months of 2021 increased to 1.38 (total filings per 1,000 per population) from the 1.23 filing rate of the first two months of the year. States with the highest per capita filing rates (total filings per 1,000 population) for the first quarter of 2021 were:

1. Alabama (3.29)

2. Delaware (2.98)

3. Nevada (2.85)

4. Tennessee (2.56)

5. Georgia (2.27)

ABI has partnered with Epiq in order to provide the most current bankruptcy filing data for analysts, researchers and members of the news media. Epiq is a leading provider of managed technology for the global legal profession. 

For further information about the statistics or additional requests, please contact ABI Public Affairs Officer John Hartgen at 703-894-5935 or jhartgen@abiworld.org.

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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 nearly 11,000 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 ABI, visit www.abi.org. For additional conference information, visit http://www.abi.org/calendar-of-events.

Epiq, a global technology-enabled services leader to the legal services industry and corporations, takes on large-scale, increasingly complex tasks for corporate counsel, law firms, and business professionals with efficiency, clarity, and confidence. Clients rely on Epiq to streamline the administration of business operations, class action and mass tort, court reporting, eDiscovery, regulatory, compliance, restructuring, and bankruptcy matters. Epiq subject-matter experts and technologies create efficiency through expertise and deliver confidence to high-performing clients around the world. Learn more at https://www.epiqglobal.com.

President Joe Biden on Saturday signed the “COVID-19 Bankruptcy Relief Extension Act” into law to extend provisions providing financially distressed consumers and small businesses greater access to bankruptcy relief. The legislation will extend personal and small business bankruptcy relief provisions that were part of last year's CARES Act through March 27, 2022. Some of the key provisions of last year's relief packages were the increased debt limit to $7.5 million for small business debtors electing to file under subchapter V and allowing individuals to seek COVID-19–related hardship modifications, among other changes. With the CARES Act bankruptcy provisions originally due to sunset on March 27, the House of Representatives on Friday afternoon passed the Senate-amended version of H.R. 1651, the “COVID-19 Bankruptcy Relief Extension Act of 2021,” which passed by unanimous consent in the Senate on Wednesday. The Senate struck a provision from the original bill that would have extended the bankruptcy provisions of December's “Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021” (CAA) that are due to sunset on December 27.

“While the economic strains of the COVID-19 pandemic linger, these important extensions provide another year of enhanced bankruptcy protections for struggling small businesses and consumers,” said ABI Executive Director Amy Quackenboss. “ABI appreciates the prompt efforts of Congress and the administration to ensure that households and small businesses continue to have greater access to the financial fresh start of bankruptcy.”

Key bankruptcy provisions extended to 2022 by the COVID-19 Bankruptcy Relief Extension Act include:

• The increased eligibility threshold of the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 (SBRA) for businesses filing under subchapter V of chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code from $2,725,625 of debt to $7,500,000. The increased debt limit for struggling small businesses to access subchapter V reflects recommendations of ABI’s Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11.
• Amending the definition of “income” in the Bankruptcy Code for chapters 7 and 13 to exclude coronavirus-related payments from the federal government from being treated as “income” for purposes of filing bankruptcy.
• Clarifying that the calculation of disposable income for purposes of confirming a chapter 13 plan shall not include coronavirus-related payments.
• Explicitly permitting individuals and families currently in chapter 13 to seek payment plan modifications if they are experiencing a material financial hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic, including extending their payments for up to seven years after their initial plan payment was due.

“Our members will continue utilizing these tools to help consumers and small businesses struggling with overwhelming debts due to the economic fallout of the pandemic,” Quackenboss said.

Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced S. 473 on February 25 to extend the bankruptcy provision sunsets, and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., introduced H.R. 1651, the House companion, on March 8. ABI on March 5 sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee leadership supporting S. 473, the "COVID-19 Bankruptcy Relief Extension Act."

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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 nearly 11,000 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 ABI, visit www.abiworld.org.