November bankruptcy filings in the U.S. hit a 14-year low, driven by a decline in individuals filing for protection from creditors as they continue to enjoy the benefits of eviction moratoriums and other government assistance stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.
Total bankruptcy filings amounted to 34,440 for the month, the lowest monthly total since January 2006, according to data from legal-services provider Epiq Systems Inc.
The data, however, showed a large divergence between commercial and personal filings.
Commercial chapter 11 filings for November were up 40%, with 654 new cases compared with 449 over the same period in 2019, according to Epic.
On the other hand, noncommercial chapter 13 filings, which enable individuals to restructure their debt, were down 45% from a year earlier to 137,764 filings, according to Epiq. Noncommercial chapter 7 filings, which enable individuals to liquidate their assets so as to escape their debt burden, declined by 21% in November.
