A quick look at case numbers assigned in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Wisconsin shows that bankruptcy case filings appear to be very similar to the number filed a year ago. Bankruptcy Case No. 22-10109 was filed on January 28, 2022. Bankruptcy Case No. 23-10109 was filed on January 27, 2023. The first two digits in a case number indicate the year that the case was filed. The last 4 digits indicate the number of cases filed in the district up to that point in time. Conventional wisdom that I often heard since the covid pandemic started was that bankruptcy filings would go up. However, that did not happen. A likely reason it didn't happen was that usual collection activities slowed down due to moratoriums such as on evictions and foreclosures, and there continues to be a moratorium on student loan payments.
- Carl Rolsma