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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIn a continuing trend, bankruptcy filings in 2017 continued to fall, but at a slower rate than any time since 2010, a new report issued by the U.S. Courts says.
Filings fell just 0.7 percent, compared with bankruptcy cases filed in calendar year 2016, according to statistics released Wednesday.
In the Southern District of Indiana, filings declined 2.5 percent to 13,997 in 2017, down from 14,354 in 2016. In the Northern District of Indiana, 5.2 percent fewer bankruptcies were filed in 2017 — 9,342, down from 9,853 in 2016.
“They’ve been predicting that the trough would be bottoming out … for a couple of years, and maybe they’re finally right,” said Bankruptcy Clerk Kevin P. Dempsey of the Southern District of Indiana.
A total of 789,020 business and nonbusiness cases were filed in 2017, compared with 794,960 in the previous year. The most recent total number of filings is the lowest recorded since 2006.
Dempsey attributed the 2006 figures to the passage of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, also known as BAPCPA. The law added new requirements including credit counseling before filing, and financial management after. Dempsey said there were 47,231 filings in 2005, dropping to 14,256 in 2006.
The full report, as well as additional data broken down by state and county, can be read here.
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