Total bankruptcy filings for the month of March 2019 decreased 3 percent from this time last year, according to data provided by Epiq Systems. The 73,476 total filings in March 2019 were down from the 76,060 total filings during March 2018.
Consumer filings also decreased 3 percent in March 2019 to 70,228 from the March 2018 consumer filing total of 72,351. Total commercial filings decreased 12 percent in March 2019 to 3,248 from the 3,709 business filings recorded in March 2018. The 434 total commercial chapter 11 filings in March 2019 marked a 44 percent decrease from March 2018’s total of 774.
“Access to the fresh start of bankruptcy remains a key issue for financially struggling families and businesses,” said ABI executive director Samuel J. Gerdano. “ABI’s Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy will unveil its final recommendations to remove barriers to the consumer bankruptcy system. Momentum also continues to build for implementing the Code improvements suggested by ABI’s Chapter 11 Reform Commission to aid distressed businesses.”
The final report with the Commission’s recommendations is available at consumercommission.abi.org.
Total U.S. bankruptcy filings fell slightly to 187,245 in the first quarter of 2019, down 0.11 percent from the 187,444 filings registered in the first calendar quarter of 2018. The 177,882 total noncommercial filings in the first calendar quarter of 2019 also registered a slight decrease from the first quarter 2018 total of 177,979. Total commercial filings fell 1 percent during the first three months of 2019 to 9,363 from the 9,465 filings during the same period in 2018. Total commercial chapter 11 filings dropped 6 percent from 1,585 in the first quarter last year to 1,483 during the first three months of 2019.
The average nationwide per capita bankruptcy filing rate for the first three months of 2019 increased to 2.42 (total filings per 1,000 per population) from the 2.20 filing rate of the first two months of the year. States with the highest per capita filing rate (total filings per 1,000 population) for the first quarter of 2019 were:
1. Alabama (5.60)
2. Tennessee (5.43)
3. Mississippi (4.38)
4. Georgia (4.29)
5. Illinois (3.74)
ABI has partnered with Epiq Systems in order to provide the most current bankruptcy filing data for analysts, researchers and members of the news media. Epiq Systems is a provider of managed technology for the global legal profession.
