Findings from Epiq Bankruptcy reveal that new filings were up year-over-year across all main chapters last month.
02/03/2023 12:40 P.M.
2 minute read
A new report from Epiq Bankruptcy found that new bankruptcy filings were up year-over-year across Chapters 7, 11, 13 and 15 in January 2023.
Epiq Bankruptcy is a division of Epiq, a global technology-enabled services leader to the legal services industry and corporations, and is the leading provider of U.S. bankruptcy filing data.
Total commercial filings increased 12% from 1,508 total filings reported in January 2022 to 1,694 in January 2023. Commercial Chapter 11 filings increased 70% to 257 filings in January 2023 from 151 filings recorded the year before. All subchapter V small business filings increased 49% from 92 filings in January 2022 to 137 in January 2023.
Total U.S. bankruptcy filings in January 2023 reached 31,087, up 19% from the 26,215 total filings registered in January 2022. Overall individual filings reached 29,545 last month, a 20% increase from 24,703 individual filings recorded in January 2022. While still below pre-pandemic levels, individual Chapter 13 filings continued to increase in January 2023, as the 13,702 reported filings saw a 32% increase over the 10,346 total filings in January 2022.
“While month-over-month and year-over-year new filings were up for most chapters, we continue to see a delta between more cases closing in a month than are being opened, making it inconclusive whether we’ve reached a turning point from historic lows in bankruptcy filings,” said Gregg Morin, vice president of business development and revenue for Epiq Bankruptcy. “In January 2023, 8,786 more total cases closed than opened. The two biggest deltas were Chapter 7s where 4,419 more cases closed than opened and Chapter 13s where 4,315 more cases closed than opened.”
Compared to December 2022, every new filing chapter except Chapter 12 increased. Last month’s total filings represented a 5% increase when compared to the 29,640 total filings recorded in December. Total individual filings for January represented a 6% increase from the 27,911 total in December. However, total commercial filings did decrease by 2% from 1,729 in December. Individual Chapter 7 filings increased 2% from 15,471, and individual Chapter 13 filings increased 10% from December’s 12,393 total. Total Chapter 11 filings saw a 16% increase from the 365 filings reported the previous month, and total Chapter 11 subchapter 5 findings by themselves increased 9% from the 126 filed in December 2022.
“While still below pre-pandemic totals, bankruptcy filings continue to increase amid growing debt loads due to inflationary pressures and reduced availability of low-cost financing,” said ABI Executive Director Amy Quackenboss. “Struggling households and businesses on shaky economic footing can look to bankruptcy to provide a solid path toward a financial fresh start.”
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