It has been reported that the number of bankruptcy filings in 2010 has increased by around 14% from that of the last year. The total number of bankruptcy cases filed in the federal courts from October 1, 2009 to September 30, 2010 is 1,596,355. This figure is 13.8% higher than that of the total bankruptcy filings in the year 2009. The number of bankruptcy filings in the year 2009 was 1,402,816.

Bankruptcy filings have increased in 2010

It is official that the total number of bankruptcy filings in the 12 month period ending on September 30, 2010 has increased by almost 14% from that of the previous year. According to the administrative officials at the U.S courts, the number of non-business bankruptcy filings between the 12 month period October 1, 2009 and September 30, 2010 has increased from 1,344,095 to 1,538,033. This figure is up by 14.4%. It is said that this is the maximum number of non-business bankruptcy filings since the year 2005, before the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act was implemented in October 2006.

However, the number of business bankruptcy filings (Chapter 11 bankruptcy) has dropped by 0.7% from that of the last year. Business bankruptcy is normally filed by business owners to repay their outstanding balances through reorganization of debts. It is reported that in 2009, the total number of bankruptcy filings was 58,721. But in 2010, only 58,322 business bankruptcy cases were filed in the federal courts. This figure indicates that the condition of the industry has become slightly better in this year, which is a welcome news.

Bankruptcy filings under all chapters in 2010

Let us have a close look at the bankruptcy filings under all chapters in 2010:

1.Chapter 7 bankruptcy: The number of bankruptcy cases filed under Chapter 7 is around 1,146,511. This figure is up 16 percent from the 989.227 filings in the fiscal year 2009.

2.Chapter 13 bankruptcy: Chapter 13 bankruptcy filings have gone up by 9.2 percent from the fiscal year 2009. Around 398,210 individuals filed Chapter 13 in 2009. This figure has increased to 434,839 in 2010.

3.Chapter 11 bankruptcy: Around 14,745 bankruptcy cases were filed under Chapter 11. The figure has dropped by 3.8 percent from the fiscal year 2009. In the year 2009, about 14,745 bankruptcy cases were filed.

4.Chapter 12 bankruptcy: The number of Chapter 12 bankruptcy increased by 14 percent in 2010 in comparison to the preceding year. The number of fisheries and farms filing chapter 12 bankruptcy in the fiscal year 2010 is 707. On the contrary, the number of Chapter 12 filings in the fiscal year 2009 was 487.

Finally, the number of bankruptcy filings in the final quarter of 2010 is 412,380. The figure is up by 6.2 percent from 388,485 bankruptcy cases filed in the last quarter of fiscal year 2009.