The United States Bankruptcy Courts website reports that bankruptcy cases fell 13 percent in the 2012 calendar year. http://news.uscourts.gov/bankruptcy-filings-decline-calendar-year-2012. Bankruptcy Lawyers across the country a reporting a noticeable decline in the amount of new clients requesting information on bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy filings in the federal courts fell 13 percent in calendar year 2012, according to data released today by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. The number of bankruptcies filed in the 12-month period ending December 31, 2012, totaled 1,221,091, down from the 1,410,653 bankruptcies filed in CY 2011.

Statistics released today include business and non-business filings for the 12-month period ending December 31, 2012 (Table F-2, 12-month); a comparison of December 2011 and 2012 filings (Table F); 4th quarter filings (Table F-2, 3-month); monthly filings for the 12-month period ending December 31, 2012 (Table F-2, Year-Month); and filings per capita.

Business and Non-Business Filings

The majority of bankruptcy filings involve non-business debts. In CY 2012, they totaled 1,181,016, down 13 percent from the 1,362,847 non-business bankruptcy filings in CY 2011.

Business filings also fell, from 47,806 in CY 2011 to 40,075 in CY 2012, a 16 percent decrease.

First Quarter of FY 2013

The last three months of CY 2012 were the first quarter of the Judiciary’s 2013 fiscal year. The number of bankruptcies filed during the first quarter of fiscal year 2013 (October 1-December 31, 2012) was 273,878, down 13 percent from the 313,775 filings in the first quarter of FY 2012.

Filings by Chapter

In CY 2012, filings fell under all chapters of the U.S. bankruptcy code.

  • Chapter 7 filings totaled 843,545, down 15 percent from the 992,332 filings reported in CY 2011.
  • Chapter 11 filings fell 10 percent to 10,361, from the 11,529 filings in CY 2011.
  • Chapter 13 filings fell 10 percent to 366,532, from the 406,084 filings in CY 2011.
  • Chapter 12 filings totaled 512, down 20 percent from the 637 Chapter 12 bankruptcy filings in CY 2011.

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