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NEWS RELEASE
Bankruptcy Filings Rebound in Calendar Year 2007

Contact:

Karen Redmond, 202-502-2600
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April 15, 2008 — Bankruptcy filings in the federal courts rose 38 percent in calendar year 2007, 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, 2007, totaled 850,912, up from 617,660 bankruptcies filed in calendar year 2006. Filings rebounded from a 70 percent drop in calendar year 2006, which was the first full 12-month period after the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA) took effect.

Related Items

Per Capita Filings 2007 (pdf) (excel)

Table F-2 (filing by month) (pdf) (excel)

Table F (12-month period) (pdf) (excel)

Table F-2 (12-month period) (pdf) (excel)

Table F-2 (3-month period) (pdf) (excel)

An historic high in the number of bankruptcies filings was seen in calendar year 2005, when over 2 million bankruptcies were filed, mainly because, in October of 2005, many of the provisions of BAPCPA were enacted. Filings fell through 2006, but started their gradual climb back up in 2007.

Business and Non-Business Filings

The majority of bankruptcy filings are filings involving predominantly non-business debts. In CY 2007, they totaled 822,590, up 38 percent from the 597,965 non-business bankruptcy filings in CY 2006. Non-business filings totaled 2,039,214 in CY 2005.

Filings involving predominantly business debts, totaling 28,322 in CY 2007 were up 44 percent from the 19,695 business bankruptcy filings in CY 2006. Business filings totaled 39,201 in CY 2005.

First Quarter of FY 2008

The last three months of calendar year 2007 were the first quarter of the Judiciary's 2008 fiscal year. The number of bankruptcies filed during the first quarter of fiscal year 2008 (October 1-December 31, 2007) was 226,413 up 27 percent from the 177,599 filings in the first quarter of fiscal year 2007.

Filings by Chapter

In CY 2007, filings rose under Chapters 7, 11, 12 and 13 of the U.S. bankruptcy code.

  • Chapter 7 filings totaled 519,364, up 44 percent from the 360,890 Chapter 7 filings reported in CY 2006.
  • Chapter 11 filings rose 23 percent to 6,353 in CY 2007 from the 5,163 filings in CY 2006.
  • Chapter 12 filings totaled 376, up 8 percent from the 348 Chapter 12 bankruptcy filings last calendar year.
  • Chapter 13 filings were 324,771, up 29 percent from 251,179 Chapter 13 filings in Calendar Year 2006.

For more on bankruptcy and its chapters, visit the Judiciary's web site or go to www.fjc.govfederalcourts.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.


Total Bankruptcy Filings by Bankruptcy Chapter
Calendar Years, Period Ending
December 31, 2003-2007

 

Chapter

Year

7

11

12

13

2007

519,364

6,353

376

324,771

2006

360,890

5,163

348

251,179

2005

1,659,017

6,800

380

412,130

2004

1,137,958

10,132

108

449,129

2003

1,176,905

9,404

712

473,137



Business and Non-business Filings
CY 2003-2006

Year

Business

Non-business

Total

2007

28,322

822,590

850,912

2006

19,695

597,965

617,660

2005

39,201

2,039,214

2,078,415

2004

34,317

1,563,145

1,597,462

2003

35,037

1,625,208

1,660,245



Quarterly Filings*

PERIOD

FILINGS

PERIOD

FILINGS

PERIOD

FILINGS

DEC. 31, 2007

226,413

DEC. 31, 2003

393,348

DEC. 31, 1999

318,634

SEPT. 30, 2007

218,909

SEPT. 30, 2003

412,989

SEPT. 30, 1999

323,550

JUN. 30, 2007

210,449

JUN. 30, 2003

440,257

JUN. 30, 1999

345,956

MAR. 31, 2007

193,641

MAR. 31, 2003

412,968

MAR. 31, 1999

330,784

DEC. 31, 2006

177,599

DEC. 31, 2002

395,129

DEC. 31, 1998

353,108

SEPT. 30, 2006

171,146

SEPT. 30, 2002

401,306

SEPT. 30, 1998

361,205

JUN. 30, 2006

155,833

JUN. 30, 2002

400,686

JUN. 30, 1998

373,460

MAR. 31, 2006

116,771

MAR. 31, 2002

379,012

MAR. 31, 1998

354,118

DEC. 31, 2005

667,431

DEC. 31, 2001

364,921

DEC. 31, 1997

347,685

SEPT. 30, 2005

542,002

SEPT. 30, 2001

359,518

SEPT. 30, 1997

353,515

JUN. 30, 2005

467,333

JUN. 30, 2001

400,394

JUN. 30, 1997

367,168

MAR.31, 2005

401,149

MAR. 31, 2001

366,841

MAR. 31, 1997

335,073

DEC. 31, 2004

371,668

DEC. 31, 2000

310,169

DEC. 31, 1996

311,131

SEPT. 30, 2004

396,438

SEPT. 30, 2000

308,718

SEPT. 30, 1996

303,309

JUN. 30, 2004

421,110

JUN. 30, 2000

321,729

JUN. 30, 1996

297,162

MAR. 31, 2004

407,572

MAR. 31, 2000

312,335

MAR. 31, 1996

266,149

 

 

 

 

DEC. 31, 1995

244,494

* Because of ongoing corrections to the bankruptcy database, the quarterly data may not total to the most recent annual figures.



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