Total commercial chapter 11 bankruptcy filings for Q1/20 increased 14% from the same period last year, according to data provided by Epiq Systems. The 1,709 total commercial chapter 11s from January 1 through March 31, 2020, increased from the 1,500 total commercial chapter 11s during the same period in 2019.
Total overall commercial bankruptcy filings also increased in Q1/20, as the 9,817 during the first three months of 2020 marked a 4% increase over the 9,481 total commercial filings over the same period in 2019. However, total overall bankruptcy filings decreased 5% over the first three months of 2020 to 177,198 from the 187,325 filings during the same period of 2019. Consumer bankruptcy filings decreased 6% over the first three months of 2020 to 167,381 from the 177,844 consumer filings over the same period of 2019.
“The first quarter filings represent a calm before the storm of the financial distress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Amy Quackenboss, executive director of the American Bankruptcy Institute, said. “Consumers and businesses face growing financial challenges due to the pandemic, and bankruptcy provides a vital safe harbor from their mounting debts. We anticipate business filings to start rising this month and consumer filings to start to accelerate in early summer.”
The 530 total commercial chapter 11 filings for the month of March 2020 increased 18% over the 449 commercial chapter 11 filings in March 2019. Total commercial filings decreased 5% in March 2020 to 3,167 from the 3,317 business filings recorded in March 2019. Total overall bankruptcy filings for the month of March 2020 decreased 15% to 62,847 from the 73,522 total filings registered in March 2019. Consumer filings also decreased 15% in March 2020, to 59,680 from the March 2019 consumer filing total of 70,205.
The average nationwide per capita bankruptcy filing rate for the first three months of 2020 increased to 2.29 (total filings per 1,000 per population) from the 2.21 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 2020 were Alabama (5.47), Tennessee (5.05), Mississippi (4.45), Georgia (4.34) and Arkansas (3.56).
