[1]Bankruptcy filings have been steadily declining nationwide year-over-year since the foreclosure crisis peaked in 2010, and they continued this trend in March, according to AACER bankruptcy data reported by Epiq Systems [2].
Nationwide in March, bankruptcy filings totaled 81,622, a decline of about 10.5 percent from March 2014's total of 91,283. The total number of filings jumped by more than 16,000 from February to March, but to put that number in context, March featured three more filing days than February (22 compared to 19) and filings averaged 3,710 per day in March. Without the extra three days which totaled more than 11,100 filings, the number of filings would have increased month-over-month by only about 5,000 (from 65,000 up to 70,000). Average filings per day increased slightly month-over-month, from 3,421 per day in February up to 3,710 in March.
[3]
Since March 2010, when 159,382 bankruptcy filings were reported for the month nationwide, the number of filings has declined steadily every March. The total number of filings for March 2015 (81,622) experienced nearly a 49 percent decrease from the peak total reached in March 2010.
The total number of bankruptcy filings year-to-date for the first three months of 2015 is 205,703, compared to 231,839 for the first three months of 2014. The average number of filings per month for the first three months of 2015 is 68,258, down from 2014's monthly average of 75,840.
The state with the most cumulative filings year-to-date is California with 20,984, followed by Illinois at 15,031. Florida was a close third at 14,361. In filings per capita for the first three months of 2015, Tennessee and Alabama were once again first and second among states (as they were in January and February) with 5.52 and 5.14 filings for every thousand people, respectively. Both percentages represented slight increases from February's totals for the two states.
The national average in bankruptcy filings per capita ticked slightly upward from February to March, from 2.39 up to 2.65. Georgia, which ranked third in filings per capita, also saw a month-over-month increase from 4.66 up to 4.77. Illinois, which ranked fourth, saw filings per capita jump from 4.22 in February to 4.66 in March. Utah moved up to fifth in filings per capita from the sixth position with a month-over-month increase from 3.51 up to 4.07. Indiana was close behind in sixth at 3.96, followed by Mississippi, which dropped from fifth to seventh despite seeing an increase in filings per capita from 3.51 up to 3.81.
Epiq Systems is a leading global provider of technology-enabled solutions for electronic discovery, bankruptcy and class action administration. Top legal professionals depend on us for deep subject-matter expertise and years of firsthand experience working on many of the largest, most high-profile and complex client engagements. Epiq Systems, Inc. has locations in the United States, Europe and Asia.