PROVIDENCE – Bankruptcy filings in Rhode Island totaled 77 in October, up from 59 the previous month but a sharp drop from 132 one year prior, according to data from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
Seventy-six of the filings for the month were from consumers and one was from a business.
Sixty-five of the filings were Chapter 7 filings, 11 were Chapter 13 filings and one was a Chapter 11 filing.
Chapter 7 discharges qualifying debt, although when it involves a company it is likely that the entity 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 the state totaled 851 at the end of October, a decline from 1,218 at that time one year prior.
