Growth in Bankruptcy Filings Slows In 2010; Corporate Filings Down 7%

Bankruptcy filings in the federal courts rose 8% in calendar year
2010, according to data released Tuesday by the Administrative
Office of the U.S. Courts.  Total filings remain at a five-year
high.

The number of bankruptcies filed in the 12-month period ending
December 31, 2010, totaled 1,593,081, up from 1,473,675
bankruptcies filed in calendar year 2009.

Filings have grown steadily since CY 2006, when bankruptcy
filings totaled 617,660, in the first full 12-month period after
the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of
2005 took effect.  An historic high in the number of bankruptcy
filings was seen in CY 2005, when over 2 million bankruptcies
were filed in anticipation of BAPCPA.

Business and Non-Business Filings

The majority of bankruptcy filings involve non-business debts. 
In CY 2010, they totaled 1,536,799, up 9% from the 1,412,838 non-
business bankruptcy filings in CY 2009.

Business filings totaled 56,282, down 7% from the 60,837 business
filings in CY 2009.

First Quarter of FY 2011

The last three months of CY 2010 were the first quarter of the
Judiciary's 2011 fiscal year.  The number of bankruptcies filed
during the first quarter of fiscal year 2011 (October 1-December
31, 2010) was 370,080, down 1% from the 372,203 filings in the
first quarter of fiscal year 2010.

Filings by Chapter

In CY 2010, filings rose under Chapters 7, 11, 12 and 13 of the
U.S. bankruptcy code.

    * Chapter 7 filings totaled 1,139,601, up 8% from the
      1,050,832 Chapter 7 filings reported in CY 2009.

    * Chapter 11 filings fell 10% to 13,713 from the 15,189
      filings in CY 2009.

    * Chapter 13 filings rose 8% to 438,913 from the 406,962
      filings in CY 2009.

    * Chapter 12 filings totaled 723, up 33% from the
      544 Chapter 12 bankruptcy filings in CY 2009.