Chapter 11 U.S. Bankruptcy Filings up 48% in May Compared to Year Ago

Filing Delays in Other Bankruptcy Categories Expected in Short Term

NEW YORK, June 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Epiq Global released bankruptcy filings statistics today from its AACER business unit that shows commercial Chapter 11 filings were up 48% in May as compared to May 2019 with a total of 724 new petitions, and up 30% over April with 165 new petitions. 

There was a slight increase month over month in U.S. bankruptcy filings. Across all U.S. bankruptcy code chapters, the total number of new bankruptcy filings in May 2020 was 39,943. This represents a 3.9% increase from April, which had 38,440 new filings.

Overall, commercial filings were up 13% over April with a total of 2,571 new filings. Non-commercial filings were up only 1% over April with a total of 37,372 new filings across all chapters.

“May was largely consistent with April’s new U.S. bankruptcy filing numbers as the country delays seeking bankruptcy protections during the global COVID-19 pandemic. We expect these delays to continue while key government programs address personal and commercial borrower liquidity concerns,” commented Chris Kruse, senior vice president of Epiq AACER [....]