PROVIDENCE – There were 185 bankruptcy filings in Rhode Island in August, an increase from 179 filings one year prior, according to U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
Of the filings, five were business bankruptcy filings and 179 were consumer filings. One filing was not categorized as either consumer or business.
Providence County had the most filings in August at 124, followed by Kent County at 31 filings.
The majority of August filings in Rhode Island were chapter 7 bankruptcy filings (140), while the remainder were Chapter 13 filings. 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 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 7 is the most common form of bankruptcy in the country.
Year to date in August, there were 1,463 bankruptcy filings in Rhode Island, including 42 business filings. Three of the business bankruptcy filings were Chapter 11. One year prior, year-to-date filings by the end of August totaled 1,565.
Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor. You may reach him at Bergenheim@PBN.com.
