July ’16 bankruptcies drop 4.4% YOY in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy levels showed a 4.4 percent drop last month, when the total number of companies and individuals who turned to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for help totaled 818 cases, preliminary data released Monday by research firm Boletín de Puerto Rico showed.
So far this year, there are 6,109 bankruptcy cases on file, representing a 3.7 percent increase from the same seven-month period last year.
When broken down, there were 6.4 percent fewer Chapter 7 filings in July from petitioners seeking a total liquidation of assets. There were 347 cases filed last month, pushing the year-to-date total to 2,529 cases, which remained essentially flat when compared to the same seven-month period last year.
Chapter 13, or personal bankruptcies, also showed a decline in July, when 456 cases were filed, representing a 3.8 percent drop in comparison to July 2015. So far this year, some 3,397 individuals have sought the court’s protection against creditors, reflecting a 4.1 percent increase this year versus the same year-ago period.
Chapter 11 cases are on the rise, both for the month of July — when 20 cases were filed — and for 2016, with a tally so far of 166 filings. Chapter 11 cases allow the debtor to work through their financial situation while still managing their business.
The last category, Chapter 12, remained stable in July, when three cases were filed. The Chapter 12 classification, open only to farmers, has been used 17 times so far this year, Boletín de Puerto Rico’s data shows.
