by Karen Brune Mathis
Managing Editor
Despite the recession having been declared over as of mid-2009, filings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Middle District of Florida continued at a record pace in October.
If filings continue at the rate of the first 10 months, they will reach 68,350 this year.
That’s up almost 11 percent from last year and 7.2 percent from 2005. That’s the year bankruptcy laws changed to try to make it more difficult to file.
The Middle District filings include the Jacksonville Division. That division had 9,820 filings for the 10 months, up 4.7 percent from last year. However the annual rate of 11,784, while up 5.7 percent from the 2009 total, was down from 2005.
The Middle District covers 35 of the state’s 67 counties, including the major metropolitan areas of Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Fort Myers, Ocala and Daytona.
The Jacksonville division consists of 16 counties, including Duval.
In the Middle District, Chapter 7 liquidations rose 11 percent year-over-year and Chapter 11 reorganization filings were up 19 percent. Chapter 13 wage-earner plans were up 5 percent.
Bankruptcy attorneys say their clients face problems that include unemployment, foreclosures and real-estate investment losses as the economy emerges, but hasn’t strongly recovered, from the recession.
The national recession began in December 2007 and was declared over as of June 2009. University of Central Florida economist Sean Snaith said the recovery began later in Florida, during the first quarter of 2010.
356-2466
Bankruptcy filings
Jacksonville Division
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Middle District of Florida
| Year | January-October | Annual total |
| 2006 | 3,461 | 4,184 |
| 2007 | 4,974 | 6,015 |
| 2008 | 6,928 | 8,412 |
| 2009 | 9,381 | 11,144 |
| 2010 | 9,820 | 11,784 (pace) |
| 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | |
| Chapter 7 | 7,355 | 12,698 | 23,515 | 38,181 | 42,537 |
| Chapter 11 | 103 | 190 | 435 | 547 | 652 |
| Chapter 12 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 27 | 27 |
| Chapter 13 | 4,991 | 8,439 | 11,104 | 13,056 | 13,736 |
| Chapter 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Total | 12,452 | 21,332 | 35,056 | 51,812 | 56,958 |
Source: U.S. Bankruptcy Court