Commercial Chapter 11 filings decreased 50 percent in August 2021 from last year, according to data provided by Epiq Systems. The 264 commercial chapter 11 filings in August 2021 fell by exactly half from the 528 filings registered in August 2020. The 32,257 total U.S. bankruptcy filings for August 2021 represented an 18 percent decrease from the August 2020 total of 39,361 filings. Likewise, the 30,533 consumer filings in August 2021 decreased 17 percent from last year’s consumer total of 36,873. Overall commercial filings in August 2021 totaled 1,724, down 31 percent from the 2,488 filings in August 2020.
“Struggling families and businesses are seeing government stabilization programs expire, lender forbearance programs recede, and challenges to the supply chain wrought by the pandemic resurface,” said ABI Executive Director Amy Quackenboss. “Amid uncertain economic times, bankruptcy remains a dependable shield to help keep companies and consumers from being financially overwhelmed.”
The 264 commercial Chapter 11 filings recorded in August 2021 represented an 8 percent increase from the 245 commercial Chapter 11 filings in July. August 2021 business filings increased 1 percent to 1,724 from July’s business total of 1,709. Total bankruptcy filings in August 2021 registered only a slight decrease (0.41 percent) from the 32,391 total filings in July. The 30,533 consumer filings in August also represented a slight decrease (0.49 percent) from July’s consumer total of 30,682.
The average nationwide per capita bankruptcy filing rate in August was 1.36 (total filings per 1,000 population), a slight decrease from the filing rate of 1.38 during the first seven months of 2021. Average total filings per day in August 2021 were 1,466, a decrease of 22 percent from the 1,874 total daily filings in August 2020. States with the highest per capita filing rates (total filings per 1,000 population) in August 2021 were:
- Alabama (3.13)
- Nevada (2.82)
- Tennessee (2.47)
- Indiana (2.30)
- Kentucky (2.15)
ABI has partnered with Epiq in order to provide the most current bankruptcy filing data for analysts, researchers and members of the news media. Epiq is a leading provider of managed technology for the global legal profession.