Bankruptcy filings in 2009 continue to outpace the numbers from last year. A recent news release from the U.S. Courts website reported that bankruptcy filings for the 12-month period ending March 31, 2009, were up 33.3 % over bankruptcy filings for the 12-month period ending March 31, 2008.

For the 12-month period that ended on March 31st, there were 1,202,503 total filings nationwide and 11,791 in the Southern District of Texas. The busiest districts during that time period were, in descending order, the Central District of California (75,485), the Middle District of Florida (47,042), the Eastern District of Michigan (45,610), the Northern District of Illinois (45,436), and the Northern District of Georgia (43,414).

There were 330,477 filings nationwide and 3,018 in the Southern District of Texas during the first quarter of 2009. Once again, the Central District of California (21,748), the Eastern District of Michigan (13,337), the Middle District of Florida (13,332), the Northern District of Illinois (13,232), and the Northern District of Georgia (12,376) were the leaders.

The Northern District of Texas led the state in total bankruptcy filings for the 12-month (16,433) and 3-month (4,527) periods that ended on March 31st. The Western District of Texas ranked third (11,137) and second (3,094), respectively, during those time periods. The Southern District of Texas alternated with the Western District in second and third place. The Eastern District of Texas ranked fourth in both the 12-month (6,422) and 3-month (1,692) totals.

As of late morning on June 15, 2009, court records revealed that the total number of filings in Houston’s bankruptcy court had reached 4,393 since the beginning of the year. The number of filings in Houston during the first five and a half months of 2008 was 4,040. The 2009 total represents an 8.74 % increase over the same time period in 2008, which is higher than the 6.2 % increase as of April 20th (see previous article, Economic downturn: Bankruptcy filings are on the rise in Houston).

The contrast between the 33.3 % nationwide increase in the 12-month total and the 4.3 % decrease in the Southern District of Texas indicates that, to some degree, Houston is weathering the economic downturn better than many other parts of the country. The Southern District of Texas, in fact, was the only district in the state and one of only four nationwide that showed a decrease in the 12-month total. The increases in the Central District of California (92.9 %), the District of Delaware (86.0 %), and the District of Arizona (82.5 %) are startling by comparison.

In a few months, the reports for the second quarter of 2009 will be available. We can then compare the local numbers with the nationwide statistics again.