ALEXANDRIA, Va. -

The American Bankruptcy Institute said filings are on pace for the lowest annual total since 2006, the year after the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 went into effect and placed new requirements on filers.

But ABI executive director Amy Quackenboss sees the potential for the trend turning depending on what state and federal officials do.

According to data provided by Epiq, total U.S. bankruptcies in November declined 39% year-over-year, dropping from 56,085 filings to 34,478 cases.

ABI noted that consumer bankruptcies also decreased 39% in November, as the 32,143 filings dropped from the 53,063 consumer filings registered in November of last year.

Officials added that commercial bankruptcy filings totaled 2,335 in November, representing a 23% decline from the 3,022 commercial filings last November.

ABI went on to mention the 494,756 total bankruptcies through the first 11 months of 2020 are on pace to result in the lowest annual filing total since the 617,660 filings recorded in 2006.

“Government relief programs, moratoriums and lender deferments have helped families and businesses weather surging COVID-19 cases, elevated unemployment rates and growing debt loads to this point of the pandemic,” Quackenboss said in a news release.

“Unless renewed by Congress, the expiration of the stabilization programs will leave struggling consumers and businesses in a challenging and uncertain position. Bankruptcy provides a proven shield to companies and consumers facing mounting financial distress,” she continued.

The Epiq data also showed total filings for November decreased 14% compared to the 40,218 total filings in October. Total noncommercial filings for November dropped 15% from the October noncommercial filing total of 37,679. 

ABI determined the average nationwide per capita bankruptcy filing rate (total filings per 1,000 population) stood at 1.74 for the first 11 calendar months of 2020, a slight decrease from the 1.78 rate registered during the first 10 months of the year.

The average daily filing total in November was 1,815, a 39% decrease from the 2,952 total daily filings registered in November of last year.

States with the highest per capita filing rates (total filings per 1,000 population) through the first 11 months of the year included:

1. Alabama (3.91)

2. Delaware (3.74)

3. Tennessee (3.46)

4. Nevada (2.95)

5. Mississippi (2.93)

ABI has partnered with Epiq, a leading provider of managed technology for the global legal profession, in order to provide the most current bankruptcy filing data for analysts, researchers and members of the news media.