Fairfield Residential, owner and developer of apartments in 40 markets across the US, filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and said it had agreed to a reorganisation plan with major creditors.

The collapse of the real estate finance markets has prevented the San Diego-based company from refinancing its debt and 'choked off' the market for potential purchasers of its properties, it said in filings at US bankruptcy court in Wilmington, Delaware, yesterday.

Fairfield listed assets of $958m and debt of $834.9m in the filings.

bloomberg.com