Epiq released its May 2021 bankruptcy filing statistics from its AACER bankruptcy information services business. The new filings for May dropped to 34,734 across all chapters. This is a 15 percent drop from the April 2021 new filings count of 40,913. Non-commercial consumer filings across all chapters totaled 32,958, down 15 percent from 38,830 in April. Commercial filings across all chapters were also down in May with a total of 1,776 new filings, down 15 percent from 2,083 in April.

“Bankruptcy filings in May returned to similar levels during the COVID-19 global pandemic after a two-month spike in March and April,” said Chris Kruse, Senior Vice President of Epiq AACER. “This is not unexpected, as historically March and April new bankruptcy filings have spiked each year due to holiday overspending. However, the continued stimulus investments are positively impacting the consumer and holding down bankruptcy volumes.”

There were 182,629 total new bankruptcy filings across all chapters for the first five months of 2021, down 29 percent from 255,697 in the same period in 2020. Commercial Chapter 11 filings were down 14 percent over April with 246 new filings in May.  

“The continued decline in Chapter 11 filings is anticipated given ample available market liquidity coupled with federal stimulus intervention,” said Deirdre O’Connor, senior managing director of corporate restructuring at Epiq.