March bankruptcy filings rise sharply in New Hampshire for first time since pandemic

The American Rescue Plan didn’t come soon enough for some 88 New Hampshire individuals and four businesses that sought bankruptcy in March, the first sharp increase in filings since the pandemic began.

Since then, the number of bankruptcies had fallen throughout 2020, reaching its low point in January, with 54.

The number of filings in March were still 38% the number filed in March 2020, they were 56% higher than February 2021, when there were 59 filings.

Nevertheless, fillings have remined below 100 for 12 straight months. For 30 years before that they were in the triple digits.

Business filings are also down, but they are starting to creep up. There were six individual filings related to business-related debt, as well as four businesses that filed directly. In January there were three business-related filings and one filing directly.

They were:

• InsomniSolv Inc., Hampton Falls, filed March 1, Chapter 7. Assets: $2,549. Liabilities: $592,921.
• Entertainment Cinemas Lebanon LLC, Lebanon, filed March 12, Chapter 11. Assets: Less than $50,000. Liabilities: $500,001 to $1 million.
• Educational STEM Solutions LLC, Manchester, filed March 19, Chapter 7. Assets: $3,696. Liabilities: $510,213.

• Capital City Public Charter School, Concord, filed March 22, Chapter 7. Assets: $137,480. Liabilities: $229,274.