When Jefferson County, Alabama, filed Chapter 9 bankruptcy in November 9, 2011, it was the largest municipal bankruptcy case in history. That is no longer the case since the city of Detroit, Michigan recently filed its own Chapter 9 bankruptcy case. Jefferson County had debts of approximately $4 billion while Detroit has debts of approximately $18 billion.
The purpose of Chapter 9 is to give cities and counties the ability to reorganize their debts. Jefferson County has submitted a plan to complete its bankruptcy case. It is expected that Detroit will have a more difficult task completing its bankruptcy case since its debt is much larger and more complex.
Jefferson County is home to the city of Birmingham which is the largest city in the state of Alabama.
If you would like to discuss Debtors Court or Bankruptcy options, please email me at greg@biddlefirm.com.