A look back at bankruptcy trends and litigation in 2023 reveals a spike in bankruptcy filings driven by economic factors and fallout from the pandemic while in upper courts several interesting cases were decided involving proofs of claim, stay violations, and discharge issues.

Over the past year, the ebb and flow of bankruptcy filings has been an interesting one. Through 11 months, the number of bankruptcy filings has decreased from 2021, which was already at its lowest level since the 1980s.

The total number of bankruptcy filings through November stands at 346,760. Based on a recent monthly uptick in both consumer and commercial filings, we should expect the year to end with approximately 385,000, a 4% decrease from the 401,291 filings in 2021.

When 2020 ended, many of us were unsure what 2021 would look like from a bankruptcy perspective. Would consumer filings increase? Could we see bankruptcy reform and particularly in the area of discharge of student loans? There was a lot to consider throughout the year. This article will provide some insight as to what we saw and where we may be headed in 2022.

Bankruptcy Filings Down in 2021

Bankruptcy filings through the first 11 months of 2021 were at their lowest levels since the 1980’s.

The last year and a half was a time to be remembered in bankruptcy law. It started with an eye on increasing the ability of small businesses to utilize the Chapter 11 process in a more efficient and less expensive way, which led to a record number of commercial filings, a reduction in consumer filings, and a test of the bankruptcy system. What will the second half of 2021 look like?

The year 2020 in bankruptcy law started with an eye on increasing the ability of small businesses to utilize the Chapter 11 process in a more efficient and less expensive way, which lead to a record number of commercial filings, a reduction in consumer filings, and a test of the bankruptcy system.

SBRA aka Subchapter V

Over the past year, bankruptcy filings have increased. We are projecting 768,000 filings by the end of the 2019 year — 61% of the filings as chapter 7, 37% as chapter 13, and 2% as chapter 11 and 12 filings. This is a 2% increase from the prior year. Commercial filings are at 5,542 filings compared to 5,108 in 2018.

Increased Filings in Commercial Sector, Especially Retail, Medical and Transportation

The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan recently allowed a debtor to modify his confirmed Chapter 13 plan based upon a mistake by the debtor’s counsel. The result of the modification was to reduce the plan to 36 months from 60 and reduce the repayment to unsecured creditors by 80 percent.

A copy of In re Luman is available at: Link to Opinion.

A look back at bankruptcy trends and litigation in 2023 reveals a spike in bankruptcy filings driven by economic factors and fallout from the pandemic while in upper courts several interesting cases were decided involving proofs of claim, stay violations, and discharge issues.

Over the past year, the ebb and flow of bankruptcy filings has been an interesting one. Through 11 months, the number of bankruptcy filings has decreased from 2021, which was already at its lowest level since the 1980s.

The total number of bankruptcy filings through November stands at 346,760. Based on a recent monthly uptick in both consumer and commercial filings, we should expect the year to end with approximately 385,000, a 4% decrease from the 401,291 filings in 2021.

The last year and a half was a time to be remembered in bankruptcy law. It started with an eye on increasing the ability of small businesses to utilize the Chapter 11 process in a more efficient and less expensive way, which led to a record number of commercial filings, a reduction in consumer filings, and a test of the bankruptcy system. What will the second half of 2021 look like?