On August 11, the South Florida Business Journal quoted Mariaelena Gayo-Guitian on recent bankruptcy trends in Florida.
According to the article, bankruptcies are on the rise in South Florida as businesses struggle with increasing economic challenges. The number of companies filing for Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties increased by nearly 50% during the first half of this year.
Gayo-Guitian attributes the spike to a mix of rising operating costs, labor shortages, and lingering pandemic aftershocks. She commented that independently owned restaurants and franchisees are among the top industries affected by these hurdles. "The short staff, increase in food costs and increase in rents are contributing to the challenges for restaurants, that in general have a very thin profit margin," Gayo-Guitian said. "So anytime you have a triple whammy like that, it's really a large impact."
Gayo-Guitian added that corporate bankruptcies aren’t the only ones increasing. Personal bankruptcy filings in South Florida rose by nearly 23% in the first half of the year.
Chapter 7, the most common type of personal bankruptcy, saw 4,197 filings compared with 3,417 during the same period last year, reflecting how more consumers are struggling with a high interest rate environment and elevated prices brought on by inflation, which are deepening their debts.
Click here to access the article.