Nationally, 58.3% of Chapter 13 cases that reach termination are dismissed and 41.7% are discharged (FJC Integrated Database, FY 2008-2024). Rates vary by more than 30 percentage points across the 94 districts. For district-to-district comparison, use the all-districts table, where every district is computed on that same basis.
National Chapter 13 Dismissal Rates
Chapter 13 requires completing a 3-to-5-year plan. Nationally, a significant percentage never reach discharge. FJC data shows dismissal rates ranging from under 30% to over 60% depending on district.
Why this matters: Debtors should understand the success rate in their district. Researchers need this data to identify systemic issues.
Factors Influencing Dismissal Rates
- Income stability - Job loss during a 3-5 year plan is the most common cause
- Plan feasibility - Aggressive plans with little margin fail more often
- Attorney quality - Experience and caseload correlate with outcomes. A high dismissal rate may indicate attorney negligence in case preparation.
- Local legal culture - Trustee practices, judge expectations vary by district
- Payment mechanisms - Wage orders have higher completion rates
After Dismissal
The automatic stay protection in bankruptcy lifts and creditors may resume collection. Refiling complications:
- 362(c)(3): One dismissal in prior year = stay expires in 30 days
- 362(c)(4): Two+ dismissals = no stay without court order
- 109(g): Willful failure = 180-day filing bar
When attorney conduct drove the dismissal: the file is the evidence
Dismissal-rate analysis is portfolio-level. It identifies firms whose practices correlate with above-average dismissal outcomes. For any individual former client trying to determine whether their specific dismissal traces to their attorney's conduct, the evidence is in the client file: time entries, intake records, communications, work product, schedules, plan analysis, fee billing reconciled against court-approved compensation under 11 U.S.C. Section 330.
Under ABA Model Rule 1.16(d), your former attorney must surrender the entire file on demand after termination of representation. Refusal is a stand-alone disciplinary violation. When refusal accompanies a high-dismissal-rate firm, the inference shifts from probabilistic (statistically more likely than average) to documentary (this firm withheld evidence the client was entitled to receive).
Detailed framework: file-return rights and demand-letter template | Tier 1 mill indicator | malpractice indicator | fees-over-court-order trigger.
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Related Resources
what happens after bankruptcy dismissal - What to do after dismissal
Section 109(g) filing bars - 180-day filing bar
serial filing rules and waiting periods - Stay limits for repeat filers
Dismissal Rates by District
Free Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 dismissal rate data for every major federal bankruptcy district. Numbers are resolved-case dismissal rates (excluding pending cases).
Read before citing: the rates on this site are computed on the Open Bankruptcy Project's research sample of court records, roughly 220,000 cases drawn from PACER and CourtListener and concentrated in Kansas and Missouri. A district here may rest on a few hundred cases; the counts are shown on each page. They are not the full-population FJC figures. For citation or district-to-district comparison, use the all-districts table (FJC Integrated Database, FY 2008-2024, every district on one basis).