Tag: Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy poses a great challenge for credit professionals—a tangled web of risk and recovery that tests every creditor’s strategy and patience. For unsecured trade creditors, the most daunting part is understanding their position in the payment hierarchy and seeking ways to maximize recoveries despite the relatively little leverage an individual unsecured trade creditor has in a given Chapter 11 case. One way to achieve these objectives is to serve on an Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, or a creditors’ committee.

When most people think of a business filing bankruptcy, what they’re often picturing is a Chapter 7. This chapter of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code provides for liquidation, in other words, the sale or monetization of the debtor’s property and the distribution of any available net proceeds to creditors.

The Senate introduced an amendment to raise the debt limit for Subchapter V bankruptcy filings from $3 million to $7.5 million. Subchapter V of Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code offers small businesses an alternative to filing for a traditional bankruptcy that is more expedited and cost-efficient but shifts some of these burdens onto credit managers. 

In a rare bankruptcy-focused hearing in the House on July 15th, Members of Congress demonstrated a surprising level of interest in the topic, discussing an array of six or seven potential changes to bankruptcy code, but not quite achieving consensus yet. One proposal that, on the surface, received wide bipartisan support was restoration of the COVID-era Subchapter V $7.5 million debt eligibility ceiling. Looking more deeply, however, it is a little too early to call it a done deal.

Bankruptcy tends to stay out of the public’s focus–and by extension Congress’s–when the economy is doing well. That’s where we are now, with unemployment rates still sitting around 4% and inflation rates mostly under control. Because of that, Congress finally allowed the COVID-era small business chapter 11 bankruptcy eligibility threshold increases to expire. There has not been a major piece of legislation introduced since January that touches Chapter 11 or 13 bankruptcies.

As a credit manager, you are likely familiar with the sinking feeling you get after learning a customer has filed for bankruptcy. Whether they are aiming to reconstruct or liquidate their business entirely, customers filing for bankruptcies can send even the most experienced credit managers scrambling.  

Commercial Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings increased 20% year-over-year in March 2025. “The 20% rise in commercial Chapter 11 filings to 733, up from 611 last year, signals persistent economic pressure, mirrored by a 10% increase in total commercial filings to 2,727,” said Michael Hunter, Vice President of Epiq AACER.

Credit professionals across industries have a lot in common, from their deftness with numbers to their careful evaluations of risk factors. One shared frustration among credit managers is an unresponsive customer, whether it’s a customer who has suddenly gone radio silent or one you’ve spent weeks trying to get in touch with, only to be met with a voicemail.

For a B2B credit manager, the news that a customer has filed for bankruptcy can feel like a gut punch—especially the first time it happens. It’s a painful and unavoidable reminder of the unpredictability of business and the risks that come with extending credit.