The number of bankruptcy filings nationally rose in February, according to the February 2017 Bankruptcy Trends report by Epiq Systems [1]. Overall, Epiq reported 58,336 national filings last month. That’s up from 54.574 filings in January.
February’s totals, however, were from 64,712 filings a year earlier. Last month’s numbers continue a trend of total national filings for the month declining with each passing February. Peak filings occurred in 2011, when there were 109,614 filings that February.
Last month’s totals followed January’s unusual bankruptcy filings, which dropped 46 percent from December’s but were up 5 percent from the prior January. National bankruptcy filings at the end of last year were also up 6 percent year-over-year for the first time in half a decade.
According to Epiq’s AACER data, the United States has seen a cumulative 112, 125 bankruptcies this year, though the end of February. That’s an increase of 5 percent compared to this time a year ago. Filings per capita averaged 2.19 filings per 10,000 population. Fifty-nine percent of filings were 7 Ratio bankruptcies.
Alabama and Tennessee were again ranked first and second in the number of filings per 10,000. So far in 2017, Alabama filed 5.54 bankruptcies per 10,000. That’s largely flat , at a 0.06 percent decrease compared to last year. Tennessee filed 5.23. bankruptcies per 10,000, down 0.34 percent from a year ago.
North Dakota has seen the biggest percentage increase in filings compared to this time a year ago. North Dakota reported 111 overall filings, 85 percent higher than in January. Conversely, Rhode Island saw a 22 percent drop. To date this year, Rhode Island has filed 313 bankruptcies. The District of Columbia, with 102 filings saw a 21 percent decrease. Louisiana, however, led states with the largest drop in filings over 1,000. Cumulatively in 2017, Louisiana has filed 1,897 bankruptcies; February say an 11 percent decrease in overall filings.
California continued to have the most overall filings. By the end of February, California filed 10,401 this year, down. A quarter of a percent from a year ago. Illinois’ 7,792 filings cumulative this year placed the state second in overall filings. Those were down nearly a half-percent compared to a year ago.
Businesses filed 2,797 filings in 19 filing days in February. That’s 147 filings per day, and all numbers were down from January. They were also down from the 153 filings per day in February 2016.
Epiq Systems [1] is a leading global provider of technology-enabled solutions for electronic discovery, bankruptcy and class action administration. Top legal professionals depend on us for deep subject-matter expertise and years of firsthand experience working on many of the largest, most high-profile and complex client engagements. Epiq Systems, Inc. has locations in the United States, Europe and Asia.
To view the full Epiq bankruptcy findings, click here [2].
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