Puerto Rico bankruptcy filings dip 2% in October
The majority of commercial cases filed through October included construction contractors, doctors, beauty salons, construction development projects owners, restaurants and cafeterias. (Credit: © Mauricio Pascual)
The Puerto Rico bankruptcy court saw a slight 2 percent drop in activity in October, when 1,020 cases were filed. During the first 10 months of the year, filings dropped by 4 percent to 9,165 cases, according to research firm Boletín de Puerto Rico, which collects and analyzes court data.
The report showed that three of the four filing categories showed increases, while the one legal protection reserved exclusively for farmers — Ch. 12 — decreased exponentially year-over-year.
Through October, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court had received 3,231 Ch. 7 cases seeking total liquidation, representing a 4 percent increase over the same period in 2012.
There are 175 Chapter 11 filings on record through October from Puerto Rico businesses that have sought to reorganize their finances through this type of protection.
Meanwhile, individuals looking to reorganize their finances through the Chapter 13 category pushed the total to 5,741 cases during the first 10 months of the year. The total was 3 percent above the same period in 2012.
Finally, 18 farming operations have filed for Chapter 12 protection so far this year through a category that is reserved exclusively for troubled agriculture businesses. A total of 32 such cases are on record for the first 10 months of last year, which means this year’s filings are 44 percent below 2012’s cumulative total.
The majority of commercial cases filed through October included construction contractors, doctors, beauty salons, construction development projects owners, restaurants and cafeterias. The report showed that some 607 commercial filings were submitted in court through the first 10 months of this year, representing a 5 percent drop from the 638 cases on record for the same period in 2012.
Accumulated debt associated with the total number of filings through October exceeded $1.6 billion, or 17 percent lower than the $1.9 billion on record for the same 10-month period in 2012. When broken down, $822.9 million is secured, $651 million is unsecured, $136.8 is prioritized, and $867,666 is unspecified. Individuals owed a total of $819.5 million of the total debt.
