8
Journal
BANKRUPTCY
FILINGS HIT
15-YEAR LOW
January experienced the lowest monthly
number of new bankruptcy filings across
all chapters since February 2006 (26,617
filings) with only 32,298 filings, according
to a press release from Epiq, a tech-enabled
provider of intel to the legal services industry
and corporations, released its January 2021
bankruptcy filing statistics from its AACER
bankruptcy information services business.
is ongoing slide represents a decrease
of 6% over December 2020 filings and a 44%
decrease over January 2020 filings where there
were 58,161 new cases.
"Out of court solutions, available liquidity,
and general uncertainty has caused a significant
pause in Chapter 11 filings this past month,"
said Deirdre O'Connor, Senior Managing
Director of Corporate Restructuring at Epiq.
"We appear to be suspended in an air bubble at
the moment."
"e new year data continues to show
extreme softness in new U.S. bankruptcy
filings," said Chris Kruse, SVP of Epiq
AACER. "e optimism around a new
political administration and potential new
government relief for consumers has kept new
filings historically low."
According to the report, Chapter 13
non-commercial filings are down 4% over last
month with only 8,972 new cases. Chapter 7
non-commercial filings are also down 6.5%
in January 2021 with only 21,225 new cases.
With unemployment rates in December
holding steady at 6.7%, pressure on consumers
has stabilized and renewed confidence on
stimulus aid is rising.
"We continue to expect new filings will
grow substantially in the second half of
2021, notwithstanding any likely short-term
stimulus," said Kruse.
Epiq's AACER bankruptcy information
services platform is built with advanced data,
technology to create insight and mitigate risk
for businesses impacted by bankruptcies.
e company offers complimentary
bankruptcy statistics and monthly email
updates for both commercial and non-
commercial (consumer) bankruptcy filings for
Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and Chapter 13 cases.
