Epiq released its July 2021 bankruptcy filing statistics from its AACER bankruptcy information services business. Across all chapters, new filings in July were 32,375, down 6 percent from 34,277 in June. Commercial filings across all chapters were down 15 percent over June, with a total of 1,696 across all chapters. In fact, commercial Chapter 11 filings are down 43 percent over the last seven months with only 2,411 new filings, compared to the first seven months of 2020 that had 4,254 commercial Chapter 11 filings.

“New commercial filings continue to lag as the financial markets continue to offer robust alternatives to restructuring under U.S. bankruptcy code,” said Brad Tuttle, General Manager of Epiq Corporate Restructuring.

July Chapter 13 non-commercial filings were 9,080, up 4 percent over June that had 8,714. This is the third month in a row with gains in the sector.

“With eviction moratoriums expiring nationwide, it is conceivable that the expected bankruptcy backlog building over the last 15 months could be starting,” said Chris Kruse, Senior Vice President of Epiq Bankruptcy. “However, growing COVID-19 infection rates in every U.S. state may spark additional government support, stalling new filings.”

In addition, Chapter 7 non-commercial filings were also down 8.4 percent, with 21,540 filings in July, down from 23,524 in June 2021.

There were 249,314 total new bankruptcy filings across all chapters for the first seven months of 2021, down 27 percent to 340,986 in the same period in 2020.