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U.S. bankruptcy filings drop 8.5% in 1999
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Posted on Mar 08 2000
The total number of bankruptcies filed during the 1999 calendar year totaled 1,319,463, a decrease of 8.5 percent from the previous calendar year, when filings totaled 1,442,549, according to data released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
The total number of filings for the fourth quarter of 1999 was 318,634, down 1.5 percent from the third quarter of 1999 and down nearly 10 percent from the same period a year earlier.
The number of new filings in 1999 was the first year in the last four not to set a new national record for bankruptcies.
Of the total number of bankruptcy filings for 1999, there were 927,074 Chapter 7 filings, a 10.5 percent decrease from the 1,035,696 filings for the same period in 1998. The next largest group of filings in 1999 was chapter 13 filings at 382,214, which dropped 3.9 percent from 397,619 filings in ’98. Chapter 11 filings rose to 9,315 in calendar year 1999, up from 8,386 in 1998. Chapter 12 filings also increased slightly in this period from 807 in 1998 to 834 in 1999.
“The tidal wave of new bankruptcies appears to have subsided somewhat,” said Samuel J. Gerdano, executive director of the ABI. “However, the high rate of filing demonstrates that U.S. consumers are still under financial stress, notwithstanding a healthy economy”
Legislation pending in Congress would limit access to bankruptcy for some consumers while requiring greater repayment of debts.
Personal bankruptcies account for 97.1 2 percent of the total new cases filed in the last 12 months. These cases decreased to 1,281,581 in the 1999, down 8.3 percent when compared to the 1998 calendar year. Personal filings decreased during the fourth quarter to 309,835, a 9.7 percent drop from the third quarter of 1999.
