ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The American Bankruptcy Institute
indicated total bankruptcy filings in the United States for July decreased 10
percent compared to the previous year, keeping the pace at the lowest rate the
industry has seen in five years.

According to data provided by Epiq Systems, July bankruptcy
filings totaled 87,684, down from the 97,287 filings registered last July.

Total commercial filings for July were 3,581, representing a
23-percent decrease from the 4,681 filings during the same period in 2012.

Commercial Chapter 11 filings totaled 536 in July, a 24-percent
decrease from the 702 filed in July 2012.

The 84,103 total noncommercial filings for July represented
a 9-percent drop from the July 2012 noncommercial filing total of 92,606.

"Year-over-year bankruptcy figures continue to drop as
consumers and businesses shore up their balance sheets amid sustained low
interest rates," ABI executive director Samuel Gerdano said.

"We remain on pace this year for perhaps the lowest total
new bankruptcies since before the financial crisis in 2008," Gerdano said.

The July bankruptcy filings did show slight increases from
June as total filings were up 5 percent from June's total of 83,603.

Noncommercial filings also increased 5 percent in July from
the June total of 80,135, and commercial filings increased 3 percent from the
June total of 3,468.

Commercial Chapter 11 filings registered the biggest jump as
the July filings increased 8 percent over the 497 filings in June.

The average nationwide per capita bankruptcy-filing rate for
the first seven calendar months of 2013 decreased slightly to 3.49 (total
filings per 1,000 per population) from the 3.51 rate for the first six months
of the year.

The average daily filing total in July was 2,829, a 10-percent
decrease from the 3,138 total daily filings last July.

States with the highest per capita filing rate (total
filings per 1,000 population) through the first seven months of 2013 were:

1. Tennessee (6.73)

2. Georgia (5.79)

3. Alabama (5.72)

4. Utah (5.39)

5. Illinois (5.33)

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.

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