ALEXANDRIA, Va., and NEW YORK -

The American Bankruptcy Institute reported that total U.S. bankruptcy filings fell nearly 4 percent year-over-year in April.

According to data provided by Epiq Systems, bankruptcy filings totaled 67,670 in April, down 3.96 percent from the 70,457 filings reported in April of last year. The 64,323 total noncommercial filings recorded in April represented a 3.93 percent decrease from last April’s total of 66,957.

Total commercial filings for April came in at 3,303, representing a 5.14 percent drop from the 3,482 filings during the same month last year. Total commercial Chapter 11 filings showed the largest change, as the 556 filings in April represented an 18.24 percent drop from the 680 filings reported last April.

“Bankruptcy filings continue to show volatility month to month and year over year, reflecting household financial pressures,” ABI executive director Samuel Gerdano said.

Also noteworthy to buy-here, pay-here dealers, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Household Debt and Credit Report showed about 203,000 consumers had a bankruptcy notation added to their credit reports during the first quarter of this year. That figure is 1.7 percent lower than the same quarter last year and another record low for the New York Fed’s data series that goes back to 2003.

Turning back to the monthly data that ABI highlighted, officials mentioned the 67,670 total filings in April represented a 17.08-percent drop from the 81,610 filings recorded in March. Also, April’s 64,323 total noncommercial filings represented a 17.42 percent decrease from the 77,890 noncommercial filings posted in the previous month.

Total commercial filings also fell, with April’s 3,303 total commercial filings representing a 9.7-percent drop from the March total of 3,658. Of those commercial filings, Chapter 11 filings increased by 18.8 percent, from 468 filings in March to 556 filings in April.

The average nationwide per capita bankruptcy filing rate in April was 2.54 (total filings per 1,000 per population), a slight increase from the 2.51 filing rate of the first three months of the year. States with the highest per capita filing rate (total filings per 1,000 population) in April were:

1. Alabama (5.81)

2. Tennessee (5.65)

3. Georgia (4.73)

4. Mississippi (4.16)

5. Illinois (4.13)

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.