Bankruptcy filings in federal courts rose for the second straight quarter following nearly two and one-half years of overall decline. According to statistics released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts for the 3-month period ended June 30, 1995, filings in the third quarter of the fiscal year totaled 235,302, compared to 216,213 in the same quarter of 1994. An increase of 1.5 percent in bankruptcy filings was seen over the 12-month period, with 858,104 filings in the period ending June 30, 1995 compared to 845,257 filings during the same period in 1994.
The upturn of bankruptcy filings in both three-month and twelve-month periods reverses a slow decline in filings. Quarterly filings have not been this high since September 30, 1992 (see chart). In addition, this is the first upswing in filings for twelve month periods ending June 30 since filings began falling in 1992.
Of the total number of bankruptcy cases filed in the twelve-month period ending June 30, 1995, there were 581,390 chapter 7 cases, up from the 578,903 chapter 7 cases filed in the same period in 1994. The next largest group of bankruptcy filings were under chapter 13, totaling 262,551, up from the 248,246 chapter 13 cases filed in the twelve-month period ending June 30, 1994. The only chapters to show a decline were chapters 11 and 12. (See chart).
Under chapter 7, individuals or businesses are permitted to keep certain exempt property, and the remaining property is sold to repay creditors. Under chapter 13, creditors may be repaid, in full or in part, in installments, over a three- to five-year period. Chapter 11 allows a business to continue to operate while devising a plan to repay creditors, and chapter 12 is designed to meet the needs of financially distressed family farmers. A breakdown of the latest data on bankruptcy filings per district follows.
6/30/95 235,302 162,091 3,144 240 69,823
6/30/94 216,213 149,326 3,982 253 62,644
6/30/95 13,216 7,553 2,765 240 2,654
6/30/94 13,617 7,698 3,309 253 2,349
6/30/95 222,086 154,538 379 67,169
6/30/94 202,596 141,628 673 60,295
JUN. 30, 1995 235,302
MAR. 31, 1995 212,626
DEC. 31, 1994 201,618
SEPT. 30, 1994 208,187
JUN. 30, 1994 216,213
MAR. 31, 1994 206,565
DEC. 31, 1993 206,570
SEPT. 30, 1993 215,498
JUN. 30, 1993 229,406
MAR. 31, 1993 222,694
DEC. 31, 1992 228,562
SEPT. 30, 1992 236,810
JUN. 30, 1992 250,622
MAR. 31, 1992 252, 733
DEC. 31, 1991 234,383
SEPT. 30, 1991 231,743
JUN. 30, 1991 246,430
MAR. 31, 1991 231,017
DEC. 31., 1990 209,798
SEPT. 30, 1990 192,555
JUN. 30, 1990 196,677