Maryland bankruptcies continue to climb during pandemic

More than 7,200 of Maryland’s businesses and consumers have filed for bankruptcy this year, according to the latest data from the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), which covers the months of January through July.

Of those businesses and consumers 73% (5,274) filed for Chapter 7 relief (liquidation) and 26% (1,906) filed for Chapter 13 relief (payment reorganization).

Maryland ranks 42nd among states with the greatest year-to-year increase in bankruptcy filings.

States with some of the highest coronavirus positivity rates also had some of the highest increases in year-to-year bankruptcy filings. They include: Texas (11th), Florida (12th) and California (27th).

Cumulatively, Texas, Florida, California and Illinois which are the states with the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., account for more than 90,000 of the nearly 341,000 bankruptcies that have been filed in the U.S. and its territories so far this year.

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