Los Angeles Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Filings Up by 12% in 2022, Perhaps a Leading Indication of the Housing Slowdown

8/7/22: Chapter 13 bankruptcy filings are up by 12% this year, according to the website for the United States Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles.

This could indicate that more LA residents are seeking the Bankruptcy Court's assistance to remain in their homes despite falling behind on their mortgage payments. Chapter 13's are generally filed by homeowners behind on their mortgages.

One would expect more Chapter 13 filings if the housing bubble were to burst. Homeowners who can find buyers or refinance their homes on better terms, do not need to resort to Chapter 13 to stay in their homes.

Still the number of overall Chapter 13 filings this year is not large. There are just 608 Chapter 13 filings in the first six months of 2022, about 100 per month. This is not a large number of Chapter 13 filings, in a County of 10 million residents.

Chapter 7 filings, however, which are usually filed by people without significant assets, are down by over one third so far in 202. Chapter 7 filings are down by 37.4% in 2022, to be precise. If more working people were finding themselves unable to pay their bills, one might expect Chapter 7 bankruptcies to rise.

All bankruptcy filings are down by 32.7% according to the US Bankruptcy Court website for the Central District of California. The charts compare filings so far in 2022 to the same time period in 2021. The charts may be seen at https://www.cacb.uscourts.gov/statistics/2022-filings-los-angeles