Some good news for creditors: bankruptcy filings for the twelve month period ending September 30, 2015 declined nearly 11% compared to the year prior. Chapter 7 filings were down more than 14%. We wondered if would-be Chapter 7 debtors sought relief under Chapter 13 instead, but the answer is no. Chapter 13 filings were also down, albeit a more modest 3.4%. Business filings decreased slightly more than non-business filings (11.8% v. 10.7%).
Some of the raw data generated by the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts:
Year Total No. of Filings Chapter 7 Chapter 11 Chapter 13
2014 963,739 642,366 7,658 313,262
2015 860,182 550,036 7,040 302,642
+ / – -103,557 -92,330 -618 -10,620