NH bankruptcy filings dip year over year in February

But drop from rough January is big

After an awful January, the number of New Hampshire bankruptcy filings fell modestly in February.

Some 120 individuals and businesses filed for protection in February, 39 fewer than January and 10 fewer than in February 2018.

In fact, it was the fewest bankruptcy filings in a February since 1989, excluding 2006, the year after the federal bankruptcy law changed to make it harder to file.

And it’s quite an improvement from February 2010, in the heart of the recession, when there were more than 500 filings.

New Hampshire bankruptcy filings have remained relatively stable the last three years. In 2018, there were 1,746 bankruptcies – an average of 145.5 a month and a 4.2 percent decline from 1,823, or 152 a month, filed in 2017.

So far this year, bankruptcies are up by about 10 percent, despite February’s improvement, because of a 28 percent rise in the number of filings in January

Filings by businesses also fell in February. There were only two, compared to 10 in January and three in December. One was filed as a household, leaving one business filing:

• Blodgett’s Sash and Door Inc., Lebanon, filed Feb. 7, Chapter 7. Assets: $61,614. Liabilities: $90,149.