33
Journal
BANKRUPTCIES
CONTINUE
DOWNWARD TREND
FROM MARCH PEAK
e number of new bankruptcies were mixed
in September with 30,907 new filings, down 4%
from the 32,263 filings in August.
According to a press release from Epiq,
a tech-enabled provider of intelligence to the
legal services industry and corporations, the data
comes from the September 2021 bankruptcy
filing statistics from its internal AACER
bankruptcy information services business.
According to the release, total individual
Chapter 13 filings were up 6% from August
with a total of 9,930 new cases. On the other
hand, individual Chapter 7 filings were down 9%
over August with a total of 19,230 cases while
commercial Chapter 11 filings were also down
6% with 247 cases.
Individual Chapter 7 new filings have
decreased over the last few months from its
recent peak in March 2021. Individual Chapter
13 filings have decreased month-over-month
since May.
As a whole, the total number of open
bankruptcy cases, which includes closed cases,
continues to decline—September ended the
month with 773,652 cases, down by 11% since
the beginning of the year.
While numbers have been trending
downward, this trend could be bucked by the end
of the eviction moratorium.
"e bankruptcy new filings volume and
chapter mix trends will likely change over the
coming months with the Federal and State
programs like the eviction moratorium expiring
on September 30, 2021," said Todd Madsen,
senior director of Epiq Bankruptcy Analytics.
"However, numerous states like California
have rent reimbursement programs, with funds
in place that will continue to ward off new
bankruptcy filings as moratoriums expire."
