ALEXANDRIA, Va. -

The fourth quarter began with a double-digit climb in bankruptcies, again aided by changes in federal laws.

According to data provided by Epiq Systems, the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) reported this week that total U.S. bankruptcy filings came in at 67,806, representing an 11% increase from the September total of 61,132 filings.

Officials also noted the 64,279 consumer filings in October also marked an 11% jump from the previous month’s consumer total of 57,968.

On the business side, ABI indicated commercial Chapter 11 filings in October spiked 25% month-over-month. The 520 commercial Chapter 11 filings in October were up over the 417 filings registered in September.

Officials said overall commercial filings also increased in October as the 3,527 filings marked a 12% lift from the 3,164 filings in September.

“Bankruptcy provides an effective shield for financially distressed families, farmers and businesses faced with increasing debt burdens and trade costs,” ABI executive director Samuel Gerdano said in a news release.

“New bankruptcy laws are providing better access to the financial fresh start needed by struggling small businesses, veterans and family farmers,” Gerdano continued.

ABI recapped that President Trump signed three key pieces of bankruptcy legislation into law on Aug. 23.

The Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019, which is effective February, adds a new subchapter V to Chapter 11 providing what ABI believes is a better path for small businesses to successfully restructure, reduce liquidations, save jobs and increase recoveries to creditors.

The HAVEN Act revises consumer filing requirements to exclude VA and DoD disability payments from the monthly income calculation used for bankruptcy means testing.

The Family Farmer Relief Act of 2019 raised the debt limit for Chapter 12 filings for struggling family farmers or fishermen from $4.3 million to $10 million.

To view a webinar of experts discussing the new laws, go to this website.

With those law changes as a backdrop, ABI noticed a slight lift in filings when looking at the October data on a year-over-year comparison.

Total bankruptcy filings this October ticked up a bit from last October’s filing total of 67,593. The 64,279 consumer filings this October also represented a slight increase from last October’s consumer total of 64,179.

October 2019 business filings rose 3% to 3,527 from last year’s business total of 3,414. Conversely, the 520 commercial Chapter 11 filings recorded in this October represented a 7% decrease from the 557 commercial Chapter 11 filings registered in October of last year.

ABI determined the average nationwide per capita bankruptcy filing rate in October was 2.51 (total filings per 1,000 per population), a slight increase from the filing rate of 2.50 during the first nine months of this year.

Average total filings per day in October came in at 3,082, a slight increase from the 3,077 total daily filings in October of last year.

States with the highest per capita filing rates (total filings per 1,000 population) in October included:

1. Alabama (5.75)

2. Tennessee (5.47)

3. Georgia (4.43)

4. Mississippi (4.28)

5. Nevada (3.82)

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.