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Final Tally on 1999 Personal Bankruptcies
Personal bankruptcies in the U.S. dropped by 8.3 percent during 1999 according to year-end statistics released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. A total of 1,281,581 personal bankruptcy petitions were filed, of which 909,779 (71%) were Chapter 7 cases. Strong economic growth that has caused unemployment rates across all demographic groups to plunge to 30-year lows gets some of the credit. Lenders also contributed by tightening standards and/or curtailing marketing of products in certain segments (bank credit cards, sub-prime mortgage loans: see related article on card solicitations elsewhere in this issue).
Personal bankruptcy filings during the fourth quarter of 1999 were down 9.8% from the same quarter in 1998. This was a slightly smaller decline than we witnessed in the third quarter (10.4%) and suggests that we may have already seen the largest improvements in the bankruptcy picture. Although the key economic components of household financial health continue to improve (personal income and unemployment), the upsurge in demand for credit in recent months, especially non-mortgage credit, makes it unlikely that the bankruptcy rate will continue to drop at an 8-10% pace for the balance of this year. Instead, we expect the decline to slow with each successive quarter.
Table 1 displays a breakdown of petitions by state and judicial district for the year ending December 31, 1999. The year-over-year improvement in the bankruptcy picture was nearly universal. Of the 91 judicial districts that comprise the 50 states and Puerto Rico, 86 experienced declines in filing volume and only 5 witnessed increased volumes. Table 2 displays the top 5 states according to total filing volume, largest percentage declines, and Chapter 13 volume.
| Table 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| PERSONAL BANKRUPTCIES IN 1999 BY STATE AND JUDICIAL DISTRICT FOR THE 12-MONTH PERIOD ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1999 |
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TOTAL FILINGS AS OF 12/31/99 |
% CHANGE IN TOTAL 12/31/99-12/31/98 |
% CHAPTER 7 AS OF 12/31/99 |
| TOTAL | 1,281,581 | -8.3% | 70.6% |
| ALABAMA | 30,130 | -5.4% | 39.9% |
| MIDDLE | 6,354 | -3.6% | 40.5% |
| NORTH | 19,131 | -6.8% | 38.5% |
| SOUTH | 4,645 | -2.0% | 44.6% |
| ALASKA | 1,377 | 1.8% | 93.0% |
| ARIZONA | 21,828 | -6.8% | 81.5% |
| ARKANSAS | 16,238 | -2.4% | 61.1% |
| EAST | 10,104 | -4.4% | 55.3% |
| WEST | 6,134 | 1.1% | 70.7% |
| CALIFORNIA | 174,014 | -15.0% | 80.5% |
| CENTRAL | 100,035 | -13.9% | 80.9% |
| EAST | 33,606 | -10.0% | 86.0% |
| NORTH | 25,256 | -22.3% | 73.5% |
| SOUTH | 15,117 | -18.8% | 77.8% |
| COLORADO | 15,818 | -11.4% | 84.7% |
| CONNECTICUT | 11,726 | -15.0% | 87.3% |
| DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA | 2,637 | -5.7% | 67.2% |
| DELAWARE | 2,411 | -3.5% | 68.2% |
| FLORIDA | 73,634 | -6.0% | 73.8% |
| MIDDLE | 40,847 | -8.0% | 73.5% |
| NORTH | 4,928 | -6.2% | 81.1% |
| SOUTH | 27,859 | -2.9% | 72.9% |
| GEORGIA | 56,840 | -5.2% | 37.3% |
| MIDDLE | 14,001 | -5.1% | 40.0% |
| NORTH | 31,221 | -5.2% | 41.4% |
| SOUTH | 11,618 | -5.1% | 23.1% |
| HAWAII | 5,339 | -6.6% | 90.7% |
| IDAHO | 6,945 | -3.2% | 80.4% |
| ILLINOIS | 62,567 | -4.1% | 72.0% |
| CENTRAL | 11,598 | -7.7% | 86.0% |
| NORTH | 44,237 | -3.5% | 68.2% |
| SOUTH | 6,732 | -0.8% | 73.0% |
| INDIANA | 37,741 | -2.3% | 82.1% |
| NORTH | 14,140 | -1.5% | 85.2% |
| SOUTH | 23,601 | -2.8% | 80.2% |
| IOWA | 8,256 | -10.6% | 93.9% |
| NORTH | 3,329 | -10.0% | 96.8% |
| SOUTH | 4,927 | -11.0% | 91.9% |
| KANSAS | 11,366 | -12.2% | 80.2% |
| KENTUCKY | 20,540 | -5.9% | 83.2% |
| EAST | 8,853 | -5.9% | 87.0% |
| WEST | 11,687 | -5.9% | 80.3% |
| LOUISIANA | 22,041 | -1.4% | 55.2% |
| EAST | 7,526 | 7.5% | 64.3% |
| MIDDLE | 2,651 | -8.6% | 68.9% |
| WEST | 11,864 | -4.7% | 46.4% |
| MAINE | 3,980 | -6.8% | 93.4% |
| MARYLAND | 31,478 | -8.0% | 69.6% |
| MASSACHUSETTS | 18,034 | -16.5% | 86.7% |
| MICHIGAN | 36,618 | -8.5% | 72.5% |
| EAST | 25,465 | -8.5% | 71.7% |
| WEST | 11,153 | -8.6% | 74.5% |
| MINNESOTA | 14,269 | -15.5% | 78.7% |
| MISSISSIPPI | 17,549 | -4.9% | 59.4% |
| NORTH | 5,784 | -5.0% | 60.9% |
| SOUTH | 11,765 | -4.9% | 58.6% |
| MISSOURI | 26,671 | -4.2% | 71.6% |
| EAST | 15,685 | -3.0% | 62.8% |
| WEST | 10,986 | -5.9% | 84.1% |
| MONTANA | 3,265 | -8.6% | 86.1% |
| NEBRASKA | 5,342 | -10.8% | 85.3% |
| NEVADA | 14,434 | -5.5% | 73.5% |
| NEW HAMPSHIRE | 3,756 | -17.9% | 92.9% |
| NEW JERSEY | 39,937 | -11.3% | 66.5% |
| NEW MEXICO | 6,782 | -10.5% | 85.7% |
| NEW YORK | 65,201 | -14.6% | 81.8% |
| EAST | 26,071 | -16.0% | 79.7% |
| NORTH | 14,072 | -13.1% | 84.1% |
| SOUTH | 14,233 | -13.5% | 88.0% |
| WEST | 10,825 | -14.6% | 75.4% |
| NORTH CAROLINA | 25,422 | -3.9% | 41.4% |
| EAST | 10,062 | -5.0% | 45.7% |
| MIDDLE | 8,430 | -5.0% | 33.0% |
| WEST | 6,930 | -0.8% | 45.4% |
| NORTH DAKOTA | 2,046 | -2.8% | 95.9% |
| OHIO | 52,592 | -5.3% | 79.1% |
| NORTH | 26,927 | -2.8% | 81.5% |
| SOUTH | 25,665 | -7.8% | 76.6% |
| OKLAHOMA | 19,300 | -8.6% | 85.3% |
| EAST | 3,446 | -6.7% | 92.7% |
| NORTH | 4,714 | -4.1% | 86.5% |
| WEST | 11,140 | -10.9% | 82.5% |
| OREGON | 15,229 | -1.4% | 84.6% |
| PENNSYLVANIA | 42,517 | -5.4% | 71.7% |
| EAST | 21,424 | -6.0% | 58.3% |
| MIDDLE | 9,506 | -3.6% | 82.3% |
| WEST | 11,587 | -5.9% | 87.8% |
| RHODE ISLAND | 4,944 | -7.6% | 93.7% |
| SOUTH CAROLINA | 11,251 | -1.1% | 49.5% |
| SOUTH DAKOTA | 2,071 | -2.0% | 96.8% |
| TENNESSEE | 45,723 | -9.1% | 43.7% |
| EAST | 14,708 | -6.0% | 56.6% |
| MIDDLE | 10,717 | -9.5% | 59.1% |
| WEST | 20,298 | -11.1% | 26.3% |
| TEXAS | 62,411 | -9.7% | 54.5% |
| EAST | 8,969 | -5.2% | 49.1% |
| NORTH | 20,526 | -13.5% | 52.4% |
| SOUTH | 16,892 | -9.6% | 57.6% |
| WEST | 16,024 | -6.9% | 57.0% |
| UTAH | 13,644 | 0.8% | 61.7% |
| VERMONT | 1,674 | -10.8% | 92.5% |
| VIRGINIA | 37,603 | -11.1% | 74.4% |
| EAST | 27,893 | -12.4% | 71.6% |
| WEST | 9,710 | -7.1% | 82.5% |
| WASHINGTON | 31,009 | -4.3% | 79.3% |
| EAST | 7,526 | 1.8% | 78.3% |
| WEST | 23,483 | -6.1% | 79.6% |
| WEST VIRGINIA | 7,898 | -5.5% | 94.5% |
| NORTH | 3,224 | -4.4% | 94.5% |
| SOUTH | 4,674 | -6.4% | 94.5% |
| WISCONSIN | 17,670 | -3.3% | 86.2% |
| EAST | 12,402 | -2.3% | 83.9% |
| WEST | 5,268 | -5.6% | 91.8% |
| WYOMING | 1,940 | -10.5% | 93.6% |
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| GUAM | 110 | 31.0% | 87.3% |
| NMI | 6 | -40.0% | 100.0% |
| PUERTO RICO | 17,703 | 2.2% | 29.4% |
| VIRGIN ISLANDS | 54 | -12.9% | 70.4% |
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| CIRCUIT | |||
| 1ST | 48,417 | -8.8% | 67.5% |
| 2ND | 78,601 | -14.6% | 82.8% |
| 3RD | 84,919 | -8.2% | 69.2% |
| 4TH | 113,652 | -7.4% | 64.6% |
| 5TH | 102,001 | -7.2% | 55.5% |
| 6TH | 155,473 | -7.3% | 67.7% |
| 7TH | 117,978 | -3.4% | 77.4% |
| 8TH | 74,893 | -7.3% | 75.5% |
| 9TH | 273,556 | -11.5% | 80.6% |
| 10TH | 68,850 | -8.4% | 79.9% |
| 11TH | 160,604 | -5.6% | 54.5% |
| 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 |
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Growth and Number Filed Under Chapter 13 (12 months ending December 31, 1999) |
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| Total Volume | Percentage Decline | Chapter 13 Volume | |||||
| California | 174,014 | New Hampshire | -17.9 | Georgia | 35638 | ||
| Florida | 73,634 | Massachusetts | -16.5 | California | 33932 | ||
| New York | 65201 | Minnesota | -15.5 | Texas | 28397 | ||
| Illinois | 62567 | California | -15 | Tennessee | 25742 | ||
| Texas | 62411 | Connecticut | -15 | Florida | 19292 | ||
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