Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Filings (YoY % Change)
10% — down from 19.5% a year ago; growth slowing as Chapter 7 surges instead
What is the current Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Filings (YoY % Change)?
Chapter 13 bankruptcy filings — the repayment plan type — rose 10.0% year-over-year in the latest reading. Chapter 13 allows homeowners to catch up on mortgage arrears over 3-5 years while keeping their home. Rising filings signal that more households need court protection to restructure debts, even though they have some income to make payments. Source: American Bankruptcy Institute / Epiq.
Chapter 13 filings rose 10% in fiscal 2024 — the third straight year of increases, but a sharp deceleration from 19.5% the prior year.
Chapter 13 is the repayment plan bankruptcy. The filer keeps assets — the car, sometimes the house — and pays creditors back over three to five years under court supervision. It's the option people choose when they believe they have a path forward and want to protect what they have.
U.S. Courts data show Chapter 13 filings grew 10.0% year-over-year in fiscal 2024. That's the third consecutive annual increase, but a meaningful slowdown from 19.5% in FY2023 and 26.6% in FY2022 — each of those reflecting normalization from the artificially suppressed 2020-2021 period when filings fell roughly 40% under moratoria and stimulus.
The deceleration reflects a composition shift, not a recovery. Chapter 7 Filings rose 20.1% in the same period. More households are choosing the liquidation option over the repayment option — meaning the assets they might have tried to protect are gone, or the income they might have committed to a payment plan isn't there anymore.
Chapter 13 sits downstream of nearly every other distress series we track. It tends to follow Credit Card Delinquency and Foreclosure Starts by roughly a year — the lag between a family falling behind and a family hiring a lawyer. The filings rising now reflect distress that built through 2024.
Explore Further
Is this happening to you?
Have you considered a repayment plan to catch up on what you owe?
How has Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Filings (YoY % Change) changed over time?
Most affected counties
Counties with the highest legal distress scores in the County Distress Index.
Explore all 3,144 counties →| Period | Value | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2024 | 10% | −9.5 pts |
| Q3 2023 | 19.5% | −7.1 pts |
| Q3 2022 | 26.6% | +66.0 pts |
| Q3 2021 | -39.4% | −6.5 pts |
| Q3 2020 | -32.9% | −33.3 pts |
| Q3 2019 | 0.4% | — |
Frequently Asked Questions
How fast are Chapter 13 filings growing?
Chapter 13 bankruptcy filings increased 10.0% year-over-year in the latest data. While growing slower than Chapter 7, the increase signals rising need for court-supervised debt restructuring.
What is Chapter 13 bankruptcy?
Chapter 13 is a repayment plan bankruptcy where debtors propose a 3-5 year payment plan to catch up on debts while keeping assets like their home. It is commonly used to stop foreclosure.
Where does this data come from?
Published by the American Bankruptcy Institute based on Epiq court filing data, tracked monthly.
Quick poll
Is this affecting you or your household?
Discussion
Get the numbers when they move.
New data drops, indicator updates, and ADI score changes — delivered when it matters. No spam.
or Create an Account for full access
Loading comments…