Consumer Bankruptcy Filings Drop in November

December 11, 2009

November consumer bankruptcy filings decrease 18 percent from the previous month.

The 112,152 consumer bankruptcy filings reported in November represented an 18 percent decrease from the 135,913 filings registered in October, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), relying on data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center.

Despite the drop from the previous month, the November filings represented a 12 percent increase over the 99,925 consumer filings in November 2008. Chapter 13 filings constituted 29 percent of all consumer cases in November, unchanged from the October rate, according to the ABI data.

"Bankruptcies are set to top 1.4 million filings for 2009 as consumers and businesses continue to seek shelter from economic distress," said ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano.