The 234 subchapter V elections within Chapter 11 in July 2026 represent a 24% increase over the 188 filings recorded in July 2025, according to data provided by Epiq AACER, a provider of US bankruptcy filing data.
Key July 2026 data include:
- 54,718 total bankruptcy filings, a 10% increase from July 2025 (49,674)
- 51,925 individual bankruptcy filings, an 11% increase from July 2025 (46,639)
- 32,651 individual Chapter 7 filings, a 12% increase from July 2025 (29,122)
“July’s filings increase reflects the cumulative impact of elevated interest rates, higher target inflation, and record household debt levels that near $18.8 trillion,” Michael Hunter, vice president of Epiq AACER, said. “These numbers capture the ongoing stress from tighter credit conditions and softer consumer demand that have built over the past two years.”
In July 2026, there were:
- 19,152 individual Chapter 13 filings, a 10 % increase from July 2025 (17,410)
- 2,793 overall commercial filings, an 8% decrease from July 2025 (3035)
- 666 commercial Chapter 11 filings, a 27% decrease from July 2025 (914). Note that last year’s total included more than 300 filings from a large healthcare system’s bankruptcy.
“Bankruptcy serves as a critical safeguard, helping households and businesses reorganize their finances, preserve value and move forward during periods of financial distress,” Amy Quackenboss, executive director of the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), said. “ABI appreciates the continued efforts of Congress to permanently expand access for both distressed small businesses looking to restructure under subchapter V and for consumers looking to file under Chapter 13.”
Legislation introduced by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) recently passed the Senate to permanently increase the debt eligibility limit to $7.5 million for small businesses looking to restructure under the streamlined process of subchapter V of Chapter 11. The legislation would also raise the debt limit for individual Chapter 13 filings to $2.75 million and remove the distinction between secured and unsecured debt for that calculation. The bill now goes to the House of Representatives, where companion legislation was previously introduced by Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.) and was reported favorably for full House consideration.
Comparing previous month totals:
- Total filings increased 5% from June’s total of 52,291.
- Individual filings increased 5% from June’s total of 49,420.
- Individual Chapter 7s increased 4% from June’s total of 31,423.
- Individual Chapter 13s increased 7% from June’s total of 17,887.
- Commercial filings decreased 3% from June’s total of 2871.
- Commercial Chapter 11 filings decreased 18% from June’s total of 814.
- Subchapter V elections decreased 9% from June’s total of 257.
