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12-Month Bankruptcy Filings Rise

The number of bankruptcy petitions filed in federal courts rose in the 12-month period ending March 31, 2001, according to statistics compiled by the Administrative Office. Bankruptcy filings grew from 1,301,205 in the 12-month period ended March 2000, to 1,307,857 in the same time period in 2001, an increase of 0.5 percent. Most media and business attention, however, focused on the filings for the second quarter of the Judiciary's fiscal year, from January 1, 2001 to March 31, 2001. This 3-month period showed a 17.5 percent increase in the 17.5 percent increase in the number of bankruptcies filed, a total of 366,841. There were 312,335 bankruptcy cases filed during the comparable second quarter of FY 2000. First quarter filings for FY 2001 (October 1, 2000–December 31, 2000) totaled 310,169.

The increase in filings has been attributed by media and business representatives to the pending bankruptcy reform legislation, which would make it more difficult to declare personal bankruptcy, and to the general economic climate. Bankruptcy business filings totaled 35,992 in the 12-month period ending March 31, 2001, down 5.6 percent from a total of 38,109 in the 12-month period ending March 31, 2000. Non-business or personal bankruptcy filings, however, went up 0.7 percent, for a total of 1,271,865. They totaled 1,263,096 in the 12-month period ending March 31, 2000.

While total bankruptcy filings for the years ending March 31 have slipped from a 10-year high of 1,423,128 in March 1998, filings remain well above the one million bankruptcy mark. Filings per authorized judgeship have risen from 3,007 filings per judgeship in March 1996 to 4,037 in March 2001. The workload has strained a Judiciary where new bankruptcy judgeships were last created in 1992. The bankruptcy reform bills, passed separately by the House and Senate and now waiting for conference, could authorize as many as 27 new bankruptcy judgeships.

Statistics from this and previous bankruptcy periods can be found on the Judiciary's website at www.uscourts.gov.