May bankruptcies continue double-digit drop streak, individuals pulling out of funk fastest
The number of bankruptcy cases continue to drop. (Credit: © Mauricio Pascual)
The number of bankruptcy cases filed in May reflected a year-over-year 14 percent drop, with a total of 970 cases filed, research firm Boletín de Puerto Rico said Tuesday.
When analyzed collectively, the number of cases filed at the local U.S. Bankruptcy Court was also down, this time by 3 percent versus the same five-month period in 2010. So far this year, a total of 4,709 cases have been filed, or 113 fewer than last year at this time.
The report shows that every kind of bankruptcy filing showed a drop. Individuals seem to be pulling out of the economic funk the fastest, as the 3,025 Chapter 13 cases on record for the first five months reflect an 88 percent drop when matched up against the same period last year. In May alone, there were 623 petitions filed, or 12.3 percent lower than what was on record for the same month last year.
Chapter 7 cases, or total liquidation of assets, stood at 1,588 cases through May, down 56 percent year-over-year. The 328 cases filed in May represent a 14.5 percent reduction from what was on file last year.
Chapter 11 cases, or reorganizations, totalled 83 for the first five months of 2011, down 9 percent in comparison to the same period last year. Nineteen of those types of cases were filed in May, for a 32.1 percent drop, Boletín de Puerto Rico said.
Surprisingly, the embattled farming sector, whose bankruptcy rates have been soaring, did not file a single petition at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, remaining at 13 cases on record so far this year.
The total debt associated with the more than 4,000 cases filed so far this year was not available Wednesday, as it takes a few weeks to tally the numbers.
