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JUNE 2004
U.S. Court Data Show Bankruptcy
Growth Has Slowed
Confirming the trends we've been following through private bankruptcy tracking services, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts announced that personal bankruptcy filings in the first quarter of 2004 were down about 1.4% from the same period in 2003. Given that the past two years have each set new records for bankruptcy filings, even a modest downturn is welcome news, if not cause for outright celebration.
During the twelve months ending March 31, 2004, personal bankruptcies totaled 1,618,062. Chapter 7 bankruptcies (in which individuals are allowed to keep certain exempt property while any remaining assets are sold to pay off unsecured creditors) continued to make up about 71% of all filings. This proportion has remained nearly unchanged for more than a decade. Out of 91 bankruptcy judicial districts in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, 18 experienced year-over-year declines in filing volume during the 12-month period ending in March 2004. The table below provides detailed statistics on the number of filings and growth rates by judicial district. The accompanying chart displays the year-over-year rate of change in personal bankruptcy filings, by quarter.
| Personal Bankruptcies By State And Judicial
District For The 12-Month Period Ending March 31, 2004 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Total Filings
as of 3/31/2004 |
% Change
in Total 3/31/2003-3/31/2004 |
% Chapter 7
as of 3/31/2004 |
|
| Total |
1,618,062
|
2.8%
|
71.5%
|
| Alabama |
42,079
|
0.4%
|
49.0%
|
| Middle |
8,629
|
-9.4%
|
49.5%
|
| North |
25,921
|
4.0%
|
51.1%
|
| South |
7,529
|
0.7%
|
41.0%
|
| Alaska |
1,443
|
4.9%
|
91.7%
|
| Arizona |
31,515
|
5.9%
|
81.3%
|
| Arkansas |
24,206
|
2.9%
|
59.7%
|
| East |
15,526
|
2.3%
|
54.3%
|
| West |
8,680
|
4.0%
|
69.3%
|
| California |
133,560
|
-7.3%
|
84.2%
|
| Central |
70,648
|
-12.2%
|
87.5%
|
| East |
29,497
|
-3.4%
|
84.6%
|
| North |
21,902
|
6.3%
|
73.1%
|
| South |
11,513
|
-7.7%
|
83.5%
|
| Colorado |
26,185
|
18.6%
|
89.7%
|
| Connecticut |
11,933
|
1.3%
|
83.0%
|
| District Of Columbia |
2,156
|
-10.8%
|
72.2%
|
| Delaware |
3,384
|
3.3%
|
58.2%
|
| Florida |
92,311
|
0.7%
|
73.3%
|
| Middle |
54,910
|
3.0%
|
72.4%
|
| North |
6,978
|
4.5%
|
80.4%
|
| South |
30,423
|
-4.0%
|
73.3%
|
| Georgia |
78,552
|
2.4%
|
46.1%
|
| Middle |
17,728
|
-2.7%
|
46.6%
|
| North |
44,631
|
3.7%
|
52.6%
|
| South |
16,193
|
4.6%
|
27.6%
|
| Hawaii |
3,613
|
-13.0%
|
87.8%
|
| Idaho |
9,578
|
8.9%
|
87.5%
|
| Illinois |
82,707
|
-1.4%
|
75.4%
|
| Central |
15,888
|
-0.5%
|
86.0%
|
| North |
56,930
|
-3.1%
|
73.0%
|
| South |
9,889
|
7.7%
|
72.2%
|
| Indiana |
55,316
|
3.2%
|
80.3%
|
| North |
21,037
|
0.1%
|
83.7%
|
| South |
34,279
|
5.1%
|
78.2%
|
| Iowa |
12,522
|
6.7%
|
95.1%
|
| North |
4,787
|
3.8%
|
96.3%
|
| South |
7,735
|
8.6%
|
94.3%
|
| Kansas |
16,045
|
5.9%
|
80.6%
|
| Kentucky |
29,508
|
8.4%
|
81.9%
|
| East |
13,411
|
11.1%
|
85.0%
|
| West |
16,097
|
6.2%
|
79.3%
|
| Louisiana |
29,437
|
9.4%
|
60.9%
|
| East |
10,020
|
4.1%
|
67.1%
|
| Middle |
4,142
|
10.7%
|
69.7%
|
| West |
15,275
|
12.8%
|
54.4%
|
| Maine |
4,579
|
5.1%
|
90.7%
|
| Maryland |
32,616
|
-6.2%
|
67.9%
|
| Massachusetts |
17,904
|
4.0%
|
86.0%
|
| Michigan |
62,420
|
8.6%
|
70.6%
|
| East |
45,764
|
10.3%
|
67.8%
|
| West |
16,656
|
4.3%
|
78.1%
|
| Minnesota |
18,592
|
0.2%
|
82.4%
|
| Mississippi |
21,360
|
-4.5%
|
68.2%
|
| North |
8,189
|
1.3%
|
71.3%
|
| South |
13,171
|
-7.8%
|
66.3%
|
| Missouri |
37,662
|
6.6%
|
73.3%
|
| East |
20,161
|
7.5%
|
66.7%
|
| West |
17,501
|
5.5%
|
80.9%
|
| Montana |
4,313
|
6.2%
|
89.3%
|
| Nebraska |
8,412
|
5.5%
|
77.4%
|
| Nevada |
19,913
|
1.2%
|
75.6%
|
| New Hampshire |
4,369
|
12.0%
|
89.5%
|
| New Jersey |
42,066
|
3.3%
|
65.3%
|
| New Mexico |
8,769
|
-2.0%
|
91.4%
|
| New York |
75,020
|
5.7%
|
80.1%
|
| East |
26,188
|
0.8%
|
79.1%
|
| North |
17,139
|
6.0%
|
78.5%
|
| South |
16,922
|
10.2%
|
87.6%
|
| West |
14,771
|
9.5%
|
75.4%
|
| North Carolina |
38,186
|
3.7%
|
49.7%
|
| East |
15,529
|
3.2%
|
49.8%
|
| Middle |
12,266
|
2.2%
|
45.6%
|
| West |
10,391
|
6.3%
|
54.3%
|
| North Dakota |
2,224
|
10.2%
|
95.3%
|
| Ohio |
89,213
|
11.9%
|
79.4%
|
| North |
47,827
|
12.2%
|
82.6%
|
| South |
41,386
|
11.7%
|
75.8%
|
| Oklahoma |
26,834
|
8.6%
|
89.2%
|
| East |
5,043
|
4.0%
|
92.1%
|
| North |
7,673
|
16.6%
|
91.3%
|
| West |
14,118
|
6.4%
|
87.0%
|
| Oregon |
23,590
|
0.5%
|
86.6%
|
| Pennsylvania |
58,195
|
6.2%
|
69.2%
|
| East |
24,970
|
0.3%
|
56.6%
|
| Middle |
13,793
|
8.3%
|
75.7%
|
| West |
19,432
|
13.1%
|
80.8%
|
| Rhode Island |
4,406
|
-8.0%
|
92.7%
|
| South Carolina |
15,920
|
3.1%
|
43.0%
|
| South Dakota |
2,842
|
10.0%
|
93.5%
|
| Tennessee |
63,676
|
0.4%
|
49.2%
|
| East |
20,092
|
2.3%
|
63.9%
|
| Middle |
15,939
|
1.6%
|
61.1%
|
| West |
27,645
|
-1.6%
|
31.6%
|
| Texas |
88,714
|
8.4%
|
53.0%
|
| East |
12,933
|
4.8%
|
58.4%
|
| North |
30,478
|
8.0%
|
49.2%
|
| South |
25,065
|
11.3%
|
51.5%
|
| West |
20,238
|
8.0%
|
57.1%
|
| Utah |
21,167
|
-3.4%
|
69.1%
|
| Vermont |
1,814
|
2.7%
|
85.9%
|
| Virginia |
42,246
|
-0.9%
|
73.4%
|
| East |
29,737
|
-2.4%
|
69.8%
|
| West |
12,509
|
2.6%
|
81.8%
|
| Washington |
39,595
|
0.7%
|
80.1%
|
| East |
10,091
|
-0.4%
|
77.8%
|
| West |
29,504
|
1.1%
|
80.9%
|
| West Virginia |
11,015
|
7.2%
|
94.7%
|
| North |
4,580
|
6.2%
|
94.5%
|
| South |
6,435
|
7.9%
|
94.8%
|
| Wisconsin |
27,305
|
6.6%
|
83.4%
|
| East |
18,394
|
5.0%
|
81.6%
|
| West |
8,911
|
10.0%
|
87.3%
|
| Wyoming |
2,372
|
1.4%
|
91.9%
|
| Guam |
356
|
4.7%
|
88.2%
|
| NMI |
13
|
-35.0%
|
92.3%
|
| Puerto Rico |
14,284
|
6.4%
|
29.9%
|
| Virgin Islands |
50
|
-5.7%
|
54.0%
|
| Circuit | |||
| 1st |
45,542
|
4.2%
|
69.9%
|
| 2nd |
88,767
|
5.0%
|
80.6%
|
| 3rd |
103,695
|
4.9%
|
67.3%
|
| 4th |
139,983
|
0.0%
|
63.9%
|
| 5th |
139,511
|
6.4%
|
57.0%
|
| 6th |
244,817
|
7.5%
|
69.6%
|
| 7th |
165,328
|
1.4%
|
78.4%
|
| 8th |
106,460
|
4.7%
|
75.7%
|
| 9th |
267,489
|
-2.7%
|
83.1%
|
| 10th |
101,372
|
6.6%
|
84.1%
|
| 11th |
212,942
|
1.2%
|
58.5%
|
| States and territories in each circuit: | |||
| 1st: ME, MA, NH, RI, PR | |||
| 2nd: CT, NY, VT | |||
| 3rd: DE, NJ, PA, VI | |||
| 4th: MD, NC, SC, VA, WV | |||
| 5th: LA, MS, TX | |||
| 6th: KY, MI, OH, TN | |||
| 7th: IL, IN, WI | |||
| 8th: AR, IA, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD | |||
| 9th: AK, AZ, CA, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, WA, GUAM, NMI | |||
| 10th: CO, KS, NM, OK, UT, WY | |||
| 11th: AL, FL, GA | |||
© 2004 American Financial Services Association. All rights reserved.