Epiq released its February 2021 bankruptcy filing statistics from its AACER bankruptcy information services business. February experienced the lowest number of new monthly bankruptcy filings across all chapters, with only 31,188 filings, since February 2006 (26,617 filings). The continued slide represents a decrease of 3% over January 2021 filings and a 45% decrease over February 2020 filings, where there were 56,209 new cases. Commercial filings across all chapters fell to 1,945 new cases, a 5% drop over January 2021 and a 38% drop over February 2020, which had a total of 3,112 new cases.

“Access to capital, agreements among stakeholders, and general economic uncertainty has caused a continued pause in commercial Chapter 11 filings in February,” said Deirdre O’Connor, senior managing director of corporate restructuring at Epiq. “The decline in chapter 11 cases reveals that seeking bankruptcy protection does not appear to be the most viable option for companies that are currently experiencing liquidity challenges.”

Chapter 13 non-commercial filings are down 7.25% over last month with only 8,320 new cases. Chapter 7 non-commercial filings are also down 1.8% in February 2021 with only 20,850 new cases.

“New bankruptcy filing rates continue a historic slide” said Chris Kruse, senior vice president of Epiq AACER. “The bubble that emerged last April as the global pandemic picked up steam is now getting bigger, and the backlog of new filings is growing. We still expect new filings rates will change course and grow substantially in the second half of 2021 as vaccination rates climb, government stimulus ramps down, and COVID19-related policies are relaxed, forcing filers to evaluate their financial positions.”