November Consumer Bankruptcy Filings Drop 12 Percent from Last Year

U.S. consumer bankruptcy filings totaled 100,980 nationwide during November, a 12 percent decrease from the 114,587 total consumer filings recorded in November 2010, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), relying on data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center (NBKRC). The November consumer filings also represented a 5 percent decrease from the 106,255 filings in October. Chapter 13 filings constituted 31 percent of all consumer cases in November, a slight decrease from October.

“The drop in consumer filings throughout the year reflects the continued deleveraging of the U.S. consumer after years of expanding consumer debt,” said ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano. “We anticipate that there will be less than 1.4 million overall consumer bankruptcy filings by year end.”

ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes more than 13,000 attorneys, accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information.

NBKRC is an online research center that offers subscribers access to up-to-date research and statistics on bankruptcy filings. The database contains complete information dating back to 1995.