YTD Bankruptcy Filings Jump 40% Over 2006

The 623,399 U.S. bankruptcies filed during the first nine months of 2007 represented a 40% increase over the 444,789 cases filed over the same period in 2006, according to data released Monday by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

Filings by individuals or households with consumer debt increased 40% to 603,139 for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2007, from 430,364 filings during the same 2006 period.

The overall percentage of consumers filing for Chapter 13 protection fell slightly from 41.4% during the first three quarters of 2006 to 38.9% over the same period in 2007. Conversely, the percentage of Chapter 7 consumer filers increased to 61.1% during the first nine months of 2007 from the 58.5% during the same period of 2006.

Business filings for the nine months ended Sept. 30 totaled 20,260, up 40.4% from 14,425 filings a year earlier.

Chapter 7 business liquidations totaled 13,290, up 57.6% from 8,433 business Chapter 7 filings a year ago. Chapter 11 business reorganizations rose from 3,644 in the first three quarters of 2006 to 4,130 in the same 2007 period of 2007, falling 13.3%.

Source: Credit and Collections World