It appears the chances a potential customer coming to your buy-here, pay-here dealership having recently filed for bankruptcy are on the rise.

The American Bankruptcy Institute reported total U.S. filings increased 5 percent year-over-year in January, creating a trend not seen since the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl.

According to data provided by Epiq Systems, bankruptcy filings totaled 55,212 in January, up from the year-ago total of 52,560. With the total filings in both December and January increasing 5 percent over the previous year, total bankruptcies registered back-to-back monthly gains for the first time since 2010.

Officials indicated consumer filings also increased 5 percent in January to 52,421, up from the January 2016 consumer filing total of 49,733. Total commercial filings decreased slightly in January to 2,791, representing a 1-percent decrease from the 2,827 business filings recorded in January of last year. The 398 total commercial Chapter 11 filings in January represented a decrease of 19 percent from the year-ago total of 494.

“While bankruptcies plunged last year to their lowest levels since the implementation of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, filings are beginning to climb,” ABI executive director Samuel Gerdano said.

“As interest rates increase and the cost of borrowing rises, more debt-burdened consumers and businesses may seek the financial shelter of bankruptcy,” Gerdano continued.

ABI went on to mention total bankruptcy filings in January decreased 2 percent compared to the 56,414 total filings registered in December. Total noncommercial filings for January (52,421) also represented a 2-percent decrease from the December noncommercial filing total of 53,469.

The January commercial filing total of 2,791 marked a 5-percent decrease from the December commercial filing total of 2,945. January’s 398 commercial Chapter 11 filings, however, represented an 1- percent increase from the 337 filings recorded during the previous month.

The average nationwide per capita bankruptcy-filing rate in January was 2.13 (total filings per 1,000 per population), a decrease from December’s rate of 2.48. Average total filings per day in January were 2,629, a 5-percent decrease from the 2,766 total daily filings recorded in January of last year (due to 21 filing days during the month in 2017 versus 19 filing days in January of last year).

States with the highest per capita filing rates (total filings per 1,000 population) in January were:

1. Alabama (5.43)

2. Tennessee (5.08)

3. Georgia (4.30)

4. Arkansas (3.44)

5. Illinois (3.41)

ABI has partnered with Epiq Systems, a provider of managed technology for the global legal profession, in order to provide the most current bankruptcy filing data for analysts, researchers and members of the news media.