As of the end of November 2020, just over 28,250 individuals and businesses in Illinois have filed for bankruptcy protection.
As usual, the vast majority of these bankruptcies were filed under Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, the two types of bankruptcies families most commonly use to resolve personal debt. Specifically, Illinois residents filed almost 20,300 Chapter 7 petitions and about 7,850 Chapter 13 petitions, leaving only a handful of other bankruptcies.
Judging by the number of bankruptcy filings, Illinois’ economy is in remarkably good shape. The number of bankruptcies filed this year is 36% lower than last year’s numbers.
Moreover, overall, the number of bankruptcies per person in this state dropped considerably from 2019 to 2020, enough to rank Illinois among the top 5 states in this statistic, assuming of course that fewer bankruptcies per person is a positive.
Not all news about bankruptcy in Illinois is rosy
However, despite showing improvement, Illinois still has a high number of people filing for bankruptcy each year, with close to 2.4 people per 1,000 residents seeking bankruptcy relief. This makes Illinois 11th among in all the states in terms of bankruptcy per capita.
Not surprisingly, most of Illinois’ 2020 bankruptcies have been filed in the Northern District, where Will County is located. Thus far, there have been about 16,000, Chapter 7 bankruptcies and about 6,700 Chapter 13 bankruptcies.
If there is a silver lining behind these statistics, it should be that Will County residents who are experiencing financial problems right now are certainly not alone.
Families and individuals who need help stopping creditor harassment and getting a fresh financial start should not hesitate to reach out to a bankruptcy professional in order to evaluate their options.