August 2013 bankruptcy filings totaled 88,902 in the United States. According to the American Bankruptcy Institute, this is a 15% decrease from the 104,471 bankruptcy filings in August 2012. In comparison to last month, August 2013 filings were up 1% from July 2013. ABI Executive Director, Samuel J. Gerdano, was quoted saying, “Total bankruptcy filings will be just over one million new cases filed this year, the lowest figure since 2008.” In 2008, there were a total of 1,117,771 bankruptcy filings. In our district, the Eastern District of North Carolina, there were 726 bankruptcy petitions filed in August 2013, increasing the yearly total to 5,496. Of the 726 petitions filed, there were 210 Chapter 7 filings, 9 Chapter 11 filings and 507 Chapter 13 filings. In comparison to the 768 bankruptcy filings in the Eastern District of North Carolina in August 2012, August 2013 filings showed a decrease of approximately 5.5%.
