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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Looking at bankruptcy figures for the
fiscal year that wrapped up Sept. 30, the American Bankruptcy Institute
discovered that the amount dropped 8 percent below the last fiscal year, according to
data released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

ABI said the total number of U.S. bankruptcies filed between
Sept. 30, 2010 and the same date this year totaled 1,467,221, compared with
1,596,355 cases during the same time period a year earlier.

"The decline in consumer bankruptcies is the residue of a
sustained debt deleveraging by U.S. households," explained ABI executive
director Samuel Gerdano.

In other analysis, ABI found business filings decreased 18
percent for the nine-month period ending Sept. 30, 2011 to 36,385 from the
43,016 filings in the same period in a year earlier.

The institute noted Chapter 7 business liquidations also
fell by 18 percent as there were 25,672 in the first nine months of this year
compared with the 30,192 business Chapter 7 filings during the same period a
year earlier.

Officials determined that Chapter 11 business reorganizations
registered the sharpest decrease, as the 7,417 filings during the first nine
months of this year represented a 22-percent drop from the 9,058 total Chapter
11 business filings during the same period a year ago.

ABI said total business filings decreased 5 percent from
12,304 in the second quarter of this year to 11,705 in the third quarter.

In other data findings, the institute revealed that filings by
individuals or households with consumer debt decreased 11 percent to 1,058,218
for the nine-month period that ended Sept. 30. In the same period a year
earlier, there were 1,179,573 cases.

Consumers filing for Chapter 7 protection decreased 13
percent to 751,674 during the first nine months of this year from 851,423
during the first nine months of last year.

Consumer Chapter 13 filings dropped as well, decreasing 7
percent as 305,192 consumers filed for Chapter 13 during the first nine months of
this year, down from 326,671 during the first nine months of last year.

The 336,930 total consumer filings for the third quarter
represented a 9-percent decline from the 367,486 total consumer filings in the
second quarter.

ABI explained that the 348,635 total filings for the third
calendar quarter (July 1 through Sept. 30) represented an 18-percent drop from
same time frame a year earlier when there were a total of 412,380 cases.

Consumer filings also decreased 18 percent from 398,423
recorded in the third quarter of last year to 336,930 filings in the third
quarter of this year.

Business filings decreased 19 percent from 13,957 in the third
quarter of last year to 11,705 filings in the third quarter of this year.

ABI pointed out that the bankruptcy filing rate per thousand U.S.
residents totaled 4.85 for all chapters during the 12-month period ending Sept.
30. Breaking it down, 3.44 Americans per thousand filed for Chapter 7 while 1.37 per thousand
filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

Looking at the data geographically, Nevada
maintained its position as the state with the highest per capita filing rate in
the country with 9.66 residents per thousand filing in all chapters. Nevada also
had the highest per capita filing rate for Chapter 7 filings at 7.34.

The state with the highest per capita filing rate for Chapter
13 bankruptcy was Alabama at 3.85 per thousand for the 12-month period that ended
Sept. 30.

Non-business filings for the 12-month
period ending that Sept. 30 were down to 1,417,326, a 9-percent decrease from
the 1,538,033 total non-business filings over the same period in 2010.

Business filings for the same 12-month period totaled
49,895, down 17 percent from the 58,322 business bankruptcy petitions filed in
the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2010.

The 1,036,950 total Chapter 7 filings for the 12-month
period ending in September of this year represent an 11-percent decrease from
the 1,146,511 filings from the same period a year earlier.

Total Chapter 11 filings decreased 18 percent to 11,979 in
the 12-month period ending in September from 14,191 during the same period a
year earlier.

Total Chapter 13 filings decreased 4 percent to 417,503 in
the 12-month period ending in September from 434,839 during the same period
last year.

Total Chapter 12 filings decreased 5 percent from 707 in the
12-month period ending in September 30 to 676 for the same period a year earlier.

Breaking down business filings for
the three-month period ending Sept. 30 , there were 8,388 Chapter 7 filings; 2,245 Chapter
11s; 161 Chapter 12s; and 902 Chapter 13s.

For non-business filings for
the three-month period ending Sept. 30, there were the following: 233,577 Chapter 7 filings; 451 Chapter
11s; and 102,900 Chapter 13s.

Officials went on to mention that districts with the highest
percentage year-over-year increase in total filings for the 12-month period ending Sept. 30 included:

1. District of Utah: up 6.5 percent.

2. Middle District of Louisiana: up 1.3 percent

3. Central District of California: up 0.9 percent

They added that districts with the highest percentage year-over-year decrease in
total filings for the 12-month period ending Sept. 30 included:

1. District of Guam: down 30.8 percent.

2. District of Vermont: down 25.8 percent.

3. Southern District of West Virginia:  down 24.4 percent.

4. Western District of New York: down 19.6 percent.

5. Southern District of Iowa: down 19.2 percent.