Puerto Rico

July Bankruptcy Filings Decrease 12 Percent from Previous Year Business Filings Decrease 21 Percent

August 5, 2014

NEWS AND ANALYSIS

JULY BANKRUPTCY FILINGS DECREASE 12 PERCENT FROM PREVIOUS YEAR, BUSINESS FILINGS DECREASE 21 PERCENT

Total bankruptcy filings in the United States fell by 12 percent in July 2014 over July of last year, according to data provided by Epiq Systems, Inc. Bankruptcy filings totaled 77,469 in July 2014, down from the July 2013 total of 87,746. Consumer filings declined 11 percent to 74,595 from the July 2013 consumer filing total of 84,114. Total commercial filings in July 2014 decreased to 2,874, representing a 21 percent decline from the 3,632 business filings recorded in July 2013. Total commercial chapter 11 filings dipped 34 percent to 357 filings in July 2014 from the 539 commercial chapter 11 filings registered in July 2013. Filings are on track to be the lowest since 2007. Read the full press release.

REPORT: WHY SMALL-BUSINESS LENDING HAS NOT RECOVERED

While lingering cyclical factors from the 2008 financial crisis may still be constraining access to bank credit, there are also structural barriers that seem to be preventing banks, both large and small, from ever fully returning to the small business market, according to a new Harvard Business School study, Forbes.com reported today. In the recent recession, small-business sales were hit hard and may still be soft, undermining their demand for loan capital, according to the study, titled "The State of Small Business Lending: Credit Access during the Recovery and How Technology May Change the Game." Income of the typical household headed by a self-employed person declined 19 percent in real terms between 2007 and 2010, according to the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances. And a survey by the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) noted that small businesses reported sales as their number one problem for four straight years during the crisis and subsequent recovery. In addition, collateral owned by small businesses lost value during the financial crisis, potentially making small business borrowers less creditworthy today -- in fact, small business credit scores are lower now than before the Great Recession, according to the Harvard study. Click here to read the full study.

COMMENTARY: A PUERTO RICAN SOLUTION FOR ILLINOIS

If Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (Prepa) can restructure its debt, there could be hope for states -- particularly Illinois -- whose own finances are sketchy, according to a commentary in yesterday's Wall Street Journal by Prof. David Skeel of the University of Pennsylvania School of Law. One obvious solution for Prepa might be to file for municipal bankruptcy, as public agencies of a state can do under chapter 9, but the U.S. Congress explicitly excluded Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., from chapter 9 in the 1980s. Nor can Prepa file for chapter 11, as public corporations and agencies are barred from chapter 11. Mindful of the predicament, Puerto Rican lawmakers in June passed the "Puerto Rico Public Corporation Debt Enforcement and Recovery Act," which gives Prepa and similar entities two restructuring choices. The first suspends a public corporation's obligations for nine months, giving it time to negotiate a debt restructuring to be submitted to creditors for a vote. Under the second, a court can, subject to certain protections for creditors, impose a debt restructuring. Two groups of mutual funds holding $1.7 billion of Prepa's roughly $9 billion debt have sued, asking the federal court in Puerto Rico to declare the law unconstitutional. Their lawsuit argues that only Congress has the power to enact bankruptcy laws under the U.S. Constitution, which also prohibits a state (or commonwealth) from altering the terms of existing contracts. Puerto Rico's debt-restructuring statute will likely withstand this challenge, according to Skeel. The provision in the Bankruptcy Code that invalidates state laws to restructure municipal debt probably does not apply to Puerto Rico -- since its municipalities are not permitted to use chapter 9. Congress could dispel the uncertainty by allowing Puerto Rico's public corporations to file for bankruptcy under chapter 9 -- a solution proposed last Thursday by Democrat Pedro Pierluisi, the commonwealth's nonvoting delegate in Congress. Ideally, Puerto Rico itself, not just its municipalities, could be allowed to file for chapter 9. If the commonwealth can successfully restructure the debt of its public corporations, this will strongly suggest that Congress should provide a mechanism for troubled states to file for bankruptcy. Read the full commentary. (Subscription required.)

The "Puerto Rico Public Corporation Debt Enforcement and Recovery Act" will be the subject of a forthcoming ABI podcast. Stay tuned for details!

SURVEY: FAMILIES BORROWING LESS FOR COLLEGE

American families are relying more on their income and savings -- and less on loans -- to pay for college, according to an annual study by education lender Sallie Mae, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. In the 2013-14 academic year just ended, the typical family paid 22 percent of total college costs by borrowing, down from 27 percent in each of the preceding two school years. These families paid 42 percent of college costs by using income or savings from the parents and/or student, vs. 38 percent the year before and 40 percent in 2011-12, according to the Sallie Mae study, conducted by market-research company Ipsos Public Affairs. The average cost of college, $20,882, was relatively stable for the third year in a row after peaking at $24,097 in the 2009-10 year. These figures don't take into account any grants, scholarships or other non-loan aid students might receive. Read more. (Subscription required.)

SMALLER LAW FIRMS GET MORE M&A WORK

A handful of top law firms have been dominating the deals market, but new data released today show that more cost-conscious clients are also giving a lift to smaller firms that offer similar expertise but lower rates, the Wall Street Journal reported today. In 2013, law firms with 501 to 750 lawyers captured the biggest share of legal fees for high-value mergers-and-acquisitions work -- defined as deals that generate more than $1 million in legal bills -- for the second year in a row. The figures are based on an analysis of $15 billion in legal fees by CounselLink, a legal software business in the software division of LexisNexis. The report reviewed billings for 154 U.S. companies with revenues ranging from less than $1 billion to more than $10 billion. Read more. (Subscription required.)

TOMORROW! DISCUSS THIRD-PARTY RELEASES IN CHAPTER 11 ON THE UNSECURED TRADE CREDITORS CONFERENCE CALL -- ALL MEMBERS WELCOME!

The Unsecured Trade Creditors Committee will be holding its bi-monthly committee call tomorrow at 4 pm ET to discuss third-party releases in chapter 11. The call will be moderated by Lisa Gretchko of Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC in Royal Oak, Mich., and she will be joined by Scott Wolfson of Wolfson Bolton PLLC in Troy, Mich. The UTC Committee has been holding bi-monthly committee calls since 2012 on a wide variety of topics. These bi-monthly committee calls are free and open to all ABI members. Previous call recordings can be found on the committee's website. For more information, please click here.

NEW CASE SUMMARY ON VOLO: VIDOV V. MARSHAK (IN RE VIDOV; 9TH CIR.)

Summarized by Bryan Robinson

In an unpublished opinion, the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel affirmed the bankruptcy court's summary judgment ruling. The bankruptcy court ruled that most of the alleged misrepresentations, concealment and other misconduct that the appellant complained about concern claims that the appellant as a matter of law released in the settlement agreement. As the claims had been waived pursuant to the release in the settlement agreement, the bankruptcy court concluded that the appellant would not be able to establish at trial all of the elements for an exception to discharge under either § 523(a)(2) (A) or § 523(a)(6).

There are more than 1,300 appellate opinions summarized on Volo, and summaries typically appear within 24 hours of the ruling. Click here regularly to view the latest case summaries on ABI's Volo website.

NEW ON ABI'S BANKRUPTCY BLOG EXCHANGE: NINTH CIRCUIT FINDS CONSUMER'S DESCRIPTION OF BAC'S MISLEADING BEHAVIOR SUFFICIENT TO RAISE VALID ALLEGATION

A recent blog post examines the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in the case of Compton v. Countrywide Financial Corp. in which it reversed the District Court's dismissal, concluding that Compton sufficiently alleged that BAC engaged in an "unfair or deceptive act or practice" for the purpose of withstanding a motion to dismiss.

Be sure to check the site several times each day; any time a contributing blog posts a new story, a link to the story will appear on the top. If you have a blog that deals with bankruptcy, or know of a good blog that should be part of the Bankruptcy Exchange, please contact the ABI Web team.

ABI Quick Poll

Consumer collateral should be valued at liquidation value in chapter 13 confirmations, even when the debtor retains the property.

Click here to vote on this week's Quick Poll. Click here to view the results of previous Quick Polls.

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS

2014

August
- ABI Endowment Baseball Event
Aug. 13, 2014 | Baltimore, Md.
- Fourth Hawai'i Bankruptcy Workshop
Aug. 13-16, 2014 | Maui, Hawai'i

September
- Southwest Bankruptcy Conference
    Sept. 4-6, 2014 | Las Vegas, Nev.
- abiLIVE Webinar: Understanding Make-Whole and No Call Provisions
    Sept. 9, 2014 |
- Golf & Tennis Outing
    Sept. 9, 2014 | Maplewood, N.J.
- CARE Financial Literacy Conference
    Sept. 11-13, 2014 | Dallas, Texas
- ABI Workshop: Lending to Distressed Companies
    Sept. 15, 2014 | Alexandria, Va.
- Lawrence P. King and Charles Seligson Workshop on Bankruptcy & Business Reorganization
    Sept. 17-18, 2014 | New York, N.Y.

October
- abiWorkshop: Government Contracting and Bankruptcy
    Oct. 6, 2014 | Alexandria, Va.
- Midwestern Bankruptcy Institute
    Oct. 16-17, 2014 | Kansas City, Mo.
- Views from the Bench
    Oct. 24, 2014 | Washington, D.C.
- Claims-Trading Program
    Oct. 30, 2014 | New York, N.Y.
- International Insolvency & Restructuring Symposium
    Oct. 30-31, 2014 | London

November
- Complex Financial Restructuring Program
    Nov. 6, 2014 | Philadelphia
- Corporate Restructuring Competition
    Nov. 6-7, 2014 | Philadelphia
- Chicago Consumer Bankruptcy Conference
    Nov. 11, 2014 | Chicago, Ill.
- Detroit Consumer Bankruptcy Conference
    Nov. 11, 2014 | Troy, Mich.

Read more about July Bankruptcy Filings Decrease 12 Percent from Previous Year Business Filings Decrease 21 Percent

Annual Business and Non-business Filings by District (2001-2004)

ABI World

	2001				2002				2003				2004
District	Total Filings	Business Filings	Non-Business Filings	Percent Consumer	Total Filings	Business Filings	Non-Business Filings	Percent Consumer	Total Filings	Business Filings	Non-Business Filings	Percent Consumer	Total Filings	Business Filings	Non-Business Filings	Percent Consumer
District of Alaska	1,473	104	1,369	91.79%	1,479	120	1,359	91.89%	1,510	121	1,389	91.99%	1,508	64	1,444	95.76%
Middle District of Alabama	8,236	135	8,101	98.36%	9,842	128	9,714	98.70%	8,824	73	8,751	99.17%	8,634	90	8,544	98.96%
Northern District of Alabama	23,918	219	23,699	99.08%	24,598	191	24,407	99.22%	26,027	158	25,869	99.39%	25,930	182	25,748	99.30%
Southern District of Alabama	6,695	74	6,621	98.89%	7,419	62	7,357	99.16%	7,570	56	7,514	99.26%	7,408	53	7,355	99.28%
Eastern District of Arkansas	13,702	174	13,528	98.73%	15,107	148	14,959	99.02%	15,641	254	15,387	98.38%	15,644	220	15,424	98.59%
Western District of Arkansas	7,782	116	7,666	98.51%	8,439	134	8,305	98.41%	8,666	175	8,491	97.98%	8,619	156	8,463	98.20%
District of Arizona	25,489	753	24,736	97.05%	29,716	756	28,960	97.46%	31,811	701	31,110	97.80%	31,387	480	30,907	98.47%
Central District of California	88,195	2,553	85,642	97.11%	84,115	2,413	81,702	97.13%	75,712	2,041	73,671	97.30%	60,633	1,613	59,020	97.34%
Eastern District of California	32,259	1,273	30,986	96.05%	31,497	1,232	30,265	96.29%	31,166	1,111	30,055	96.44%	28,985	964	28,021	96.67%
Northern District of California	19,838	1,220	18,618	93.85%	21,405	1,266	20,139	94.09%	22,948	1,079	21,869	95.30%	21,819	972	20,847	95.55%
Southern District of California	13,367	192	13,175	98.56%	12,890	230	12,660	98.22%	11,833	270	11,563	97.72%	11,259	199	11,060	98.23%
District of Colorado	18,800	467	18,333	97.52%	21,359	590	20,769	97.24%	25,956	552	25,404	97.87%	28,169	786	27,383	97.20%
District of Connecticut	11,613	156	11,457	98.66%	11,751	181	11,570	98.46%	12,246	187	12,059	98.47%	11,423	132	11,291	98.84%
District of Columbia	2,559	49	2,510	98.09%	2,503	52	2,451	97.92%	2,311	55	2,256	97.62%	1,933	41	1,892	97.88%
District of Delaware	4,259	1,374	2,885	67.74%	3,789	649	3,140	82.87%	3,918	505	3,413	87.11%	3,668	276	3,392	92.48%
Middle District of Florida	49,187	1,048	48,139	97.87%	52,923	852	52,071	98.39%	55,511	646	54,865	98.84%	52,207	542	51,665	98.96%
Northern District of Florida	6,182	91	6,091	98.53%	6,598	73	6,525	98.89%	7,121	72	7,049	98.99%	6,641	73	6,568	98.90%
Southern District of Florida	31,743	757	30,986	97.62%	32,656	878	31,778	97.31%	31,792	816	30,976	97.43%	27,041	568	26,473	97.90%
Middle District of Georgia	17,132	140	16,992	99.18%	17,932	165	17,767	99.08%	18,142	193	17,949	98.94%	17,654	124	17,530	99.30%
Northern District of Georgia	38,437	908	37,529	97.64%	42,437	1,055	41,382	97.51%	46,756	1,239	45,517	97.35%	45,115	1,825	43,290	95.95%
Southern District of Georgia	14,526	114	14,412	99.22%	15,344	139	15,205	99.09%	16,307	153	16,154	99.06%	15,191	141	15,050	99.07%
District of Hawaii	5,039	68	4,971	98.65%	4,485	53	4,432	98.82%	3,795	72	3,723	98.10%	3,112	47	3,065	98.49%
Northern District of Iowa	4,377	185	4,192	95.77%	4,646	207	4,439	95.54%	4,940	211	4,729	95.73%	5,070	234	4,836	95.38%
Southern District of Iowa	6,699	104	6,595	98.45%	7,162	147	7,015	97.95%	7,642	112	7,530	98.53%	8,012	126	7,886	98.43%
District of Idaho	8,265	303	7,962	96.33%	8,913	260	8,653	97.08%	9,660	225	9,435	97.67%	9,488	160	9,328	98.31%
Central District of Illinois	14,465	195	14,270	98.65%	15,649	188	15,461	98.80%	16,367	166	16,201	98.99%	15,626	188	15,438	98.80%
Northern District of Illinois	51,348	770	50,578	98.50%	57,598	875	56,723	98.48%	59,068	681	58,387	98.85%	54,857	603	54,254	98.90%
Southern District of Illinois	8,770	582	8,188	93.36%	9,084	177	8,907	98.05%	10,076	144	9,932	98.57%	9,749	121	9,628	98.76%
Northern District of Indiana	18,890	189	18,701	99.00%	20,864	202	20,662	99.03%	21,155	203	20,952	99.04%	20,695	148	20,547	99.28%
Southern District of Indiana	29,176	415	28,761	98.58%	32,656	459	32,197	98.59%	34,640	437	34,203	98.74%	33,770	376	33,394	98.89%
District of Kansas	13,937	220	13,717	98.42%	14,969	238	14,731	98.41%	16,192	303	15,889	98.13%	16,289	268	16,021	98.33%
Eastern District of Kentucky	11,550	299	11,251	97.41%	12,208	321	11,887	97.37%	13,388	158	13,320	99.49%	12,949	144	12,805	98.89%
Western District of Kentucky	14,633	175	14,458	98.80%	15,060	124	14,936	99.18%	16,509	169	16,340	98.98%	15,169	175	14,994	98.84%
Eastern District of Louisiana	10,236	169	10,067	98.35%	9,750	165	9,585	98.31%	10,135	124	10,011	98.78%	9,845	129	9,716	98.69%
Middle District of Louisiana	3,343	33	3,310	99.01%	3,692	68	3,624	98.16%	4,047	30	4,017	99.26%	4,261	42	4,219	99.01%
Western District of Louisiana	13,440	514	12,926	96.18%	13,691	439	13,252	96.79%	15,393	345	15,048	97.76%	15,717	451	15,266	97.13%
District of Massachusetts	17,654	427	17,227	96.40%	17,399	380	17,019	97.82%	18,260	396	17,864	97.83%	18,444	315	18,129	98.29%
District of Maryland	35,388	758	34,630	97.86%	35,573	873	34,700	97.55%	34,231	523	33,708	98.47%	29,467	417	29,050	98.58%
District of Maine	4,548	151	4,397	96.68%	4,422	101	4,321	97.72%	4,660	105	4,555	97.75%	4,508	138	4,370	96.94%
Eastern District of Michigan	32,785	401	32,384	98.78%	39,968	481	39,487	98.78%	45,755	390	45,365	99.15%	47,038	446	46,592	99.05%
Western District of Michigan	14,041	287	13,754	97.96%	15,639	321	15,318	97.95%	16,999	294	16,705	98.27%	17,174	235	16,939	98.63%
District of Minnesota	18,704	1,887	16,817	89.91%	19,487	1,729	17,758	91.13%	20,987	1,379	19,608	93.43%	17,970	1,374	16,596	92.35%
Eastern District of Missouri	16,868	296	16,572	98.25%	18,264	181	18,083	99.01%	20,217	168	20,049	99.17%	19,537	159	19,378	99.19%
Western District of Missouri	13,836	209	13,627	98.49%	16,027	213	15,814	98.67%	17,613	210	17,403	98.81%	18,068	195	17,873	98.92%
Northern District of Mississippi	7,841	96	7,745	98.78%	8,169	131	8,038	98.40%	8,391	127	8,264	98.49%	8,420	63	8,357	99.25%
Southern District of Mississippi	14,275	193	14,082	98.65%	14,228	178	14,050	98.75%	13,855	155	13,700	98.88%	12,757	107	12,650	99.16%
District of Montana	4,002	149	3,853	96.28%	4,062	120	3,942	97.05%	4,385	98	4,287	97.77%	4,332	1009	4,223	97.48%
Eastern District of North Carolina	13,917	231	13,686	98.34%	15,072	225	14,847	98.51%	15,875	209	15,666	98.68%	14,707	163	14,544	98.90%
Middle District of North Carolina	10,908	257	10,651	97.64%	11,822	247	11,575	97.91%	12,681	182	12,499	98.56%	11,775	236	11,539	97.99%
Western District of North Carolina	8,887	125	8,762	98.59%	9,488	104	9,384	98.90%	10,609	137	10,472	98.71%	10,122	87	10,035	99.14%
District of North Dakota	2,232	115	2,117	94.85%	2,074	116	1,958	94.41%	2,293	105	2,188	95.42%	2,288	85	2,203	96.28%
District of Nebraska	7,202	144	7,058	98.00%	7,721	152	7,569	98.03%	8,625	238	8,387	97.24%	8,992	207	8,785	97.70%
District of New Hampshire	3,931	334	3,597	91.50%	4,034	212	3,822	94.74%	4,426	178	4,248	95.98%	4,651	158	4,493	96.60%
District of New Jersey	41,484	730	40,754	98.24%	40,999	689	40,310	98.32%	42,377	734	41,643	98.27%	41,280	684	40,596	98.34%
District of New Mexico	8,660	620	8,040	92.84%	9,274	693	8,581	92.53%	9,777	774	9,003	92.08%	9,520	727	8,793	92.36%
District of Nevada	18,102	419	17,683	97.69%	19,736	462	19,274	97.66%	20,561	321	20,240	98.44%	16,912	257	16,655	98.48%
Eastern District of New York	25,491	384	25,107	98.14%	26,218	337	25,881	98.71%	25,950	293	25,657	98.87%	26,446	293	26,153	98.89%
Northern District of New York	15,760	425	15,335	97.30%	16,310	346	15,964	97.88%	17,403	333	17,070	98.09%	17,505	285	17,220	98.37%
Southern District of New York	14,904	1,236	13,668	91.71%	16,409	1,598	14,811	90.26%	17,552	1,059	16,493	93.97%	20,739	3,195	17,544	84.59%
Western District of New York	12,905	387	12,518	97.00%	13,353	304	13,049	97.72%	14,894	302	14,592	97.97%	15,288	297	14,991	98.06%
Northern District of Ohio	37,012	1,218	35,794	96.71%	41,983	971	41,012	97.69%	48,456	878	47,578	98.19%	47,519	861	46,658	98.19%
Southern District of Ohio	34,074	576	33,498	98.31%	36,842	567	36,275	98.46%	41,315	548	40,767	98.67%	42,329	571	41,758	98.65%
Eastern District of Oklahoma	4,275	95	4,180	96.09%	4,746	87	4,659	98.17%	5,129	70	5,059	98.64%	4,905	82	4,823	98.33%
Northern District of Oklahoma	5,896	503	5,393	91.47%	6,680	264	6,416	96.05%	7,710	280	7,430	96.37%	7,572	235	7,337	96.90%
Western District of Oklahoma	13,333	343	12,990	97.43%	13,071	256	12,815	98.04%	14,363	262	14,101	98.18%	14,175	342	13,833	97.59%
District of Oregon	23,038	1,389	21,649	93.97%	24,649	1,606	23,043	93.48%	25,370	1,591	23,779	93.73%	24,455	852	23,603	96.51%
Eastern District of Pennsylvania	24,014	319	23,695	98.67%	24,887	318	24,569	98.72%	25,800	350	25,450	98.64%	24,191	396	23,795	98.36%
Middle District of Pennsylvania	12,232	811	11,421	93.37%	12,675	461	12,214	96.36%	14,003	280	13,723	98.00%	14,179	298	13,881	97.90%
Western District of Pennsylvania	15,692	411	15,281	97.38%	17,239	484	16,755	97.19%	19,620	563	19,057	97.13%	20,932	444	20,488	97.88%
District of Rhode Island	4,883	64	4,819	98.69%	4,907	65	4,842	98.68%	4,557	48	4,509	98.95%	4,142	74	4,068	98.21%
District of South Carolina	14,149	147	14,002	98.96%	15,753	178	15,575	98.87%	16,212	142	16,070	99.12%	15,455	175	15,280	98.97%
District of South Dakota	2,706	164	2,542	93.94%	2,659	119	2,540	95.52%	2,847	110	2,737	96.14%	2,821	108	2,713	96.17%
Eastern District of Tennessee	19,272	379	18,893	98.03%	19,524	277	19,247	98.58%	20,495	247	20,248	98.79%	19,537	249	19,288	98.73%
Middle District of Tennessee	14,599	237	14,362	98.38%	15,477	251	15,226	98.38%	16,498	201	16,297	98.78%	15,618	167	15,451	98.93%
Western District of Tennessee	26,469	270	26,199	98.98%	28,207	207	28,000	99.27%	28,351	149	28,202	99.47%	25,967	132	25,835	99.49%
Eastern District of Texas	11,504	427	11,077	96.29%	12,175	341	11,834	97.20%	13,264	326	12,938	97.54%	12,958	343	12,615	97.35%
Northern District of Texas	27,146	1,099	26,047	99.18%	28,084	1160	26,924	95.87%	31,469	1,223	30,246	96.11%	32,616	1,304	31,312	96.00%
Southern District of Texas	20,243	1,061	19,182	94.76%	21,269	810	20,459	96.19%	25,996	786	25,210	96.98%	27,121	709	26,412	97.39%
Western District of Texas	18,128	568	17,560	96.87%	18,522	683	17,839	96.31%	21,111	818	20,293	96.13%	21,050	738	20,312	96.49%
District of Utah	19,411	475	18,936	97.55%	22,129	602	21,527	97.28%	22,084	519	21,565	97.65%	41,585	299	41,286	99.28%
Eastern District of Virginia	29,271	311	28,960	98.94%	30,092	399	29,693	98.67%	30,528	406	30,122	98.67%	28,319	318	28,001	98.88%
Western District of Virginia	12,492	613	11,879	95.09%	12,738	570	12,168	95.53%	12,940	550	12,390	95.75%	12,157	432	11,725	96.45%
District of Vermont	1,748	97	1,651	94.45%	1,826	91	1,735	95.02%	1,903	78	1,825	95.90%	1,698	85	1,613	95.00%
Eastern District of Washington	10,149	332	9,817	96.73%	10,213	252	9,961	97.53%	10,480	260	10,220	97.52%	9,453	230	9,223	97.57%
Western District of Washington	26,986	310	26,676	98.85%	29,030	446	28,584	98.46%	30,075	477	29,598	98.41%	28,956	435	28,521	98.50%
Eastern District of Wisconsin	14,612	236	14,376	98.38%	16,857	221	16,636	98.69%	18,850	191	18,659	98.99%	18,227	225	18,002	98.77%
Western District of Wisconsin	7,469	498	6,971	93.33%	8,438	635	7,803	92.47%	9,396	531	8,865	94.35%	9,183	517	8,666	94.37%
Northern District of West Virginia	4,101	133	3,968	96.76%	4,446	131	4,315	97.05%	4,654	101	4,553	97.83%	4,621	160	4,461	96.54%
Southern District of West Virginia	6,122	189	5,933	96.91%	6,020	226	5,794	96.25%	6,447	189	6,258	97.07%	6,913	87	6,826	98.74%
District of Wyoming	2,493	45	2,448	98.19%	2,264	47	2,217	97.92%	2,460	44	2,416	98.21%	2,482	65	2,417	97.38%
District of Guam	288	27	261	90.63%	379	23	356	93.93%	367	12	355	96.73%	346	6	340	98.27%
District of the Northern Mariana Islands	26	8	18	69.23%	25	3	22	88.00%	19	3	16	84.21%	23	1	22	95.65%
District of Puerto Rico	14,346	333	14,013	97.68%	13,811	351	13,460	97.46%	14,273	254	14,019	98.22%	13,285	286	12,999	97.85%
District of the Virgin Islands	65	12	53	81.54%	60	8	52	86.67%	52	3	49	94.23%	38	5	33	86.84%
United States	1,492,129	40,099	1,452,030	97.31%	1,577,651	38,540	1,539,111	97.56%	1,660,245	35,037	1,625,208	97.89%	1,597,462	34,317	1,563,145	97.85%

Read more about Annual Business and Non-business Filings by District (2001-2004)

Annual Business and Non-business Filings by District (1995-1999)

ABI World

	1995				1996				1997				1998				1999
District	Total Filings	Business Filings	Non-Business Filings	Percent Consumer	Total Filings	Business Filings	Non-Business Filings	Percent Consumer	Total Filings	Business Filings	Non-Business Filings	Percent Consumer	Total Filings	Business Filings	Non-Business Filings	Percent Consumer	Total Filings	Business Filings	Non-Business Filings	Percent Consumer
District of Alaska	946	159	787	83.19%	1226	183	1043	85.07%	1373	147	1,226	89.29%	1,479	127	1,352	91.41%	1,492	115	1377	92.29%
Middle District of Alabama	5265	208	5057	96.05%	6072	221	5851	96.36%	6,670	284	6,386	95.74%	6,753	159	6,594	97.65%	6,500	146	6354	97.75%
Northern District of Alabama	17701	452	17249	97.45%	20631	405	20226	98.04%	22,732	442	22,290	98.06%	20,912	380	20,532	98.18%	19,385	254	19,131	98.68%
Southern District of Alabama	3702	42	3660	98.87%	4969	146	4823	97.06%	4,774	150	4,624	96.86%	4,803	64	4,739	98.67%	4,679	34	4,645	99.27%
Eastern District of Arkansas	6082	241	5841	96.04%	8661	269	8392	96.89%	9,942	283	9,659	97.15%	10,789	215	10,574	98.01%	10,252	148	10,104	98.55%
Western District of Arkansas	3296	181	3115	94.51%	4533	217	4316	95.21%	5,701	256	5,445	95.51%	6,263	193	6,070	96.92%	6,218	147	6,134	98.64%
District of Arizona	16012	1045	14967	93.47%	20284	861	19403	95.66%	25,069	846	24,223	96.63%	24,191	762	23,429	96.85%	22,609	781	21,828	96.54%
Central District of California	82314	6883	75431	91.64%	102645	6544	96101	93.62%	118,335	6,184	112,151	94.77%	120,981	4,787	116,194	96.04%	102,422	2,387	100,035	97.66%
Eastern District of California	24119	2450	21669	89.84%	31211	2538	28673	91.87%	36,976	2,624	34,352	92.90%	39,345	2,012	37,333	94.89%	34,750	1,144	33,606	96.70%
Northern District of California	26096	2445	23651	90.63%	31798	2403	29395	92.44%	34,781	2,116	32,515	95.40%	34,082	1,567	32,665	93.92%	26,564	1,308	25,256	95.07%
Southern District of California	14473	319	14154	97.80%	17976	262	17714	98.54%	19,407	213	19,194	98.40%	18,805	180	18,625	99.04%	15,292	175	15,117	98.85%
District of Colorado	13705	610	13095	95.55%	16403	778	15624	95.25%	19,146	518	18,628	97.29%	18,262	402	17,860	97.80%	1,6165	347	15818	97.85%
District of Connecticut	9147	205	8942	97.76%	11307	230	11077	97.97%	13,499	205	13,294	98.48%	13,962	164	13,798	98.83%	11868	142	11726	98.80%
District of Columbia	1502	100	1402	93.34%	1950	119	1831	93.90%	2,530	100	2,430	96.05%	2,885	88	2,797	96.95%	2718	81	2637	97.01%
District of Delaware	1679	277	1402	83.50%	2044	239	1805	88.31%	2,646	214	2,432	91.91%	2,871	372	2,499	87.04%	4,526	21,115	2,411	53.26%
Middle District of Florida	27332	1192	26140	95.64%	35109	1183	33926	96.63%	42,388	1,217	41,171	97.13%	45,472	1,090	44,382	97.60%	41,855	1,008	40,847	97.59%
Northern District of Florida	2583	94	2489	96.36%	3688	97	3591	97.37%	4,787	442	22,290	98.06%	5,344	91	5,253	98.30%	5,002	74	4,928	98.52%
Southern District of Florida	15984	757	15227	95.26%	20557	746	19811	96.37%	26,308	816	25,492	96.90%	29,373	686	28,687	97.66%	28,500	641	27,859	97.75%
Middle District of Georgia	10539	117	10422	98.89%	13350	160	13190	98.80%	15,136	202	14,934	98.67%	14,921	161	14,760	98.92%	14,161	160	14,001	98.87%
Northern District of Georgia	27035	1199	25836	95.57%	31109	1188	29921	96.18%	34,946	1,130	33,816	98.03%	33,763	834	32,929	97.53%	31,871	650	31,221	97.96%
Southern District of Georgia	8489	379	8110	95.54%	10880	453	10427	95.84%	12,707	310	12,397	97.56%	12,441	202	12,239	98.38%	11,741	123	11,618	98.95%
District of Hawaii	2036	159	1877	92.19%	3092	187	2905	93.95%	4,463	187	4,276	95.81%	5,829	114	5,715	98.04%	5426	87	5339	98.39%
Northern District of Iowa	2593	262	2331	89.90%	3430	239	3191	93.03%	3,996	235	3,761	94.12%	3,880	180	3,700	95.36%	3,444	115	3,329	96.66%
Southern District of Iowa	4001	294	3707	92.65%	5285	335	4950	93.66%	5,847	270	5,577	95.38%	5,638	103	5,535	98.17%	5,008	81	33,606	96.70%
District of Idaho	4121	391	3730	90.51%	5426	460	4966	91.52%	6,973	532	6,441	92.37%	7,612	435	7,177	94.29%	7,285	340	6945	95.33%
Central District of Illinois	7477	382	7095	94.89%	9987	406	9581	95.93%	12,854	295	12,559	97.70%	12,685	114	12,571	99.10%	11,765	167	11,598	98.58%
Northern District of Illinois	30941	859	30082	97.22%	38618	871	37747	97.74%	44,087	854	43,233	98.06%	46,503	646	45,857	98.61%	44,790	553	44,237	98.769%
Southern District of Illinois	4353	383	3970	91.20%	5893	529	5364	91.02%	7,013	639	6,374	90.89%	7,499	714	6,785	90.48%	7,406	1,965	6,732	90.89%
Northern District of Indiana	8738	344	8394	96.06%	10816	289	10527	97.33%	13,658	213	13,445	98.44%	14,550	190	14,360	98.69%	14,288	148	14,140	98.96%
Southern District of Indiana	14785	498	14287	96.63%	19075	467	18608	97.55%	23,150	470	22,680	97.97%	24,711	423	24,288	98.29%	23,954	353	23,601	98.52%
District of Kansas	9151	419	8732	95.42%	11312	421	10891	96.28%	13,131	412	12,719	96.86%	13,208	264	12,944	98.00%	11538	172	11366	98.50%
Eastern District of Kentucky	6285	260	6025	95.86%	8284	231	8053	97.21%	9,558	1273	9,285	97.14%	9,594	182	9,412	98.10%	8,996	143	8,853	98.41%
Western District of Kentucky	8103	213	7890	97.37%	10510	200	10310	98.10%	12,129	176	11,953	98.55%	12,592	174	12,418	98.62%	11,825	138	11,687	98.83%
Eastern District of Louisiana	5005	102	4903	97.96%	6444	98	6346	98.48%	7,365	141	7,224	98.21%	7,119	120	6,999	98.31%	7,657	131	7,526	98.28%
Middle District of Louisiana	1712	52	1660	96.96%	2574	62	2512	97.59%	2,805	52	2,753	98.15%	2,940	41	2,899	98.61%	2680	29	2,651	98.91%
Western District of Louisiana	8021	408	7613	94.91%	11419	461	10958	95.96%	12,988	481	12,507	96.30%	12,887	439	12,448	96.59%	12,293	429	11,864	96.51%
District of Massachusetts	14912	1116	13796	92.52%	17744	1041	16703	94.13%	23,894	965	22,927	95.96%	22,325	739	21,586	96.69%	18,660	566	18,034	96.95%
District of Maryland	17925	1493	16432	91.67%	24347	1469	22878	93.97%	31,991	1,678	30,313	94.75%	35,430	1,231	34,199	96.53%	32,273	795	31,478	97.53%
District of Maine	2192	274	1918	87.50%	3073	267	2806	91.31%	4,218	310	3,908	92.65%	4,515	244	4,271	94.60%	4,177	197	3,980	95.28%
Eastern District of Michigan	17290	545	16745	96.85%	21871	591	21280	97.30%	27,348	595	26,753	97.82%	28,198	373	27,825	98.68%	25,824	359	25,465	98.60%
Western District of Michigan	7338	527	6811	92.82%	9928	481	9447	95.16%	12,261	511	11,750	95.83%	12,546	348	12,198	97.23%	11,428	275	11,153	97.59%
District of Minnesota	14835	1901	12934	87.19%	18236	2251	15985	87.66%	20,225	2,478	17,747	87.75%	18,866	1,975	16,891	89.53%	15,853	1,584	14,269	90.00%
Eastern District of Missouri	9656	230	9426	97.62%	12703	290	12413	97.72%	14,897	300	14,597	97.99%	16,423	255	16,168	98.45%	15,888	203	15,685	98.72%
Western District of Missouri	7101	291	5810	81.82%	9400	373	9027	96.03%	11,218	433	10,785	96.14%	11,842	169	11,673	98.57%	11,141	155	10,986	98.60%
Northern District of Mississippi	4002	131	3871	96.73%	5426	136	5290	97.49%	6,602	153	6,449	97.68%	6,226	135	6,091	97.83%	5,917	133	5,784	97.75%
Southern District of Mississippi	7822	152	7670	98.06%	10317	145	10172	98.59%	12,667	146	12,521	98.85%	12,474	109	12,365	99.13%	11,833	68	11,765	99.42%
District of Montana	2296	171	2125	92.55%	2805	219	2586	92.19%	3,572	278	3,294	92.22%	3,717	145	3,572	96.10%	3,386	121	3,265	96.42%
Eastern District of North Carolina	6837	457	6180	90.39%	8801	446	8355	94.93%	9,788	426	9,362	95.65%	10,914	321	10,593	97.06%	10,325	263	10,062	97.45%
Middle District of North Carolina	5109	184	4925	96.40%	7459	167	7292	97.76%	9,289	212	9,077	97.72%	9,014	144	8,870	98.40%	8,543	113	8,430	95.32%
Western District of North Carolina	4188	85	4103	97.97%	5936	90	5846	98.48%	7,126	82	7,044	98.85%	7,056	69	6,987	99.02%	6,966	66	6,930	99.05%
District of North Dakota	1311	118	1193	91.00%	1688	152	1536	91.00%	1,961	155	1,806	92.10%	2,192	87	2,105	96.03%	2,146	100	2,046	95.34%
District of Nebraska	3789	212	3577	94.40%	5304	276	5028	94.80%	5,949	281	5,668	95.28%	6,116	129	5,987	97.89%	5,500	158	5,342	97.12%
District of New Hampshire	3207	92	3115	97.13%	3692	92	3600	97.51%	4,902	187	4,715	96.19%	4,994	417	4,577	91.65%	4,104	348	3,756	91.52%
District of New Jersey	27788	1195	26593	95.70%	34091	1068	33023	96.87%	42,434	1,112	41,322	97.38%	45,880	876	45,004	98.09%	40,814	877	39,937	97.85%
District of New Mexico	4334	322	4012	92.57%	5870	391	5479	93.34%	7,560	384	7,176	94.92%	7,915	338	7,577	95.73%	7,336	554	6,782	92.44%
District of Nevada	7912	390	7522	95.07%	10531	429	10102	95.93%	13,427	399	13,028	97.03%	15,708	428	15,280	97.28%	1,479	127	1,352	91.41%
Eastern District of New York	22295	727	21568	96.74%	25264	620	24644	97.55%	29,459	566	28,893	98.08%	31,494	461	31,033	98.54%	26,449	378	26,071	98.57%
Northern District of New York	9779	696	9083	92.88%	13289	839	12450	93.69%	16,173	777	15,396	95.20%	16,703	505	16,198	96.98%	14,466	394	14,072	97.27%
Southern District of New York	11519	1150	10369	90.02%	13452	950	12502	92.94%	15,972	846	15,126	94.70%	17,047	586	16,461	96.56%	14,798	565	14,233	96.18%
Western District of New York	7757	801	6956	89.67%	10173	854	9319	91.61%	13,114	964	12,150	92.65%	13,398	727	12,671	94.57%	11,360	535	10,825	95.29%
Northern District of Ohio	16508	539	15969	96.73%	21522	553	20969	97.43%	26,200	480	25,720	98.17%	28,353	649	27,704	97.71%	27,716	789	26,927	97.15%
Southern District of Ohio	17920	513	17407	97.14%	22972	512	22460	97.77%	27,570	526	27,044	98.10%	28,351	512	27,839	98.19%	26,071	406	25,665	99.86%
Eastern District of Oklahoma	1903	116	1787	93.90%	2704	139	2565	94.86%	3,462	176	3,286	94.92%	3,812	120	3,692	96.85%	3,550	104	3,446	97.07%
Northern District of Oklahoma	4132	428	3704	89.64%	5317	585	4732	89.00%	6,007	648	5,359	89.21%	5,372	459	4,913	91.46%	5,042	328	4,714	93.45%
Western District of Oklahoma	7995	400	7595	95.00%	10430	664	9766	93.63%	13,100	545	12,555	95.84%	12,756	254	12,502	98.01%	11,436	296	11,140	97.41%
District of Oregon	14098	781	13317	94.46%	16709	751	15956	95.49%	18,197	1,434	16,763	92.12%	18,103	2,660	15,443	85.31%	18,168	2,939	15,229	83.82%
Eastern District of Pennsylvania	12990	598	12394	95.41%	17020	605	16415	96.45%	21,773	561	21,212	97.42%	23,187	392	22,795	98.31%	21,752	328	21,424	98.49%
Middle District of Pennsylvania	4973	661	4312	86.71%	6833	758	6075	88.91%	9,593	852	8,741	91.12%	10,693	837	9,856	92.17%	10,212	706	9,506	93.08%
Western District of Pennsylvania	6476	513	5963	92.08%	8649	507	8142	94.14%	11,601	472	11,129	95.93%	12,772	456	12,316	96.43%	11,950	363	11,587	96.96%
District of Rhode Island	3335	162	3173	95.14%	4328	181	4147	95.82%	5,472	180	5,292	96.71%	5,480	130	5,350	97.63%	5060	116	4944	97.70%
District of South Carolina	7457	337	7120	95.48%	9778	259	9519	97.35%	11,232	346	10,886	96.92%	11,672	254	11,373	97.82%	11,442	191	11,251	98.33%
District of South Dakota	1451	172	1279	88.15%	1912	216	1896	99.16%	2,366	221	2,145	90.66%	2,299	186	2,113	91.91%	2,223	152	2,071	93.16%
Eastern District of Tennessee	11199	343	10856	96.94%	14798	384	14414	97.41%	16,254	422	15,832	97.40%	15,984	336	15,648	97.90%	14,944	236	14,708	98.42%
Middle District of Tennessee	9565	370	9195	96.13%	11869	478	11391	95.97%	12,478	457	12,021	96.34%	12,131	292	11,839	97.59%	10,968	251	10,717	97.71%
Western District of Tennessee	17965	236	17729	98.69%	22081	223	21858	98.99%	24,052	187	23,865	99.22%	23,081	241	22,840	98.96%	20,613	315	20,298	98.47%
Eastern District of Texas	6091	522	5569	91.43%	8392	565	7827	93.27%	9,734	522	9,212	94.64%	9,817	360	9,457	96.33%	9,272	303	8,969	96.73%
Northern District of Texas	16454	1644	14810	90.01%	20677	1620	19057	92.17%	25,373	1,546	23,827	93.91%	24,934	1,191	23,743	95.22%	21,447	921	20,526	95.70%
Southern District of Texas	14044	672	13372	95.22%	17409	695	16733	96.12%	19,508	754	18,754	96.13%	19,352	657	18,695	96.61%	17,506	614	16,892	96.49%
Western District of Texas	11710	572	11138	95.12%	15037	607	14430	95.96%	18,114	644	17,470	96.44%	17,696	488	17,208	97.24%	16,488	464	16,024	97.18%
District of Utah	7325	242	7083	96.70%	9299	294	9005	96.84%	12,147	434	11,713	96.43%	13,996	460	13,536	96.71%	14,108	464	13,644	96.71%
Eastern District of Virginia	21120	792	20328	96.25%	26306	785	25521	97.02%	31,921	767	31,154	97.60%	32,398	545	31,853	98.32%	28,262	369	27,893	98.69%
Western District of Virginia	7155	469	6686	93.45%	9649	557	9092	94.23%	11,198	589	10,609	94.74%	11,041	593	10,448	94.63%	10,182	472	9,710	95.36%
District of Vermont	1056	167	889	84.19%	1368	142	1225	89.55%	1,911	164	1,747	91.42%	1,965	88	1,877	95.52%	1,757	83	1,674	95.27%
Eastern District of Washington	4239	405	3834	90.45%	5752	507	5245	91.19%	7,052	448	6,604	93.65%	7,838	442	7,396	94.36%	7,823	297	7,526	96.20%
Western District of Washington	16905	930	15975	94.50%	22878	912	21966	96.01%	26,285	926	25,359	96.48%	25,565	554	25,011	97.83%	23,818	335	23,483	98.59%
Eastern District of Wisconsin	8384	372	8012	95.56%	10717	388	10329	96.38%	12,940	348	12,592	97.31%	12,962	267	12,695	97.94%	12,615	213	12,402	98.31%
Western District of Wisconsin	4311	695	3616	83.88%	5420	762	4658	85.94%	6,257	865	5,392	86.18%	6,452	870	5,582	86.52%	5,874	606	5,268	89.68%
Northern District of West Virginia	1597	146	1451	90.86%	2381	158	2223	93.36%	3,475	179	3,296	94.85%	3,550	179	3,371	94.96%	3,339	115	3,224	96.55%
Southern District of West Virginia	2605	168	2437	93.55%	3632	167	3465	95.40%	5,067	188	4,879	96.29%	5,141	150	4,991	97.08%	4,812	138	4,674	97.13%
District of Wyoming	1236	109	1127	91.18%	1783	103	1680	94.22%	2,031	91	1,940	95.52%	2,257	89	2,168	96.06%	2009	69	1940	96.56%
District of Guam	48	12	36	75.00%	77	15	62	80.52%	114	21	93	81.58%	109	25	84	77.06%	131	21	110	83.96%
District of the Northern Mariana Islands	16	10	6	37.50%	12	8	4	33.33%	2	1	1	50%	18	8	10	55.56%	12	6	6	50.00%
District of Puerto Rico	7964	206	7758	97.41%	10808	284	10524	97.37%	15,670	162	15,508	98.97%	17,447	126	17,321	99.28%	17,909	206	17,703	98.84%
District of the Virgin Islands	57	18	39	68.42%	68	28	40	58.82%	74	17	57	77.03%	73	11	62	84.93%	66	12	54	81.81%
United States	926601	51959	874642	94.39%	1178555	53549	1125006	95.46%	1,404,145	54,027	1,350,118	96.15%	1,442,549	44,367	1,398,182	96.92%	1,319,465	37,884	1,281,581	97.12%

Read more about Annual Business and Non-business Filings by District (1995-1999)

Supreme Court Rejects Ninth Circuits Creative Punishment of Deceptive Chapter 7 Debtor

March 4, 2014

NEWS AND ANALYSIS

SUPREME COURT REJECTS NINTH CIRCUIT'S CREATIVE PUNISHMENT OF DECEPTIVE CHAPTER 7 DEBTOR

The Supreme Court ruled today in the case of Law v. Siegel that a home remains exempt property even if the individual's flagrantly deceptive conduct results in hundreds of thousands of dollars of litigation, according to a SCOTUSBlog analysis today. The case involves a debtor (Law) who tried to keep money from his creditors by claiming that his home was subject to a fictional lien. Law's activity in support of this fiction was remarkable; as the Court's opinion notes, it extended (according to the courts below) to the filing of fictitious pleadings that he forged in the name of the fictitious lienholder. The trustee in the bankruptcy proceeding (Siegel) spent several hundred thousand dollars proving that Law's claim was wholly fabricated. Outraged by the conduct, the bankruptcy court (following established Ninth Circuit precedent) held that the trustee could collect the expenses of that litigation out of the funds Law received from the sale of his homestead. However, on review, the Supreme Court (in a unanimous opinion written by Justice Scalia) pointed to the provision in §522(k) of the Code, which states that exempt assets are "not liable for the payment of any administrative expense." The trustee's litigation costs have to be administrative expenses for bankruptcy purposes, because they were incurred by the trustee litigating on behalf the estate; if they weren't administrative expenses, they wouldn't be reimbursable at all. The suggestion that administrative expenses should have a narrower meaning in §522(k) than in the framework that makes those expenses an obligation of the estate was dismissed out of hand. The Court concluded:

"We acknowledge that our ruling forces Siegel to shoulder a heavy financial burden resulting from Law's egregious misconduct, and that it may produce inequitable results for trustees and creditors in other cases. We have recognized, however, that in crafting the provisions of [the relevant section of the Bankruptcy Code], 'Congress balanced the difficult choices that exemption limits impose on debtors with the economic harm that exemptions visit on creditors.' The same can be said of the limits imposed on recovery of administrative expenses by trustees. For the reasons we have explained, it is not for courts to alter the balance struck by the statute."

Click here to read the Court's opinion in Law v. Siegel.

AHA LOBBIES CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU ON PATIENT DEBT

The American Hospital Association, the nation's largest hospital lobby, wants the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to consider medical debt as separate from other forms of debt, Fiercehealthfinance.com reported today. The distinction is an important one, as the fledgling agency is in the midst of promulgating regulations as to how to regulate various types of debt. Hospitals have also come under the microscope for debt collection practices in recent years, such as systematically suing patients for nominal amounts that they owe. The American Hospital Association, in a lengthy comment letter sent to the CFPB, asked that the bureau not lump medical debt together with obligations such as credit card debt, which often have hard and fast payment deadlines and agreements as to when an account might become delinquent. "In reality, the bulk of how hospitals actually seek reimbursement as part of the post-visit process is not 'debt collection' in the typical sense of having a debt collector contact a consumer demanding immediate payment, but rather is working through the billing process to submit insurance claims, determine out-of-pocket expenses owed, and work with patients to review their financial responsibility and options for financial assistance," wrote Melinda Hatton, the AHA's general counsel. Read more.

ANALYSIS: STUDENT LOANS ENTICE BORROWERS MORE FOR CASH THAN A DEGREE

Some Americans caught in the weak job market are lining up for federal student aid -- not for education that boosts their employment prospects, but for the chance to take out low-cost loans, sometimes with little intention of getting a degree, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The soft jobs recovery and the emphasis on education have driven people to attain more schooling. But borrowing thousands in low-rate student loans -- which cover tuition, textbooks and a vague category known as living expenses, a figure determined by each individual school -- can also be easier than getting a bank loan, according to the analysis. College officials and federal watchdogs can't say exactly how much of the U.S.'s swelling $1.1 trillion in student-loan debt has gone to living expenses. The Education Department's inspector general warned last month that the rise of online education has led more students to borrow excessively for personal expenses. Its report said that among online programs at eight universities and colleges, non-education expenses such as rent, transportation and "miscellaneous" items made up more than half the costs covered by student aid. Read more. (Subscription required.)

On May 30, ABI will be holding a Student Loan Debt Crisis Symposium at the Georgetown University Law Center featuring academics, consumer bankruptcy practitioners, bankruptcy judges, consumers and policy-makers addressing the causes, consequences and possible reform of the student debt problem. For more information or to register, click here.

For an additional perspective of the student crisis and legislative approaches to addressing the problem, make sure to listen to ABI's podcast featuring Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.). The student debt crisis is also the subject of Graduating with Debt: Student Loans under the Bankruptcy Code, available for purchase in the ABI Bookstore.

MUNICIPAL BONDS REGAIN POPULARITY

Investors are being lured back by relatively high yields, especially after tax breaks on much of the debt issued by states, cities and local-government entities are taken into account, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. Amid a selloff in all types of bonds last year, and a corresponding climb in yields, munis were among the worst performers, due partly to Detroit's filing for bankruptcy protection and financial troubles in Puerto Rico. Fears that trouble in some corners would bleed into the broader $3.7 trillion muni market have ebbed, and many investors are taking the opportunity to pick up some bonds on the cheap. Since Jan. 2, investors have poured $925 million into municipal-bond funds focused on debt that is exempt from certain taxes, according to data provider Lipper, based on funds that report weekly. Even bonds from financially stressed municipalities have rallied. The yield premium that investors demand for holding 10-year Illinois debt has shrunk to 1.2 percentage points over the yields on the most highly rated munis, according to Thomson Reuters Municipal Market Data. That is the smallest spread since June 2010 and is down from about 1.7 percentage points in November. Read more. (Subscription required.)

GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW TAKES TOP HONORS AT 22nd ANNUAL DUBERSTEIN MOOT COURT COMPETITION

Students from Georgia State University College of Law prevailed over more than 60 other student teams to win first place at the 22nd Annual Duberstein National Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition, held March 1-3 in New York City. The competition is co-sponsored by the American Bankruptcy Institute and St. John's University School of Law. First-place winner Georgia State University had previously won the Eleventh Circuit preliminary title at the Cristol Kahn Paskay Cup, held in Miami, Fla. Mississippi College School of Law, which also earned a preliminary title at the Elliott Cup for the Fifth Circuit competition, took second place in the Duberstein Competition. Third-place honors were shared by teams from the Texas Tech University School of Law and the University of Memphis School of Law, which also won the award for the Best Brief of the competition. Jennifer D'Augustinis of the Florida Coastal School of Law was awarded Best Advocate.

About 1,000 members of the New York restructuring community attended the awards dinner last night at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel. A ceremony honored the late Judge Burton Lifland of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District and the late Joseph Hurley, Chief Clerk of the Court in the Eastern District of New York.

The competition is directed by Prof. G. Ray Warner, Associate Dean for Bankruptcy Studies at St. John's and a member of ABI's Board of Directors. For more information on ABI's Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition, please go to http://www.stjohns.edu/academics/graduate/law/academics/llm/duberstein.

LOOKING TO SEE WHAT IS IN STORE FOR ABI'S 32ND ANNUAL SPRING MEETING? WATCH HERE

NEW ABILIVE WEBINAR ON MARCH 20 EXAMINES HOW TO DRAFT LOAN WORKOUT AGREEMENTS

The next abiLIVE webinar will take place on March 20 from 1-2:30 p.m. ET and will examine how to draft loan workout agreements. Learn the purpose and legal underpinnings of the various component parts of frequently used workout documents such as forbearance agreements, intercreditor agreements and restructuring/override agreements. The panel will focus on real-world examples of good and bad provisions of workout documents and will provide drafting tips. Group discounts available! Click here to register.

ABI IN-DEPTH

NEW CASE SUMMARY ON VOLO: KALER V. BALA (IN RE RACING SERVICES INC.; 8TH CIR.)

Summarized by William Wallo of Weld, Riley Prenn & Ricci

The bankruptcy court award of the cash value proceeds of a former employee's life insurance policy to her employer (the debtor) was reversed by the Eighth Circuit on the grounds that the debtor held only a limited right to the funds and the bankruptcy estate did not have control of the policy or its proceeds.

There are more than 1,200 appellate opinions summarized on Volo, and summaries typically appear within 24 hours of the ruling. Click here regularly to view the latest case summaries on ABI's Volo website.

NEW ON ABI'S BANKRUPTCY BLOG EXCHANGE: SUPREME COURT RULING IN STANFORD FINANCIAL CASE ON SLUSA LEAVES MADOFF VICTIMS WONDERING, "WHY NOT US?"

A recent post looked at the Supreme Court's 7-2 decision in Chadbourne & Park LLP v. Troice allowing lawsuits by a class of victims of R. Allen Stanford and Stanford Financial to proceed against two law firms, an insurance brokerage firm and a financial services firm.

ABI Quick Poll

The U.S. Trustee should generally appoint a single creditors' committee in jointly administered bankruptcy cases.

Click here to vote on this week's Quick Poll. Click here to view the results of previous Quick Polls.

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NEXT EVENT:

COMING UP

Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr to Keynote- Register Today!

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

2014

March
- Bankruptcy Battleground West
    March 11, 2014 | Los Angeles, Calif.
- Alexander L. Paskay Memorial
Bankruptcy Seminar
    March 13-15, 2014 | Tampa, Fla.
- abiLIVE Webinar: How to Draft Loan Workout Agreements
    March 20, 2014

April
- ABI Illinois Symposium on Chapter 11 Reform
April 3-5, 2014 | Chicago
- Annual Spring Meeting
April 24-27, 2014 | Washington, D.C.

May
- Credit & Bankruptcy Symposium
May 1-2, 2014 | Uncasville, Conn.
- New York City Bankruptcy Conference
May 15, 2014 | New York, N.Y.

- Litigation Skills Symposium
May 20-23, 2014 | Dallas, Texas
- Student Debt Crisis Symposium
May 30, 2014 | Washington, D.C.

June
- Central States Bankruptcy Workshop
June 12-15, 2014 | Lake Geneva, Wis.

July
- Northeast Bankruptcy Conference
July 17-20, 2014 | Stowe, Vt.
- Southeast Bankruptcy Conference
July 24-27, 2014 | Amelia Island, Fla.

August
- Fourth Hawai'i Bankruptcy Workshop
Aug. 13-16, 2014 | Maui, Hawai'i

Read more about Supreme Court Rejects Ninth Circuits Creative Punishment of Deceptive Chapter 7 Debtor

ABIs Third Annual Caribbean Insolvency Symposium to be Held February 8-10 2007

Contact: John Hartgen
(703) 739-0800
jhartgen@abiworld.org

ABI’S THIRD ANNUAL CARIBBEAN INSOLVENCY SYMPOSIUM TO BE HELD FEBRUARY 8-10, 2007

November 7, 2006, Alexandria, Va. — The American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), the Puerto Rico Bankruptcy Bar Association and the Federal Bar Association of Puerto Rico will hold the third Caribbean Insolvency Symposium at the beachfront Ritz-Carlton San Juan in San Juan, Puerto Rico from Feb. 8 - 10, 2007. The program features a faculty of outstanding practitioners, scholars and judges, including six bankruptcy judges, from the Caribbean region. Program co-chairs for the Symposium are Patricia A. Redmond of Stearns, Weaver, Miller, Weissler, Alhadeff & Sitterson, PA (Miami) and Sonia Colón of O'Neill & Borges (San Juan, P.R.). Judicial co-chairs are Bankruptcy Judges Gerardo Carlo (San Juan, P.R.) and Robert A. Mark (Miami). Attendees have the opportunity to earn up to 9.5 CLE credit hours, including 1.5 hour of ethics, with an expanded program including both consumer and business topics.

Timely topics—all updated with the latest legislative revisions—include:

The “Consumer Case Law and Practice Updates Including Continuation and Reimposition of Stay, New Confirmation Standards in Chapter 13 Cases, New Chapter 13 Discharge Requirements, Adequate Protection and Issues Regarding Equal Monthly Installments to Holders of Secured Claims Issues” session will be moderated by Richardo I. Kilpatrick of Kilpatrick & Associates, PC (Auburn Hills, Mich.). Panelists for the session include Bankruptcy Judge Bruce Markell (Las Vegas) and Standing Chapter 13 Trustee Alejandro Oliveras (San Juan, P.R.).

James S. Feltman of Mesirow Financial Consulting, LLC (Miami) will moderate “Liquidating Cross-Border Assets and Recovering Cross-Border Claims,” featuring panelists Marcus A. Wide of PricewaterhouseCoopers (Halifax, N.S.) and Ian Ratner of Glass Ratner Advisory & Captal Group, LLC (Atlanta).

Moderator Felicia S. Turner of the Office of the U.S. Trustee (Atlanta) will be joined by panelists Monsita Lecaroz-Arribas of the Office of the U.S. Trustee (San Juan, P.R.),

Juan M. Suarez Cobo (San Juan, P.R.), Bankruptcy Judge Brian Tester (San Juan, P.R.) and Wigberto Lugo-Mender of Lugo-Mender & Co. (Guaynabo, P.R.) for the “Debtor, UST and Panel Trustee Perspectives on Hot Consumer Issues under BAPCPA” session.

“Hedge Fund Failure: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly” will be moderated by Francis C. Morrissey of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP (Boston) and panelists invited to speak include Alistaire Bambach of the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (New York), Prof. Edward R. Morrison of the Columbia Law School (New York), Kenneth Krys of RSM Cayman Islands (Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands) and Scott M. Berman of Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman LLP (New York).

Desmond Thomas, the Inter-American Development Bank Country Economist/Coordinator for Barbados and Country Economist for the Caribbean Regional Matters, will keynote the luncheon program, “Macroeconomic Trends in the Caribbean Region.”

The “Cross-Border Consumer Issues: Citizenship, Residency and the Extra-Territorial Reach of a Bankruptcy Discharge and Cross-Border Recovery of a Fraudulent Transfer” session will be moderated by Bankruptcy Judge Judith K. Fitzgerald (Pittsburgh), who will be joined by panelists Jose R. Carrión of Trujillo Alto (San Juan, P.R.), Robert C. Furr of Furr & Cohen, PA (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Prof. Patrick D. O’Neill of the Puerto Rico University Law School (San Juan, P.R.)

“Update on Chapter 15: Where in the World (Caribbean) is the COMI?” will be moderated by Josefina Fernández McEvoy of Squire Sanders & Dempsey, LLP (Los Angeles) and include panelists Michael J. Fay of Ogier (Tortola, British Virgin Islands), Laura Hatfield of Solomon Harris (Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands) and Christopher A. Jarvinen of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (New York).

Moderator Sonia Colón of O'Neill & Borges (San Juan, P.R.) will be joined by Bankruptcy Judges Gerardo Carlo (San Juan, P.R.), Judith K. Fitzgerald (Pittsburgh), Enrique S. Lamoutte (San Juan, P.R.), Robert A. Mark (Miami) and Brian Tester (San Juan, P.R.) for the “Consumer Views from the Bench” session.

The “Lenders' Panel: Caribbean/South American Cross-Border Issues” will be moderated by Luis Salazar of Greenberg Traurig, LLP (Miami) and will feature panelists Luis de Lucio of Alvarez & Marsal (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Rodolfo Pittaluga of Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP (Miami).

“Bankruptcy Issues for Nonbankruptcy Lawyers,” moderated by Sonia Colón of O'Neill & Borges (San Juan, P.R.), will include Bankruptcy Judges Robert A. Mark (Miami),

Judith K. Fitzgerald (Pittsburgh), Gerardo Carlo (San Juan, P.R.), Enrique S. Lamoutte (San Juan, P.R.) and Brian Tester (San Juan, P.R.)

The “Regional Updates and Cross-Border Issues” session will be moderated by Bankruptcy Judge Gerardo Carlo (San Juan, P.R.) and feature panelists Leyza Florin Blanco of Katz, Barron, Squitero, Faust, Brecker, Terzo, Friedberg & Grady, PA (Miami), David P. Freedman of O'Neill & Borges (San Juan, P.R.), Carol Logue of

Bridge Associates, LLC (Spring, Texas), Bankruptcy Judge Robert A. Mark (Miami) and Mercedes Figueroa Morgade of the Justice Department (San Juan, P.R.)

Patricia A. Redmond of Stearns, Weaver, Miller, Weissler, Alhadeff & Sitterson, PA (Miami) will be joined by Carol Ann Rich of Dudley, Clark & Chan (St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.), Troy Taylor of the Algon Group LLC (Atlanta) and Regina Thomas of

McCalla Raymer, LLC (Roswell, Ga.) for the “Ethics Courtesy and Results in the Region” session.

For more information on ABI’s 2007 Caribbean Insolvency Symposium, please visit http://www.abiworld.org/CIS07.

###

ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes more than 11,500 attorneys, accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on ABI, visit www.abiworld.org. For additional conference information, visit http://www.abiworld.org/conferences.html.

Read more about ABIs Third Annual Caribbean Insolvency Symposium to be Held February 8-10 2007

Annual Business Filings by District (1990-2006)

ABI World

District	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
District of Alaska	164	170	196	172	162	159	183	147	127	115	118	104	120	121	64	83	45
Middle District of Alabama	254	322	321	285	235	208	221	284	159	146	137	135	128	73	90	110	50
Northern District of Alabama	1033	1020	917	651	444	452	405	442	380	254	275	219	191	158	182	178	142
Southern District of Alabama	69	89	80	41	38	42	146	150	64	34	33	74	62	56	53	43	27
Eastern District of Arkansas	288	291	341	274	254	241	269	283	215	148	151	174	148	254	220	265	185
Western District of Arkansas	179	206	236	170	119	181	217	256	193	147	110	116	134	175	156	161	91
District of Arizona	2377	2194	2050	1642	965	1045	861	846	762	781	765	753	756	701	480	525	261
Central District of California	3125	7003	6314	6935	6457	6883	6544	6,184	4,787	2,387	2,232	2,553	2,413	2,041	1,613	2,001	959
Eastern District of California	1614	2026	2668	2549	2395	2450	2538	2,624	2,012	1,144	1,139	1,273	1,232	1,111	964	914	408
Northern District of California	2052	2577	2718	3006	2716	2445	2403	2,116	1,567	1,308	1,063	1,220	1,266	1,079	972	1,089	489
Southern District of California	800	689	515	453	370	319	262	213	180	175	161	192	230	270	199	232	242
District of Colorado	1088	611	1143	1118	670	610	778	518	402	347	373	467	590	552	786	1,120	435
District of Connecticut	445	380	379	310	206	205	230	205	164	142	139	156	181	187	132	156	219
District of Columbia	129	181	134	119	118	100	119	100	88	81	58	49	52	55	41	46	27
District of Delaware	114	126	243	163	120	277	239	214	372	21,115	2,320	1,374	649	505	276	218	244
Middle District of Florida	1756	1863	1700	1375	1225	1192	1183	1,217	1,090	1,008	777	1,048	852	646	542	939	521
Northern District of Florida	238	185	148	150	116	94	97	442	91	74	66	91	73	72	73	108	86
Southern District of Florida	846	983	1138	1074	877	757	746	816	686	641	604	757	878	816	568	575	384
Middle District of Georgia	229	192	177	145	102	117	160	202	161	160	113	140	165	193	124	160	138
Northern District of Georgia	1974	2417	1691	1359	1246	1199	1188	1,130	834	650	727	908	1,055	1,239	1,825	1,928	899
Southern District of Georgia	164	332	607	419	361	379	453	310	202	123	172	114	139	153	141	144	1113
District of Hawaii	74	77	163	190	157	159	187	187	114	87	63	68	53	72	47	81	25
Northern District of Iowa	618	524	408	253	217	262	239	235	180	115	163	185	207	211	234	295	115
Southern District of Iowa	283	224	252	236	266	294	335	270	103	81	51	104	147	112	126	160	93
District of Idaho	365	225	515	414	351	391	460	532	435	340	269	303	260	225	160	141	56
Central District of Illinois	214	286	516	456	388	382	406	295	114	167	134	195	188	166	188	197	139
Northern District of Illinois	1152	1480	1608	1353	1000	859	871	854	646	553	548	770	875	681	603	795	473
Southern District of Illinois	675	588	462	380	363	383	529	639	714	1,965	588	582	177	144	121	50	57
Northern District of Indiana	598	519	518	464	367	344	289	213	190	148	548	189	202	203	148	212	124
Southern District of Indiana	495	564	745	592	519	498	467	470	423	353	272	415	459	437	376	546	252
District of Kansas	560	527	600	591	372	419	421	412	264	172	169	220	238	303	268	410	158
Eastern District of Kentucky	832	665	351	227	217	260	231	1273	182	143	213	299	321	158	144	202	91
Western District of Kentucky	492	351	341	213	205	213	200	176	174	138	142	175	124	169	175	207	109
Eastern District of Louisiana	248	247	158	136	111	102	98	141	120	131	122	169	165	124	129	152	109
Middle District of Louisiana	119	77	65	52	47	52	62	52	41	29	36	33	68	30	42	47	29
Western District of Louisiana	971	765	642	555	412	408	461	481	439	429	461	514	439	345	451	519	338
District of Massachusetts	1838	2078	2420	1899	1300	1116	1041	965	739	566	393	427	380	396	315	406	283
District of Maryland	1356	1633	1642	1575	1243	1493	1469	1,678	1,231	795	677	758	873	523	417	760	333
District of Maine	316	353	398	321	296	274	267	310	244	197	162	151	101	105	138	144	85
Eastern District of Michigan	830	944	1128	767	823	545	591	595	373	359	333	401	481	390	446	648	510
Western District of Michigan	803	627	665	572	475	527	481	511	348	275	244	287	321	294	235	423	243
District of Minnesota	1771	1797	1494	2057	1962	1901	2251	2,478	1,975	1,584	566	1,887	1,729	1,379	1,374	1,721	383
Eastern District of Missouri	435	541	377	323	254	230	290	300	255	203	184	296	181	168	159	198	129
Western District of Missouri	884	675	657	464	399	291	373	433	169	155	185	209	213	210	195	240	155
Northern District of Mississippi	185	223	180	161	113	131	136	153	135	133	99	96	131	127	63	87	97
Southern District of Mississippi	103	188	301	185	105	152	145	146	109	68	104	193	178	155	107	113	90
District of Montana	223	207	240	195	162	171	219	278	145	121	141	149	120	98	1009	129	39
Eastern District of North Carolina	560	656	585	521	474	457	446	426	321	263	257	231	225	209	163	220	136
Middle District of North Carolina	460	525	415	325	222	184	167	212	144	113	115	257	247	182	236	309	155
Western District of North Carolina	260	209	179	100	86	85	90	82	69	66	73	125	104	137	87	83	112
District of North Dakota	209	191	180	164	120	118	152	155	87	100	92	115	116	105	85	95	32
District of Nebraska	425	384	350	243	190	212	276	281	129	158	115	144	152	238	207	296	182
District of New Hampshire	490	598	164	153	111	92	92	187	417	348	302	334	212	178	158	586	218
District of New Jersey	1128	1303	1561	1870	1354	1195	1068	1,112	876	877	660	730	689	734	684	765	493
District of New Mexico	348	333	476	388	287	322	391	384	338	554	513	620	693	774	727	828	95
District of Nevada	354	480	540	494	391	390	429	399	428	127	332	419	462	321	257	333	178
Eastern District of New York	632	905	1050	962	811	727	620	566	461	378	338	384	337	293	293	334	220
Northern District of New York	622	792	925	823	711	696	839	777	505	394	407	425	346	333	285	321	214
Southern District of New York	1132	1528	1682	1227	1025	1150	950	846	586	565	788	1,236	1,598	1,059	3,195	1,025	566
Western District of New York	220	805	985	892	864	801	854	964	727	535	427	387	304	302	297	432	201
Northern District of Ohio	841	815	950	759	644	539	553	480	649	789	1,001	1,218	971	878	861	1,335	540
Southern District of Ohio	937	587	912	787	728	513	512	526	512	406	470	576	567	548	571	764	417
Eastern District of Oklahoma	201	127	137	115	94	116	139	176	120	104	81	95	87	70	82	117	52
Northern District of Oklahoma	608	691	523	507	426	428	585	648	459	328		503	264	280	235	378	94
Western District of Oklahoma	807	440	436	397	354	400	664	545	254	296	351	343	256	262	342	449	90
District of Oregon	1061	1177	1105	905	844	781	751	1,434	2,660	2,939	1,453	1,389	1,606	1,591	852	1,160	301
Eastern District of Pennsylvania	663	939	1128	976	849	598	605	561	392	328	328	319	318	350	396	413	209
Middle District of Pennsylvania	526	807	746	741	578	661	758	852	837	706	745	811	461	280	298	381	192
Western District of Pennsylvania	562	427	574	555	498	513	507	472	456	363	382	411	484	563	444	562	341
District of Rhode Island	327	333	364	266	177	162	181	180	130	116	74	64	65	48	74	136	48
District of South Carolina	404	479	234	186	221	337	259	346	254	191	138	147	178	142	175	176	82
District of South Dakota	388	356	284	200	164	172	216	221	186	152	133	164	119	110	108	196	47
Eastern District of Tennessee	260	325	595	416	343	343	384	422	336	236	239	379	277	247	249	184	124
Middle District of Tennessee	887	1095	891	541	387	370	478	457	292	251	254	237	251	201	167	211	152
Western District of Tennessee	207	300	380	306	244	236	223	187	241	315	148	270	207	149	132	179	121
Eastern District of Texas	596	505	536	486	465	522	565	522	360	303	387	427	341	326	343	452	272
Northern District of Texas	2571	2200	1996	1694	1607	1644	1620	1,546	1,191	921	937	1,099	1160	1,223	1,304	1,376	828
Southern District of Texas	1290	959	1561	757	615	672	695	754	657	614	823	1,061	810	786	709	932	549
Western District of Texas	857	748	720	605	571	572	607	644	488	464	445	568	683	818	738	830	429
District of Utah	895	830	551	319	222	242	294	434	460	464	451	475	602	519	299	449	148
Eastern District of Virginia	2332	2508	1442	1322	818	792	785	767	545	369	296	311	399	406	318	313	217
Western District of Virginia	626	801	521	649	578	469	557	589	593	472	519	613	570	550	432	163	66
District of Vermont	179	208	218	154	134	167	142	164	88	83	71	97	91	78	85	78	36
Eastern District of Washington	522	574	459	348	334	405	507	448	442	297	382	332	252	260	230	280	124
Western District of Washington	1455	1610	1163	1058	767	930	912	926	554	335	335	310	446	477	435	506	277
Eastern District of Wisconsin	530	469	383	380	404	372	388	348	267	213	172	236	221	191	225	277	145
Western District of Wisconsin	836	802	778	605	591	695	762	865	870	606	513	498	635	531	517	543	630
Northern District of West Virginia	141	186	190	133	139	146	158	179	179	115	121	133	131	101	160	197	69
Southern District of West Virginia	240	251	278	171	171	168	167	188	150	138	156	189	226	189	87	85	45
District of Wyoming	136	118	139	108	102	109	103	91	89	69	47	45	47	44	65	84	40
District of Guam	7	8	11	14	13	12	15	21	25	21	31	27	23	12	6	10	8
District of the Northern Mariana Islands	1	4	2	7	3	10	8	1	8	6	6	8	3	3	1	1	3
District of Puerto Rico	729	897	754	607	493	206	284	162	126	206	209	333	351	254	286	472	206
Virgin Islands	13	22	28	27	30	18	28	17	11	12	7	12	8	3	5	7	10
United States	64853	71549	70643	62304	52374	51959	53549	54,027	44,367	37,884	35,472	40,099	38,540	35,037	34,317	39,201	19,695

Read more about Annual Business Filings by District (1990-2006)

Annual Business Filings by District (2007-08)

Annual Business Filings by District (2007-08)



ABI World

District	2007	2008
District of Alaska	70	81
Middle District of Alabama	85	150
Northern District of Alabama	170	314
Southern District of Alabama	51	72
Eastern District of Arkansas	190	262
Western District of Arkansas	207	235
District of Arizona	479	1,069
Central District of California	1,780	3,511
Eastern District of California	786	1,208
Northern District of California	634	1,117
Southern District of California	305	568
District of Colorado	645	965
District of Connecticut	264	392
District of Columbia	36	47
District of Delaware	306	1,198
Middle District of Florida	1,109	2,230
Northern District of Florida	121	239
Southern District of Florida	799	1,454
Middle District of Georgia	161	313
Northern District of Georgia	1,154	1,748
Southern District of Georgia	141	176
District of Hawaii	56	86
Northern District of Iowa	113	150
Southern District of Iowa	130	192
District of Idaho	116	215
Central District of Illinois	181	191
Northern District of Illinois	731	1,209
Southern District of Illinois	128	157
Northern District of Indiana	227	297
Southern District of Indiana	381	538
District of Kansas	223	252
Eastern District of Kentucky	168	288
Western District of Kentucky	143	233
Eastern District of Louisiana	127	180
Middle District of Louisiana	41	62
Western District of Louisiana	342	365
District of Massachusetts	333	440
District of Maryland	380	628
District of Maine	152	180
Eastern District of Michigan	790	1,166
Western District of Michigan	404	518
District of Minnesota	520	863
Eastern District of Missouri	176	334
Western District of Missouri	208	342
Northern District of Mississippi	132	179
Southern District of Mississippi	130	178
District of Montana	55	88
Eastern District of North Carolina	223	366
Middle District of North Carolina	187	306
Western District of North Carolina	187	259
District of North Dakota	59	66
District of Nebraska	208	259
District of New Hampshire	327	393
District of New Jersey	864	1,067
District of New Mexico	142	202
District of Nevada	321	505
Eastern District of New York	380	449
Northern District of New York	297	263
Southern District of New York	467	871
Western District of New York	231	266
Northern District of Ohio	689	787
Southern District of Ohio	663	800
Eastern District of Oklahoma	51	62
Northern District of Oklahoma	129	142
Western District of Oklahoma	173	256
District of Oregon	265	429
Eastern District of Pennsylvania	297	407
Middle District of Pennsylvania	211	264
Western District of Pennsylvania	509	522
District of Rhode Island	105	144
District of South Carolina	144	268
District of South Dakota	90	96
Eastern District of Tennessee	200	302
Middle District of Tennessee	180	394
Western District of Tennessee	157	192
Eastern District of Texas	383	531
Northern District of Texas	899	1,171
Southern District of Texas	668	831
Western District of Texas	530	591
District of Utah	183	419
Eastern District of Virginia	416	783
Western District of Virginia	178	190
District of Vermont	65	49
Eastern District of Washington	155	186
Western District of Washington	322	528
Eastern District of Wisconsin	219	397
Western District of Wisconsin	193	255
Northern District of West Virginia	84	93
Southern District of West Virginia	66	85
District of Wyoming	36	63
District of Guam	3	4
District of the Northern Mariana Islands	2	0
District of Puerto Rico	276	349
Virgin Islands	8	4
United States	28,322	43,546

Read more about Annual Business Filings by District (2007-08)

Quarterly Non-business Filings by District (1996-1997)

ABI World

District	Non-Bus First	Non-Bus Second	Non-Bus Third	Non-Bus Fourth	Non-Bus Total96	Non-Bus First	Non-Bus Second	Non-Bus Third	Non-Bus Fourth
	1996					1997
District of Alaska	205	267	254	317	1043	254	310	321	341
Middle District of Alabama	1331	1396	1538	1587	5851	1527	1607	1637	1617
Northern District of Alabama	4684	4918	5302	5319	20226	5515	5305	5939	5527
Southern District of Alabama	1231	1166	1218	1201	4823	1169	1073	1183	1193
Eastern District of Arkansas	1915	2046	2213	2218	8392	2315	2458	2534	2348
Western District of Arkansas	948	1002	1153	1212	4316	1249	1395	1351	1450
District of Arizona	3987	5055	5162	5200	19403	5437	6534	6497	5760
Central District of California	21670	24712	24470	25238	96101	27060	29511	27660	27655
Eastern District of California	6504	7351	7318	7500	28673	8337	9042	8594	8376
Northern District of California	6777	7502	7422	7693	29395	7849	8520	8298	7997
Southern District of California	4277	4508	4400	4513	17714	4692	4974	4748	4778
District of Colorado	3513	4108	4007	3993	15624	4185	5039	4878	4524
District of Connecticut	2503	2941	2768	2859	11077	3219	3675	3189	3199
District of Columbia	391	457	461	521	1831	556	575	652	646
District of Delaware	367	500	443	488	1805	558	710	536	627
Middle District of Florida	7499	8539	8664	9219	33926	9697	10902	10225	10348
Northern District of Florida	757	901	964	968	3591	1089	1202	1179	1187
Southern District of Florida	4526	4951	5041	5293	19811	5613	6688	6496	6693
Middle District of Georgia	3029	3021	3588	3548	13190	3511	3658	3881	3879
Northern District of Georgia	7313	7110	7727	7765	29921	8424	8394	8484	8495
Southern District of Georgia	2316	2460	2891	2760	10427	2840	3012	3302	3242
District of Hawaii	554	697	767	887	2905	947	1066	1072	1191
Northern District of Iowa	696	835	829	831	3191	857	1044	971	889
Southern District of Iowa	1102	1338	1256	1253	4950	1354	1552	1369	1299
District of Idaho	1118	1320	1239	1288	4966	1402	1754	1645	1639
Central District of Illinois	2258	2345	2485	2492	9581	3128	3237	3115	3072
Northern District of Illinois	8747	9409	9602	9988	37747	10524	11077	10816	10813
Southern District of Illinois	1214	1336	1419	1393	5364	1514	1636	1647	1577
Northern District of Indiana	2290	2752	2724	2761	10527	3015	3599	3443	3382
Southern District of Indiana	3813	4669	4675	5018	18608	5217	5972	5770	5709
District of Kansas	2325	2890	2893	2778	10891	2779	3589	3293	3056
Eastern District of Kentucky	1820	2075	2059	2099	8053	2331	2433	2288	2233
Western District of Kentucky	2437	2554	2636	2680	10310	2813	3090	2996	3052
Eastern District of Louisiana	1330	1543	1705	1788	6346	1685	1934	1884	1719
Middle District of Louisiana	496	616	674	726	2512	623	760	712	657
Western District of Louisiana	2342	2619	3039	2957	10958	2904	3142	3317	3142
District of Massachusetts	3725	4372	427	4371	16703	4947	7917	5153	4904
District of Maryland	4819	5671	6047	6338	22878	7153	7678	7705	7774
District of Maine	572	749	696	789	2806	790	1061	1026	1021
Eastern District of Michigan	5030	5375	5315	5547	21280	6334	6898	6708	6792
Western District of Michigan	2190	2381	2478	2398	9447	2903	3008	2904	2934
District of Minnesota	3715	4101	4043	4126	15985	4669	4622	4345	4110
Eastern District of Missouri	2898	3055	3202	3258	12413	3475	3686	3842	3791
Western District of Missouri	2089	2358	2221	2349	9027	2445	2805	2727	2801
Northern District of Mississippi	1157	1189	1449	1495	5290	1544	1514	1718	1674
Southern District of Mississippi	2154	2301	2748	2965	10172	3183	3029	3201	3102
District of Montana	567	720	641	658	2586	726	871	857	839
Eastern District of North Carolina	1975	2025	2158	2194	8355	2274	2262	2409	2415
Middle District of North Carolina	1489	1694	2007	2102	7292	2133	2274	2335	2333
Western District of North Carolina	1232	1363	1575	1676	5846	1791	1736	1779	1735
District of North Dakota	362	414	387	373	1536	467	456	432	451
District of Nebraska	1144	1284	1248	1352	5028	1330	1477	1386	1465
District of New Hampshire	789	1000	908	903	3600	1126	1266	1188	1135
District of New Jersey	7432	8671	8164	8753	33023	9909	10847	10221	10327
District of New Mexico	1254	1369	1377	1477	5479	1728	1805	1843	1797
District of Nevada	2021	2684	2670	2728	10102	2866	3556	3313	3289
Eastern District of New York	5731	6450	6225	6235	24644	6665	7876	7222	7127
Northern District of New York	2785	3342	3020	3303	12450	3876	4270	3615	3635
Southern District of New York	2733	3272	3140	3352	12502	3581	4079	3812	3653
Western District of New York	1961	2465	2306	2589	9319	2783	3353	2911	3102
Northern District of Ohio	4593	5318	5327	5714	20969	5780	6780	6549	6585
Southern District of Ohio	4882	5608	5700	6152	22460	6544	7035	6667	6798
Eastern District of Oklahoma	546	643	687	689	2565	742	790	653	901
Northern District of Oklahoma	978	1263	1271	1220	4732	1281	1424	1380	1273
Western District of Oklahoma	2191	2424	2556	2590	9766	2856	3256	3336	3101
District of Oregon	3355	4307	4218	4062	15956	4136	4671	4083	3861
Eastern District of Pennsylvania	3685	4119	4310	4293	16415	4989	5597	5409	5213
Middle District of Pennsylvania	1287	1513	1638	1642	6075	2030	2266	2196	2247
Western District of Pennsylvania	1903	2027	2017	2193	8142	2557	2938	2605	2745
District of Rhode Island	952	1061	1041	1090	4147	1315	1420	1270	1286
District of South Carolina	2164	2291	2431	2628	9519	2693	2693	2717	2756
District of South Dakota	376	454	461	405	1896	493	541	575	535
Eastern District of Tennessee	3357	3534	3695	3823	14414	3825	4121	4133	3750
Middle District of Tennessee	2611	2775	2995	3007	11391	3030	3029	3031	2923
Western District of Tennessee	4997	5055	5804	6001	21858	5756	5927	6335	5837
Eastern District of Texas	1701	1894	2044	2180	7827	2219	2279	2337	2373
Northern District of Texas	4085	4637	5309	5024	19057	5877	6239	6050	5660
Southern District of Texas	3751	4126	4565	4266	16733	4700	4803	4669	4566
Western District of Texas	3168	3530	3881	3846	14430	4265	4509	4295	4401
District of Utah	2044	2182	2310	2468	9005	2661	2834	3066	3150
Eastern District of Virginia	5720	6473	6491	6828	25521	7789	8085	7720	7551
Western District of Virginia	2063	2335	2278	2414	9092	2580	2825	2610	2596
District of Vermont	289	301	306	330	1225	424	452	449	422
Eastern District of Washington	1228	1326	1330	1361	5245	1631	1660	1730	1585
Western District of Washington	5208	5511	5647	5582	21966	6446	6623	6104	6171
Eastern District of Wisconsin	2415	2738	2650	2524	10329	2817	3470	3275	3026
Western District of Wisconsin	1046	1214	1201	1197	4658	1313	1516	1311	1252
Northern District of West Virginia	453	511	614	645	2223	801	877	799	817
Southern District of West Virginia	811	785	886	1001	3465	1199	1258	1199	1221
District of Wyoming	389	429	430	432	1680	433	593	502	412
District of Guam	15	15	16	16	62	23	21	28	21
District of the North Mariana Islands	1	2	0	1	4	0	1	0	0
District of Puerto Rico	2271	2545	275	2949	10524	3139	3812	4097	4462
District of the Virgin Islands	12	10	8	9	40	11	17	12	17
United States	252761	283170	290111	298244	1125006	321242	353177	340059	335032

Read more about Quarterly Non-business Filings by District (1996-1997)

Annual Business and Non-business Filings by District (1997-2000)

ABI World

	1997				1998				1999				2000
District	Total Filings	Business Filings	Non-Business Filings	Percent Consumer	Total Filings	Business Filings	Non-Business Filings	Percent Consumer	Total Filings	Business Filings	Non-Business Filings	Percent Consumer	Total Filings	Business Filings	Non-Business Filings	Percent Consumer
District of Alaska	1373	147	1,226	89.29%	1,479	127	1,352	91.41%	1,492	115	1377	92.29%	1,419	118	1,301	91.68%
Middle District of Alabama	6,670	284	6,386	95.74%	6,753	159	6,594	97.65%	6,500	146	6354	97.75%	7,284	137	7,147	98.11%
Northern District of Alabama	22,732	442	22,290	98.06%	20,912	380	20,532	98.18%	19,385	254	19,131	98.68%	20,348	275	20,073	98.64%
Southern District of Alabama	4,774	150	4,624	96.86%	4,803	64	4,739	98.67%	4,679	34	4,645	99.27%	5,356	33	5,323	99.38%
Eastern District of Arkansas	9,942	283	9,659	97.15%	10,789	215	10,574	98.01%	10,252	148	10,104	98.55%	10,566	151	10,415	98.57%
Western District of Arkansas	5,701	256	5,445	95.51%	6,263	193	6,070	96.92%	6,218	147	6,134	98.64%	6,218	110	6,108	98.23%
District of Arizona	25,069	846	24,223	96.63%	24,191	762	23,429	96.85%	22,609	781	21,828	96.54%	20,955	765	20,190	96.34%
Central District of California	118,335	6,184	112,151	94.77%	120,981	4,787	116,194	96.04%	102,422	2,387	100,035	97.66%	80,782	2,232	78,550	97.23%
Eastern District of California	36,976	2,624	34,352	92.90%	39,345	2,012	37,333	94.89%	34,750	1,144	33,606	96.70%	29,756	1,139	28,617	96.29%
Northern District of California	34,781	2,116	32,515	95.40%	34,082	1,567	32,665	93.92%	26,564	1,308	25,256	95.07%	19,562	1,063	18,499	94.56%
Southern District of California	19,407	213	19,194	98.40%	18,805	180	18,625	99.04%	15,292	175	15,117	98.85%	12,619	161	12,458	98.72%
District of Colorado	19,146	518	18,628	97.29%	18,262	402	17,860	97.80%	1,6165	347	15818	97.85%	15,558	373	15,185	97.60%
District of Connecticut	13,499	205	13,294	98.48%	13,962	164	13,798	98.83%	11868	142	11726	98.80%	10,643	139	10,504	98.69%
District of Columbia	2,530	100	2,430	96.05%	2,885	88	2,797	96.95%	2718	81	2637	97.01%	2,346	58	2,288	97.52%
District of Delaware	2,646	214	2,432	91.91%	2,871	372	2,499	87.04%	4,526	21,115	2,411	53.26%	4,695	2,320	2,375	50.60%
Middle District of Florida	42,388	1,217	41,171	97.13%	45,472	1,090	44,382	97.60%	41,855	1,008	40,847	97.59%	40,551	777	39,774	98.72%
Northern District of Florida	4,787	442	22,290	98.06%	5,344	91	5,253	98.30%	5,002	74	4,928	98.52%	5,148	66	5,082	98.71%
Southern District of Florida	26,308	816	25,492	96.90%	29,373	686	28,687	97.66%	28,500	641	27,859	97.75%	27,032	604	26,428	97.76%
Middle District of Georgia	15,136	202	14,934	98.67%	14,921	161	14,760	98.92%	14,161	160	14,001	98.87%	14,833	113	14,720	99.23%
Northern District of Georgia	34,946	1,130	33,816	98.03%	33,763	834	32,929	97.53%	31,871	650	31,221	97.96%	32,242	727	31,515	97.74%
Southern District of Georgia	12,707	310	12,397	97.56%	12,441	202	12,239	98.38%	11,741	123	11,618	98.95%	12,852	172	12,680	98.66%
District of Hawaii	4,463	187	4,276	95.81%	5,829	114	5,715	98.04%	5426	87	5339	98.39%	4,549	63	4,486	98.61%
Northern District of Iowa	3,996	235	3,761	94.12%	3,880	180	3,700	95.36%	3,444	115	3,329	96.66%	3,399	163	3,236	95.99%
Southern District of Iowa	5,847	270	5,577	95.38%	5,638	103	5,535	98.17%	5,008	81	33,606	96.70%	4,894	51	4,843	98.95%
District of Idaho	6,973	532	6,441	92.37%	7,612	435	7,177	94.29%	7,285	340	6945	95.33%	7,119	269	6,850	96.22%
Central District of Illinois	12,854	295	12,559	97.70%	12,685	114	12,571	99.10%	11,765	167	11,598	98.58%	11,406	134	11,272	98.82%
Northern District of Illinois	44,087	854	43,233	98.06%	46,503	646	45,857	98.61%	44,790	553	44,237	98.769%	42,340	548	41,792	98.70%
Southern District of Illinois	7,013	639	6,374	90.89%	7,499	714	6,785	90.48%	7,406	1,965	6,732	90.89%	7,416	588	6,828	92.07%
Northern District of Indiana	13,658	213	13,445	98.44%	14,550	190	14,360	98.69%	14,288	148	14,140	98.96%	42,340	548	41,792	98.70%
Southern District of Indiana	23,150	470	22,680	97.97%	24,711	423	24,288	98.29%	23,954	353	23,601	98.52%	23,422	272	23,150	98.83%
District of Kansas	13,131	412	12,719	96.86%	13,208	264	12,944	98.00%	11538	172	11366	98.50%	11,315	169	11,146	98.50%
Eastern District of Kentucky	9,558	1273	9,285	97.14%	9,594	182	9,412	98.10%	8,996	143	8,853	98.41%	9,050	213	8,837	97.64%
Western District of Kentucky	12,129	176	11,953	98.55%	12,592	174	12,418	98.62%	11,825	138	11,687	98.83%	11,968	142	11,826	98.81%
Eastern District of Louisiana	7,365	141	7,224	98.21%	7,119	120	6,999	98.31%	7,657	131	7,526	98.28%	8,265	122	8,143	98.52%
Middle District of Louisiana	2,805	52	2,753	98.15%	2,940	41	2,899	98.61%	2680	29	2,651	98.91%	2,831	36	2,795	98.72%
Western District of Louisiana	12,988	481	12,507	96.30%	12,887	439	12,448	96.59%	12,293	429	11,864	96.51%	12,039	461	11,578	96.17%
District of Massachusetts	23,894	965	22,927	95.96%	22,325	739	21,586	96.69%	18,660	566	18,034	96.95%	15,601	393	15,208	97.48%
District of Maryland	31,991	1,678	30,313	94.75%	35,430	1,231	34,199	96.53%	32,273	795	31,478	97.53%	30,355	677	29,658	97.70%
District of Maine	4,218	310	3,908	92.65%	4,515	244	4,271	94.60%	4,177	197	3,980	95.28%	4,042	162	3,880	95.99%
Eastern District of Michigan	27,348	595	26,753	97.82%	28,198	373	27,825	98.68%	25,824	359	25,465	98.60%	25,122	333	24,789	98.67%
Western District of Michigan	12,261	511	11,750	95.83%	12,546	348	12,198	97.23%	11,428	275	11,153	97.59%	11,290	244	11,046	97.83%
District of Minnesota	20,225	2,478	17,747	87.75%	18,866	1,975	16,891	89.53%	15,853	1,584	14,269	90.00%	15,314	566	18,034	96.95%
Eastern District of Missouri	14,897	300	14,597	97.99%	16,423	255	16,168	98.45%	15,888	203	15,685	98.72%	15,118	184	14,934	98.78%
Western District of Missouri	11,218	433	10,785	96.14%	11,842	169	11,673	98.57%	11,141	155	10,986	98.60%	10,902	185	10,717	98.30%
Northern District of Mississippi	6,602	153	6,449	97.68%	6,226	135	6,091	97.83%	5,917	133	5,784	97.75%	6,314	99	6,215	98.43%
Southern District of Mississippi	12,667	146	12,521	98.85%	12,474	109	12,365	99.13%	11,833	68	11,765	99.42%	12,144	104	12,040	99.14%
District of Montana	3,572	278	3,294	92.22%	3,717	145	3,572	96.10%	3,386	121	3,265	96.42%	3,336	141	3,195	95.77%
Eastern District of North Carolina	9,788	426	9,362	95.65%	10,914	321	10,593	97.06%	10,325	263	10,062	97.45%	10,832	257	10,575	97.62%
Middle District of North Carolina	9,289	212	9,077	97.72%	9,014	144	8,870	98.40%	8,543	113	8,430	95.32%	9,398	115	9,283	98.77%
Western District of North Carolina	7,126	82	7,044	98.85%	7,056	69	6,987	99.02%	6,966	66	6,930	99.05%	6,861	73	6,788	98.93%
District of North Dakota	1,961	155	1,806	92.10%	2,192	87	2,105	96.03%	2,146	100	2,046	95.34%	1,933	92	1,841	95.24%
District of Nebraska	5,949	281	5,668	95.28%	6,116	129	5,987	97.89%	5,500	158	5,342	97.12%	5,629	115	5,514	97.95%
District of New Hampshire	4,902	187	4,715	96.19%	4,994	417	4,577	91.65%	4,104	348	3,756	91.52%	3,615	302	3,018	83.48%
District of New Jersey	42,434	1,112	41,322	97.38%	45,880	876	45,004	98.09%	40,814	877	39,937	97.85%	37,305	660	36,645	98.23%
District of New Mexico	7,560	384	7,176	94.92%	7,915	338	7,577	95.73%	7,336	554	6,782	92.44%	7,032	513	6,519	92.70%
District of Nevada	13,427	399	13,028	97.03%	15,708	428	15,280	97.28%	1,479	127	1,352	91.41%	14,010	332	13,678	97.63%
Eastern District of New York	29,459	566	28,893	98.08%	31,494	461	31,033	98.54%	26,449	378	26,071	98.57%	22,503	338	22,165	98.49%
Northern District of New York	16,173	777	15,396	95.20%	16,703	505	16,198	96.98%	14,466	394	14,072	97.27%	13,507	407	13,100	96.98%
Southern District of New York	15,972	846	15,126	94.70%	17,047	586	16,461	96.56%	14,798	565	14,233	96.18%	12,524	788	11,736	93.70%
Western District of New York	13,114	964	12,150	92.65%	13,398	727	12,671	94.57%	11,360	535	10,825	95.29%	10,636	427	10,209	98.72%
Northern District of Ohio	26,200	480	25,720	98.17%	28,353	649	27,704	97.71%	27,716	789	26,927	97.15%	28,016	1,001	27,015	96.42%
Southern District of Ohio	27,570	526	27,044	98.10%	28,351	512	27,839	98.19%	26,071	406	25,665	99.86%	26,168	470	25,698	98.20%
Eastern District of Oklahoma	3,462	176	3,286	94.92%	3,812	120	3,692	96.85%	3,550	104	3,446	97.07%	3,651	81	3,570	97.78%
Northern District of Oklahoma	6,007	648	5,359	89.21%	5,372	459	4,913	91.46%	5,042	328	4,714	93.45%
Western District of Oklahoma	13,100	545	12,555	95.84%	12,756	254	12,502	98.01%	11,436	296	11,140	97.41%	10,619	351	10,268	96.69%
District of Oregon	18,197	1,434	16,763	92.12%	18,103	2,660	15,443	85.31%	18,168	2,939	15,229	83.82%	18,227	1,453	16,774	92.02%
Eastern District of Pennsylvania	21,773	561	21,212	97.42%	23,187	392	22,795	98.31%	21,752	328	21,424	98.49%	21,099	328	20,771	98.44%
Middle District of Pennsylvania	9,593	852	8,741	91.12%	10,693	837	9,856	92.17%	10,212	706	9,506	93.08%	10,370	745	9,625	92.81%
Western District of Pennsylvania	11,601	472	11,129	95.93%	12,772	456	12,316	96.43%	11,950	363	11,587	96.96%	12,501	382	12,119	96.94%
District of Rhode Island	5,472	180	5,292	96.71%	5,480	130	5,350	97.63%	5060	116	4944	97.70%	4,457	74	4,383	98.33%
District of South Carolina	11,232	346	10,886	96.92%	11,672	254	11,373	97.82%	11,442	191	11,251	98.33%	11,958	138	11,820	98.84%
District of South Dakota	2,366	221	2,145	90.66%	2,299	186	2,113	91.91%	2,223	152	2,071	93.16%	2,105	133	1,972	93.68%
Eastern District of Tennessee	16,254	422	15,832	97.40%	15,984	336	15,648	97.90%	14,944	236	14,708	98.42%	15,703	239	15,464	98.47%
Middle District of Tennessee	12,478	457	12,021	96.34%	12,131	292	11,839	97.59%	10,968	251	10,717	97.71%	11,739	254	11,485	97.83%
Western District of Tennessee	24,052	187	23,865	99.22%	23,081	241	22,840	98.96%	20,613	315	20,298	98.47%	21,794	148	21,646	99.32%
Eastern District of Texas	9,734	522	9,212	94.64%	9,817	360	9,457	96.33%	9,272	303	8,969	96.73%	8,962	387	8,575	95.68%
Northern District of Texas	25,373	1,546	23,827	93.91%	24,934	1,191	23,743	95.22%	21,447	921	20,526	95.70%	20,674	937	19,737	95.46%
Southern District of Texas	19,508	754	18,754	96.13%	19,352	657	18,695	96.61%	17,506	614	16,892	96.49%	17,157	823	16,334	95.20%
Western District of Texas	18,114	644	17,470	96.44%	17,696	488	17,208	97.24%	16,488	464	16,024	97.18%	15,328	445	14,883	97.09%
District of Utah	12,147	434	11,713	96.43%	13,996	460	13,536	96.71%	14,108	464	13,644	96.71%	15,192	451	14,741	97.03%
Eastern District of Virginia	31,921	767	31,154	97.60%	32,398	545	31,853	98.32%	28,262	369	27,893	98.69%	26,131	296	25,835	98.86%
Western District of Virginia	11,198	589	10,609	94.74%	11,041	593	10,448	94.63%	10,182	472	9,710	95.36%	10,060	519	9,541	94.84%
District of Vermont	1,911	164	1,747	91.42%	1,965	88	1,877	95.52%	1,757	83	1,674	95.27%	1,492	71	1,421	95.24%
Eastern District of Washington	7,052	448	6,604	93.65%	7,838	442	7,396	94.36%	7,823	297	7,526	96.20%	8,376	382	7,994	95.43%
Western District of Washington	26,285	926	25,359	96.48%	25,565	554	25,011	97.83%	23,818	335	23,483	98.59%	22,755	335	22,420	98.52%
Eastern District of Wisconsin	12,940	348	12,592	97.31%	12,962	267	12,695	97.94%	12,615	213	12,402	98.31%	12,075	172	11,903	98.57%
Western District of Wisconsin	6,257	865	5,392	86.18%	6,452	870	5,582	86.52%	5,874	606	5,268	89.68%	5,774	513	5,261	91.11%
Northern District of West Virginia	3,475	179	3,296	94.85%	3,550	179	3,371	94.96%	3,339	115	3,224	96.55%	3,404	121	3,283	96.44%
Southern District of West Virginia	5,067	188	4,879	96.29%	5,141	150	4,991	97.08%	4,812	138	4,674	97.13%	5,242	156	5,086	97.02%
District of Wyoming	2,031	91	1,940	95.52%	2,257	89	2,168	96.06%	2009	69	1940	96.56%	2,078	47	2,031	97.73%
District of Guam	114	21	93	81.58%	109	25	84	77.06%	131	21	110	83.96%	155	31	124	80.00%
District of the Northern Mariana Islands	2	1	1	50%	18	8	10	55.56%	12	6	6	50.00%	15	6	9	60.00%
District of Puerto Rico	15,670	162	15,508	98.97%	17,447	126	17,321	99.28%	17,909	206	17,703	98.84%	14,919	209	14,710	98.59%
District of the Virgin Islands	74	17	57	77.03%	73	11	62	84.93%	66	12	54	81.81%	56	7	49	87.50%
United States	1,404,145	54,027	1,350,118	96.15%	1,442,549	44,367	1,398,182	96.92%	1,319,465	37,884	1,281,581	97.12%	1,253,444	35,472	1,217,972	97.17%

Read more about Annual Business and Non-business Filings by District (1997-2000)

Detroit Needs Residents but Sends Some Packing

July 1, 2014

NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DETROIT NEEDS RESIDENTS, BUT SENDS SOME PACKING

While Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan pledges to stem the flood of departures that have crippled the bankrupt city and to begin increasing the city's population for the first time in decades, tens of thousands of residents are on the verge of losing their houses for failing to pay their property taxes, the New York Times reported on Friday. In a city that desperately needs to hold onto residents, there is a virtual pipeline out. At least 70,000 foreclosures have taken place since 2009 because of delinquent property taxes. And more than 43,000 properties -- more than one in 10 in this city -- were subject to foreclosure this year, some of them headed for a public auction where prices can start as low as $500.Tax foreclosures have grown so steeply that county officials have lately had to forgo pursuing tens of thousands of additional properties that have fallen far enough behind to risk foreclosure. Other cities wrestle with unpaid taxes, too, but the size of Detroit's problem is staggering. Contributing factors are soaring rates of poverty, high taxes despite painfully diminished city services and a long pattern of lackadaisical tax collection by the city. In some cases, homeowners have abandoned properties and simply quit paying taxes, and foreclosure may be the only way to get a house back into the hands of people who actually want to live there and pay their share. In other cases, those who lose or abandon their houses sometimes end up buying other houses at auction -- sometimes for as little as $500 -- and begin the cycle again, although new rules are in place to take back properties sooner if taxes are again not paid. Either way, the city fails to get all the tax revenue it is owed. Political leaders here acknowledge that the flood of tax foreclosures has become a problem, and say they are making efforts to improve the situation by lowering property assessments -- and thus tax bills -- and by trying to help people find steady incomes. Read more.

CORINTHIAN COLLEGE STUDENTS AWAIT THEIR FATE AS BREAKUP LOOMS

Corinthian Colleges Inc.'s 72,000 students will soon be swept into the biggest collapse the U.S. for-profit education industry has ever seen, Bloomberg News reported today. Corinthian, which also owns the Heald and WyoTech career schools, as well as an online university, is scheduled to present a plan to the Education Department today to sell most of its 107 campuses and close others. The wind-down comes after the U.S. Department of Education cut Corinthian's access to student aid following more than a decade of complaints. Lawsuits against Corinthian in two states allege that at some schools instructors don't teach, the isolated and the unemployed are badgered into enrolling and the ultimate mission is to lure in students to seize federal money. Corinthian, based in Santa Ana, Calif., has been accused of falsifying grades and job-placement data, luring students with non-existent programs and pushing them into high-interest, subprime loans they can't repay. Read more.

PUERTO RICO SWAP COST AT RECORD HIGH BEFORE BOND PAYMENTS

Investor confidence in Puerto Rico's ability to repay debt is sinking as the cost to protect commonwealth bonds against default has more than doubled since June 12 to the highest ever, Bloomberg News reported today. Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bondholders are awaiting payment today on maturing debt after legislators last week enacted a law meant to allow some government entities to restructure outside bankruptcy. A revision of Prepa's $8.6 billion in debt would be the largest ever in the $3.7 trillion municipal-bond market. Prices on some Prepa bonds increased today, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Prepa's trustee, U.S. Bancorp, has the money for today's payment on $204 million in bonds, said David Millar, a New York-based spokesman for the Government Development Bank, the commonwealth's financial agent. Even with the money, the trustee can withhold funds if it believes Prepa needs them for legal fees or other expenses, said Lyle Fitterer, who helps manage $33 billion of municipal bonds at Wells Capital in Menomonee Falls, Wis., among them some of the bonds due today. The market reflects the uncertainty. It costs about $1.5 million annually, the most ever, to protect $10 million of commonwealth debt for 10 years through credit-default swaps, according to data provider CMA, which is owned by McGraw Hill Financial Inc. The crisis reflects a broader malaise in the island commonwealth, whose tax-free debt is held in 66 percent of U.S. muni mutual funds. Puerto Rico's economy has struggled to grow since 2006 and its unemployment rate of 13.8 percent is more than double the U.S. average. About 45 percent of its residents are in poverty, according to U.S. Census data. The commonwealth for years has borrowed to keep its government functioning, and investors hungry for the rewards of risky debt kept lending. Read more.

REGULATORS ISSUE HELOC RESET GUIDANCE

Four federal regulatory agencies and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors today issued guidance to financial institutions regarding home equity lines of credit (HELOC) nearing their "end-of-draw" periods, CreditUnionTimes.com reported today. The guidance encouraged financial institutions to effectively communicate with borrowers about the pending reset, and provides broad principles for managing HELOC risks. The regulators said that they recognize that financial institutions and borrowers may face challenges as HELOCs near their end-of-draw periods. Many borrowers will continue to meet their contractual obligation when their loan resets to an amortizing payment or reaches a balloon maturity. However, some may find it difficult to make higher payments or to refinance their existing loans due to changes in their financial circumstances or declines in property values, and could need loan modification. The guidance described how financial institutions can effectively manage their potential exposures under these circumstances, including specific examiner expectations regarding risk mitigation strategies and documentation. Additionally, the appropriate accounting and reporting procedures for HELOCs nearing their end-of-draw periods were also included. Read more.

Click here to read the guidance letter.

CHIEF BANKRUPTCY JUDGES REACT TO BELLINGHAM DECISION

On June 16, 2014, ABI presented a panel of chief bankruptcy judges who discussed the new U.S. Supreme Court decision in Bellingham as well as other hot topics. Bankruptcy Judges Dennis R. Dow (W.D. Mo.), C. Ray Mullins (N.D. Ga.), Brendan Linehan Shannon (D. Del.), Cecelia G. Morris (S.D.N.Y), and Barbara J. Houser (N.D. Tex.) reviewed the Bellingham decision and provided commentary on what effect it will have on the bankruptcy courts. You can still hear what these judges had to say by purchasing the program by clicking here.

ARGENTINIAN DEBT CRISIS AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR SOVEREIGN DEBT RESTRUCTURING? WATCH JAMES MILLSTEIN'S PRESENTATION AT THE CROSS-BORDER SYMPOSIUM

Not able to catch James Millstein's presentation on Argentina and the future of sovereign debt restructuring on June 20 at ABI's Cross-Border Symposium? Watch the full presentation in ABI's Newsroom.

NEW CASE SUMMARY ON VOLO: NATIONAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION INC. V. HIGHBOURNE FOUNDATION (4TH CIR.)

Summarized by Cara Murray of Whiteford Taylor & Preston LLP

The Fourth Circuit affirmed the bankruptcy court's ruling that the non-debtor release provision in the debtor's chapter 11 reorganization plan was unenforceable.

NEW ON ABI'S BANKRUPTCY BLOG EXCHANGE: WHILE FILINGS MAY BE DOWN, BANKRUPTCY CASES BECOMING MORE COMPLEX

A blogger recently examined the composition of their cases over the past two years and found that, while the number of filings may have decreased, the cases require just as much time due to the complexity of the cases and the requirements of the Code.

ABI Quick Poll

A special Bankruptcy Code chapter 14 should be created for "TBTF" (too-big-to-fail) financial institutions.

Click here to vote on this week's Quick Poll. Click here to view the results of previous Quick Polls.

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NEXT EVENT:

COMING UP

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

2014

July
- abiLIVE Webinar: Proposed Chapter 14 and the Future of Large Financial Institution Resolution
    July 15, 2014 |
- Northeast Bankruptcy Conference
    July 17-20, 2014 | Stowe, Vt.
- Southeast Bankruptcy Workshop
    July 24-27, 2014 | Amelia Island, Fla.
- Mid-Atlantic Bankruptcy Workshop
    July 31-August 2, 2014 | Cambridge, Md.

August
- ABI Endowment Baseball Event
Aug. 13, 2014 | Baltimore, Md.
- Fourth Hawai'i Bankruptcy Workshop
Aug. 13-16, 2014 | Maui, Hawai'i

September
- Southwest Bankruptcy Conference
Sept. 4-6, 2014 | Las Vegas, Nev.
- CARE Financial Literacy Conference
Sept. 11-13, 2014 | Dallas, Texas

- ABI Workshop: Lending to Distressed Companies
Sept. 15, 2014 | Alexandria, Va.
- Lawrence P. King and Charles Seligson Workshop on Bankruptcy & Business Reorganization
Sept. 16-17, 2014 | New York, N.Y.

November
- Chicago Consumer Bankruptcy Conference
Nov. 11, 2014 | Chicago, Ill.

Read more about Detroit Needs Residents but Sends Some Packing

Puerto Rico

Annual Business and Non-business Filings by District (2001-2004)

Annual Business and Non-business Filings by District (1995-1999)

Annual Business Filings by District (1990-2006)

Quarterly Non-business Filings by District (1996-1997)

Annual Business and Non-business Filings by District (1997-2000)

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