Washington,
D.C.
Office of Research and Planning
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
September 27, 2001
U.S.
TRUSTEE PROGRAM'S REPORT TRACKS
ASSET
DISTRIBUTIONS IN CHAPTER 7 CASES
CLOSED
FROM 1994 THROUGH 2000
WASHINGTON, D.C.-A
preliminary report on funds distributed in more than 200,000
Chapter 7 bankruptcy "asset cases" closed between Jan. 1,
1994, and Dec. 31, 2000, is now available on the web site
of the United States Trustee Program, according to Martha
Davis, Acting Director of the Executive Office for United
States Trustees. The web address of the report is www.usdoj.gov/ust/statistics/stats-new/statisticreports.htm.
A Chapter 7 asset
case is one in which the private trustee appointed to administer
the case has recovered estate assets, liquidated them, and
distributed the funds to creditors. Less than 5 percent of
all cases closed in Chapter 7 are asset cases.
"The U.S. Trustee
Program collects this data on Chapter 7 asset cases for our
internal use in monitoring bankruptcy case administration,"
Davis explained. "When we recently started compiling and analyzing
the data from different angles, we found the results illuminating."
"By making this
information publicly available, we hope to educate the public
and the bankruptcy community about how the bankruptcy system
operates and what it returns in terms of actual dollars,"
Davis continued. "We envision this preliminary report as the
first in a series of statistical reports designed to increase
transparency in, and public understanding of, the bankruptcy
system."
The U.S. Trustee
Program is a component of the Justice Department that oversees
the administration of bankruptcy cases and intervenes in court
to enforce the bankruptcy laws. There are 21 regions in the
Program, each headed by a U.S. Trustee appointed by the Attorney
General. In turn, the private trustees who administer Chapter
7 cases are appointed and supervised by the U.S. Trustee in
each region, but the private trustees are not government employees.
The U.S. Trustee
Program has formed a joint working group with private trustees
who administer Chapter 7 cases, to study the issues raised
in the report.
Key
Findings
- The number of Chapter 7 asset cases has increased each
year beginning with 1996.
- More than $10.5 billion was collected in the asset cases
closed from 1994 through 2000. Of that amount, $3 billion
was disbursed to secured creditors; $767 million to priority
creditors such as child support and tax claimants; $2.5
billion to unsecured creditors; and $3.4 billion as fees
and expenses for trustees and professionals.
- While more than 50 percent of all asset cases involved
less than $5,000 in receipts, each year there were 400 to
500 cases with receipts of more than $500,000. These large
cases accounted for more than 50 percent of the receipts
in all of the asset cases.
- About 8 percent of the asset cases were first filed under
another Bankruptcy Code chapter, such as Chapter 11 or Chapter
13, and were later converted to Chapter 7. These cases accounted
for a disproportionate share of total receipts in all of
the asset cases.
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