ALEXANDRIA, Va. -

Triggered in part by changes in federal laws, bankruptcy filings jumped noticeably to finish the third quarter.

According to data provided by Epiq Systems, the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) reported total U.S. filings came in at 61,113 in September, up 6% from last September’s total of 57,619.

ABI noted the 57,984 consumer filings in September also represented a 6% increase from the consumer total of 54,797 filed in September of last year.

Officials said commercial Chapter 11 filings totaled 414 in September, a 33% increase over last September’s total of 312 filings. Overall business filings jumped 11% to 3,129 cases in September, up from the total of 2,822 business filings posted during the same month a year ago.

“Bankruptcy provides the reprieve needed for financially distressed families and businesses dealing with increasing costs and debt loads,” ABI executive director Samuel Gerdano said.

“Recently enacted laws update the bankruptcy code to improve access to bankruptcy for struggling Main Street businesses, farmers and veterans looking to achieve a financial fresh start,” Gerdano continued.

ABI recapped that the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019, the HAVEN Act and the Family Farmer Relief Act of 2019 were signed into law by President Trump on Aug. 23. The bipartisan bills, which ABI testified in support of in June, passed the House in late July and the Senate on Aug. 1.

The provisions of the Family Farmer Relief Act and HAVEN Act are now in effect and the SBRA becomes effective in February. For more information on the legislation, watch this ABI media webinar.

Turning back to the latest data, ABI reported total U.S. bankruptcy filings rose 1% during the first nine months of the year as compared to the same period a year ago. The 580,470 filings were a slight increase from 576,749 filings in 2018.

The 551,062 total noncommercial filings through the first three quarters of the year also represented a 1% uptick from the noncommercial filing total of 548,348 through the first three quarters of 2018.

Commercial bankruptcy filings during the first nine months of the year rose 4% to 29,408 from the 28,401 filings during the same period in 2018. Commercial Chapter 11 filings also increased during the first nine months of the year as the 4,127 filings represented an 8% upturn from the 3,805 Chapter 11 filings during the first nine months of last year.

Officials went on to mention the average nationwide per capita bankruptcy filing rate for the first nine months the year edged slightly lower to 2.5 (total filings per 1,000 population) from the 2.51 rate for the first eight months of the year.

The average daily filing total in September was 3,056, a 1% increase from the 3,033 total daily filings registered last September.

States with the highest per capita filing rates (total filings per 1,000 population) through the first nine months of 2019 included:

1. Alabama (5.67)

2. Tennessee (5.45)

3. Georgia (4.41)

4. Mississippi (4.23)

5. Nevada (3.80)

ABI has partnered with Epiq Systems, 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.