What about bankruptcy in 2015?

The story was mostly positive, but the American Bankruptcy Institute has a warning about 2016.

Bankruptcy filing data gathered by the American Bankruptcy Institute for 2015 shows that Americans are marching in the general direction of solvency.

Total bankruptcy filings totaled 819,240 nationwide for calendar year 2015, a 10% decrease from the 910,397 total filings during the same period a year ago, according to data provided by Epiq Systems, Inc.

The 789,222 total noncommercial filings during calendar year 2015 also represented a 10% drop from the noncommercial filing total of 875,648 during calendar year 2014. Total commercial filings during calendar year 2015 were 30,018, a 14% drop from the 34,749 filings during the same period in 2014. 

Conversely, commercial chapter 11s registered their first year-over-year percentage increase since 2009 as the 5,309 filings during calendar year 2015 represented a 2% increase over the 5,188 commercial chapter 11s filed the previous year.

“While commercial chapter 11 filings increased slightly last year, total filings fell for the sixth consecutive year and bankruptcies decreased to their lowest number recorded since 2006,” said ABI executive director Samuel J. Gerdano. “However, as interest rates increase the cost of borrowing, more debt-burdened consumers and businesses may turn to the financial fresh start of the Bankruptcy Code in 2016.”

The 53,806 total bankruptcy filings for the month of December represented a 15% decrease compared with the 63,202 filings in December 2014. The 51,171 total noncommercial filings for December represented a 16% drop from the December 2014 noncommercial filing total of 60,700. Conversely, total commercial filings for December 2015 were 2,635, representing a 5% increase from the 2,502 filings during the same period in 2014. The 396 commercial chapter 11 filings in December 2015 registered an 11% increase over the 357 filings in December 2014. Average total filings per day in December 2015 were 1,736, a 15% decrease from the 2,039 total daily filings in December 2014.

The average nationwide per capita bankruptcy filing rate for calendar year 2015 (Jan. 1-Dec. 31) decreased to 2.63 (total filings per 1,000 per population) from the 2.93 rate during calendar year 2014. States with the highest per capita filing rate (total filings per 1,000 population) through 2015 were:

1. Tennessee (5.73)

2. Alabama (5.36)

3. Georgia (5.02)

4. Illinois (4.34)

5. Utah (4.28)