History & Statistics

The first American Bankruptcy laws were enacted in 1800.  They were federal laws fashioned after similar rules in England which focused on creditor rights.  America distinguished itself from England as individuals could not be sentenced to death for committing bankruptcy fraud.  These laws were repealed less than 4 years later.

Our current bankruptcy laws are based on the official U.S. Bankruptcy Code enacted in 1878, the "Code".  The Code was substantially updated in 1978 and again in 2005.  The most recent version was enacted as the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act and is commonly referred to as BAPCPA (bap-see-pa).

Because BAPCPA is relatively new, there remain several issues that are still being addressed and resolved by our courts.  Essentially, BAPCPA added income limits for people to qualify for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy discharge.  It also added requirements for credit counseling both before and after filing a petition for bankruptcy and requires additional information and documentation from petitioners.  The end result has been a higher cost to obtain bankruptcy counsel and a greater risk to those who attempt to represent themselves.

In 2006, there was a significant drop in the number of bankruptcy petitions filed compared to 2005.  This is likely the result of the large number of cases that were filed immediately before BAPCPA was enacted in October of 2005.  The monthly figures for 2006 reveal that after the immediate drop, bankruptcy petitions have been increasing steadily.  It is estimated that the number of cases filed in 2007 will return to the pre-BAPCPA figures.

For a chart of bankruptcy cases filed nationwide since 1995, click the button below:

To see the number of bankruptcy cases filed monthly in the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan click the buttons below: