US bankruptcy filings were up 33.3 percent for the 12-month period ending March 31, 2009, compared to the previous 12 month period ending March 31, 2008, according to statistics released today by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

March 2009 bankruptcy filings totaled 1,202,503, compared to 901,927 bankruptcy cases filed compared to the previous 12 month period ending March 31, 2008. The largest percentage increase occurred in Chapter 11 filings, a 69.1 percent increase over March 2008 Chapter 11 filings.

A significant decline in bankruptcy filings occurred in October 2006, when many of the provisions of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA) took effect. Bankruptcy filings have risen steadily since then and the March 2009 total filings are the highest since BAPCA was implemented.

Business and Non-business Filings

The majority of bankruptcy filings are filings involving predominantly non-business debts. Non-business filings (also called personal or consumer filings) for the 12-month period ending March 31, 2009, totaled 1,153,412, up 32.4 percent from the 871,186 bankruptcies filed in the 12-month period ending March 31, 2008.

Filings involving predominantly business debts also rose. They totaled 49,091, up 59.7 percent from the 30,741 business bankruptcies filed in the 12-month period ending March 31, 2008.

Filings by Chapter

For the 12-month period ending March 31, 2009, filings rose for all bankruptcy chapters.

• Chapter 7 filings rose 46.3 percent to 819,362, compared to the 560,015 Chapter 7 filings in the 12-month period ending March 31, 2008.
• Chapter 13 filings rose 10.9 percent to 370,875, from the 334,551 bankruptcies filed in the 12-month period ending March 31, 2008.
• Chapter 11 filings rose 69.1 percent, to 11,785, compared to the 6,971 Chapter 11 filings in the same time period in 2008.
• Chapter 12 filings rose 7.0 percent to 367, from the 343 filings for the 12-month period ending March 2008.