According to data provided by Epiq Bankruptcy, total bankruptcy filings in the United States increased 4% to 32,695 in October over the 31,493 total filings in October 2021.
Overall individual filings increased 4% in October, as the 30,809 filings were up over the 29,695 individual filings registered in October 2021. The 1,886 total commercial filings in October represented a 5% increase from the 1,798 commercial filings in October 2021. Consumer Chapter 13 filings increased 27% to 13,627 in October from the 10,767 filings in October 2021. Commercial Chapter 11 filings increased 2% in October to 304 filings from 297 filings during the same period last year. Small business filings, captured as Subchapter V elections within Chapter 11, increased 28% to 131 in October from 102 in October 2021.
“With inflation increasing the costs of goods and services, and with interest rates rising, families and businesses have been presented with tough financial decisions,” Amy Quackenboss, executive director of the American Bankruptcy Institute, said. “Though filing rates are still below their pre-pandemic totals, struggling households and businesses are still turning to bankruptcy for relief from mounting economic challenges.”
All filing chapters in October registered a decrease compared to September’s figures. October’s total bankruptcy filings represented a 2% decrease when compared to the 33,194 total filings recorded the previous month. Total individual filings for October represented a 1% decrease from September’s individual filing total of 31,179. Individual Chapter 13 filings also registered a 1% decrease from September’s individual Chapter 13 total of 13,814. The commercial filing total represented a 7% decrease from the September commercial filing total of 2,015. Commercial Chapter 11 filings decreased 32% from the 445 filings the previous month, while Subchapter V elections within Chapter 11 decreased 16% from the 156 filed in September.
“While comparing month-over-month or year-over-year filings is one way to determine what’s trending in the bankruptcy market, the delta between new filings and closed cases is another valuable capacity metric,” Gregg Morin, vice president of business development and revenue at Epiq Bankruptcy, said.
Not since 2010 have there been more new filings in a year than cases that were closed and it’s trending that way again in 2022, as there have been 61,857 more cases closed than were opened through October compared to the same period in 2021. For the past four months, the difference has steadily decreased, from 7,627 in July to 6,516 in August, 5,291 in September and 3,252 in October.
