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Bankruptcy Filings Up In Calendar Year 2009
March 02, 2010
Contact: Karen Redmond, 202-502-2600
Bankruptcy filings in
the federal courts rose 31.9 percent in calendar year 2009, according to data
released today by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. The number of
bankruptcies filed in the twelve-month period ending December 31, 2009, totaled
1,473,675, up from 1,117,641 bankruptcies filed in CY 2008.
Filings have grown steadily since CY 2006, when bankruptcy filings totaled
617,660, in the first full 12-month period after the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention
and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA) took effect. An historic high in
the number of bankruptcy filings was seen in CY 2005, when over 2 million
bankruptcies were filed.
Statistics released today include business and non-business filings for the
12-month period ending December 31, 2009 (Table F-2, 12-month); a comparison of
December 2008 and 2009 filings (Table F), 3rd quarter filings (Table F-2,
3-month); monthly filings for the 12-month period ending December 31, 2009
(Table F-2, Monthly); and filings per capita.
Business and Non-Business Filings
The majority of
bankruptcy filings involve non-business debts. In CY 2009, they totaled
1,412,838, up 32 percent from the 1,074,108 non-business bankruptcy filings in
CY 2008.
Business filings totaled 60,837 in CY 2009, up 40 percent from the 43,533
business filings in CY 2008.
First Quarter of FY 2009
The last three months of CY 2009 were the first
quarter of the Judiciary’s 2010 fiscal year. The number of bankruptcies filed
during the first quarter of fiscal year 2010 (October 1-December 31, 2009) was
372,203, up 24 percent from the 301,253 filings in the first quarter of fiscal
year 2009.
Filings by Chapter
In CY 2009, filings rose under Chapters 7, 11, 12 and
13 of the U.S. bankruptcy code.
- Chapter 7 filings totaled 1,050,832 up 41 percent
from the 744,364, Chapter 7 filings reported in CY 2008.
- Chapter 11 filings rose 50 percent to 15,189, up
from the 10,147 filings in CY 2008.
- Chapter 13 filings were 406,962, up 12 percent from
the 362,705 filings in CY 2008.
- Chapter 12 filings totaled 544, up 58 percent in CY
2009, compared to 345 Chapter 12 bankruptcy filings in CY 2008.
For more on bankruptcy
and its chapters, visit the Judiciary's website or go to www.fjc.gov/federal/courts.nsf.
Local bankruptcy
court rules and historic data
on bankruptcy filings are also available. Additional bankruptcy statistics,
including bankruptcies by county, can be found on the Judiciary's PACER system.
| Quarterly Filings* |
| PERIOD | FILINGS | | PERIOD | FILINGS | | PERIOD | FILINGS |
| DEC. 31, 2009 | 372,203 | | JUN. 30, 2004 | 421,110 | | SEPT. 30, 1999 | 323,550 |
| SEPT. 30, 2009 | 388,485 | | MAR. 31, 2004 | 407,572 | | JUN. 30, 1999 | 345,956 |
| JUN. 30, 2009 | 381,073 | | DEC. 31, 2003 | 393,348 | | MAR. 31, 1999 | 330,784 |
| MAR. 31, 2009 | 330,394 | | SEPT. 30, 2003 | 412,989 | | DEC. 31, 1998 | 353,108 |
| DEC. 31, 2008 | 301,253 | | JUN. 30, 2003 | 440,257 | | SEPT. 30, 1998 | 361,205 |
| SEPT. 30, 2008 | 292,218 | | MAR. 31, 2003 | 412,968 | | JUN. 30, 1998 | 373,460 |
| JUN. 30, 2008 | 276,428 | | DEC. 31, 2002 | 395,129 | | MAR. 31, 1998 | 354,118 |
| MAR. 31, 2008 | 245,695 | | SEPT. 30, 2002 | 401,306 | | DEC. 31, 1997 | 347,685 |
| DEC. 31, 2007 | 226,413 | | JUN. 30, 2002 | 400,686 | | SEPT. 30, 1997 | 353,515 |
| SEPT. 30, 2007 | 218,909 | | MAR. 31, 2002 | 379,012 | | JUN. 30, 1997 | 367,168 |
| JUN. 30, 2007 | 210,449 | | DEC. 31, 2001 | 364,921 | | MAR. 31, 1997 | 335,073 |
| MAR. 31, 2007 | 193,641 | | SEPT. 30, 2001 | 359,518 | | DEC. 31, 1996 | 311,131 |
| DEC. 31, 2006 | 177,599 | | JUN. 30, 2001 | 400,394 | | SEPT. 30, 1996 | 303,309 |
| SEPT. 30, 2006 | 171,146 | | MAR. 31, 2001 | 366,841 | | JUN. 30, 1996 | 297,162 |
| JUN. 30, 2006 | 155,833 | | DEC. 31, 2000 | 310,169 | | MAR. 31, 1996 | 266,149 |
| MAR. 31, 2006 | 116,771 | | SEPT. 30, 2000 | 308,718 | | DEC. 31, 1995 | 244,494 |
| DEC. 31, 2005 | 667,431 | | JUN. 30, 2000 | 321,729 | | SEPT. 30, 1995 | 233,593 |
| SEPT. 30, 2005 | 542,002 | | MAR. 31, 2000 | 312,335 | | JUN. 30, 1995 | 235,302 |
| JUN. 30, 2005 | 467,333 | | DEC. 31, 1999 | 318,634 | | MAR. 31, 1995 | 212,626 |
| MAR. 31, 2005 | 401,149 | | | | | | |
| DEC. 31, 2004 | 371,668 | | | | | | |
| SEPT. 30, 2004 | 396,438 | | | | | | |
* Because of ongoing corrections to the bankruptcy
database, the quarterly data may not total to the most recent annual figures. In
addition, beginning with the quarter ending June 30, 2009, the Administrative
Office implemented a new system for reporting bankruptcy data from the courts.
The new system counts intradistrict transfers differently, which may lead to
small revisions in filings counts in previous quarters.