PROVIDENCE – There were 2,039 bankruptcy filings in Rhode Island in 2019, a 5.6% decline year over year, according to U.S. Bankruptcy Court records.
The most recent peak of bankruptcy filings in Rhode Island was in 2010, when the state saw 5,518 filings. The state has seen a steady decline since 2010, except in 2016 to 2017, when the state had an identical number of filings at 2,278 each year.
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2019 marked the lowest number of bankruptcy filings in the state since 2006, when there were 1,625 total filings.
Of the total filings in 2019, 64 were business filings while 1,972 were identified as consumer filings. The remaining three were not designated as either consumer or business filings in court records.
The vast majority of cases were Chapter 7 filings. The second most common type of bankruptcy filing was Chapter 13, at 474 filings, followed by six Chapter 11 filings on the year.
Chapter 7 discharges qualifying debt, although when it involves a company it is likely that it will be liquidated as part of the process. Chapter 7 is the most common form of bankruptcy in the country. Chapter 13 involves repayment of debts, often by establishing a repayment plan that allows unsecured creditors to recover part or all of what they are owed. Chapter 11 filings allow for a reorganization of the filer, which continues operations, emerging from court protection only when a plan that satisfies creditors is in place.
Bankruptcy filings in December totaled 144, an increase of 20 filings from one year prior.
Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor. You may reach him at Bergenheim@PBN.com.
