Bankruptcy Filings Up Nearly 30 Percent for Year
Nearly 1 million bankruptcy cases were filed in the year ending June 30, an increase of almost 30 percent over the same period the year before.
There were 967,831 bankruptcy cases filed in the 12-month period, according to a news release by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. The number is an increase of 28.9 percent over the prior year, when 751,056 cases were filed. Most of the cases—934,009—were nonbusiness filings. There were only 33,822 business filings, but they increased by 41.6 percent.
The bulk of the filings were for Chapter 7 liquidations. They totaled 615,748, an increase of 36.7 percent. A 2005 law had required debtors to satisfy a means test before filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, spurring a big drop in filings in 2006.
