U.S. bankruptcy filings totaled 422,782 during the first six months of the year, a 12% drop from the 479,573 filings reported during the same period last year, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute, using data from by Epiq Systems Inc.
The 407,764 total noncommercial filings also represented a 12% drop from the noncommercial filing total of 460,931 for the first half of last year. Total commercial filings during the first six months of the year were 15,018, representing a 19 percent decrease from the 18,642 filings during the same period in 2014, according to the news release.
Commercial chapter 11 filings also fell during the first half of 2015; the 2,576 filings represented a 15% decrease from the 3,046 commercial chapter 11 filings during the first six months of 2014.
Bankruptcy filings through the first half of the year continue to recede amid sustained low interest rates and flat consumer debt levels, said American Bankruptcy Institute Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano. Total bankruptcies remain on a pace to total just over 800,000 for 2015.
The 69,723 total bankruptcy filings for June represented a 6% decrease compared to the 73,855 filings in June 2014. The 67,293 total noncommercial filings for June represented a 5% drop from the June 2014 noncommercial filing total of 70,996, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute. Total commercial filings for June were 2,430, representing a 15% decrease from the 2,859 filings during the same period last year. Commercial chapter 11 filings registered a 24% drop as the 483 commercial chapter 11 filings in June last year fell to 366 this June.
The average nationwide per capita bankruptcy filing rate for the first six calendar months of 2015 decreased slightly to 2.72 (total filings per 1,000 per population) from the 2.73 rate for the first five months of the year, and the average total filings per day in June were 2,324, a 6% decrease from the 2,462 total daily filings in June last year. The states with the highest per capita filing rate (total filings per 1,000 population) through the first six months of 2015 were: Tennessee (5.68); Alabama (5.20); Georgia (4.89); Illinois (4.51); and Utah (4.40.)
