Total commercial Chapter 11 filings during calendar year 2018 dropped 5 percent compared with 2017, 5,470 from 5,762, according to data provided by Epiq Systems, Inc. The 37,822 total commercial filings during 2018 dipped 2 percent from the commercial filing total of 38,462 during calendar year 2017, the American Bankruptcy Institute reported.
Total bankruptcy filings during 2018 decreased 2 percent from 2017. Total filings fell from 766,761 in 2017 to 755,182 filings in 2018. Total consumer filings also decreased to 717,360 nationwide in 2018, 2 percent less than the 728,299 total filings during 2017.
“Total filings fell for the ninth consecutive year as high filing costs continue to weigh on struggling businesses and families,” said ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano. “As the recommendations of ABI’s Chapter 11 Commission aim to remove barriers to filing for distressed businesses, we look forward to the final report in the Spring by ABI’s Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy to improve the bankruptcy system for financially strained consumers.”
Monthly commercial Chapter 11 filings dropped sharply year-over-year. The 453 commercial Chapter 11 filings in December 2018 were a 36 percent decrease over the 703 filings in December 2017. The 2,893 total commercial filings in December 2018 represented a 6 percent decrease from the 3,072 total commercial filings during the same period in 2017.
Total bankruptcy filings for the month of December dropped 1 percent to 52,020 from the 52,545 filings in December 2017. The 49,127 total noncommercial filings for December also represented a 1 percent decrease from the December 2017 noncommercial filing total of 49,473.
The average nationwide per capita bankruptcy filing rate for calendar year 2018 decreased slightly to 2.43 (total filings per 1,000 per population) from the 2.47 rate during 2017. States with the highest per capita filing rate (total filings per 1,000 population) in 2018 were:
- Alabama (5.63)
- Tennessee (5.38)
- Georgia (4.57)
- Mississippi (4.25)
- Illinois (3.66)
ABI has partnered with Epiq Systems, Inc. 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.
To review the final recommendations of the ABI Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11, please click here. ABI’s Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy is preparing to release its final report of recommendations at ABI’s 2019 Annual Spring Meeting set for April 11-14 in Washington, D.C.