The North Carolina Bankruptcy Information Blog

As we’re all aware, this decade’s Great Recession has dealt, and continues to deal, a significant blow to the budgets of many American families, leaving millions in debt, underwater in their mortgages, and in some cases falling behind on their tax bills, adding to their economic unrest.

So, even though tax day 2012 is weeks away, and the holidays may already have your full attention, it’s worth noting that there are some timely tips you can take between now and Dec. 31 that will make a real difference when it comes time to deal with the IRS next spring. In part one of its two-part report, according to AOL’s DailyFinance, there are four moves that could benefit your bottom line, and keep the tax man at bay, on April 15.…

We’ve all seen them.

Envelopes full of checks and other offers filling our mailboxes these days touting 0% or 2.99% and other low-to-no interest balance transfers for your more costly credit cards. These seductive rates do come at a cost if you don’t know what to look out for.

So check out these five tips to avoid getting taken advantage of, when taking advantage of balance transfer offers, including:

#1 Inspect the Interest Rates
When playing the balance game, the best bets are obviously the lowest interest rates available.  These days if you have a pretty good credit score, you can normally find a 0% interest teaser rate that can greatly reduce the amount of interest you’re currently paying.…

…unions?

That’s right.

Forget federal stimulus or tax cuts for the wealthy or even a new, formal jobs plan. Because according to a new analysis of Census data from the Center for American Progress, a boost in incomes of the union members by just one-tenth, “would increase middle-class incomes by $1,479 per year — even for those who aren’t members.”

In fact, according to the study, the rise in income is higher than if the unemployment rate dropped by four percentage points—a scenario that would increase middle class incomes by only $772 per household.  The Center for American Progress also found that the total share of income going to the middle class is below average in the states with the lowest unionization rates.…

As Hurricane Irene slammed into the East Coast, leaving in its wake wind-torn cities and towns, flooded roadways, and hundreds of thousands without power, the late-summer storm also took a lesser-reported economic toll on many geographic areas already devastated by the lingering financial crisis.

In fact, more than 400,000 homes as well as businesses lost power Saturday as Hurricane Irene hit the Carolinas with these significant losses most heavily concentrated in Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, where Progress Energy reported well over 250,000 customers without power. In the process of shutting off the lights, the storm generated winds in excess of 80 mph, leaving much of North Carolina’s coast unable to open restaurants, extend hotel hospitalities, and finish out the all-important fishing season.…

With the first major storm of the 2011 hurricane season now in the record books, it’s also worth remembering that a very rare east coast 5.8 magnitude earthquake, immediately preceded it. This unprecedented pairs of natural disasters over the past several days have forced many people up and down the East Coast thinking about earthquake and hurricane coverage.

In fact, many insurance agents from South Carolina to South Boston, have been getting calls for the past several days from clients who don’t have much damage this time around but want to find out whether they’re covered for any future quakes or storms.…

In the midst of an economic meltdown, it can be tough to track your finances and start saving for a rainy day. But in the years since the recent Great Recession ended, many people are indeed trying to get their budgets back on a positive track, staging a financial comeback after years of dire economic setbacks.

In fact, according to our friends at WalletPop, even if you “messed up your finances in your 20s, then made matters worse in your 30s,” and are now “ready to act your age, get serious about the business of fixing your credit and start writing your financial comeback story,” it’s possible to “bounce back and take control of your financial future.”

“How,” you may ask?…

This week, Citigroup will launch a brand, spanking new credit card that purportedly carries with a trifecta of post-recessionary perks: no late fees, no penalty rates and a single interest rate for purchases, balance transfers and cash advances.

As reported by The Associated Press, Citi’s revamped “Simplicity card” sells itself as exactly that: it will be marketed to those who are “juggling busy schedules” and “want a credit card with simple terms.” In fact, Jud Linville, CEO of Citi Cards told the AP, “It lets them not have to worry that they’re going to be late on a payment. It provides some flexibility.”

But amid Citi’s claims that their new card is somehow different than the plastic that has placed so many an American budget in financial jeopardy over the past several years, there are many reasons to think twice before sending in an application for their Simplicity.…

With the rebound of the credit card industry in full swing for 2011, more and more credit cards are being made available to consumers—often via aggressive tactics—than in quite some time. And amid these plentiful offers for plastic there come enticing rewards of all types, with a litany of merits for the cautious consumer and just as many drawbacks for average Americans attempting to get out (and stay out) of debt.

Along with this trend comes a study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, revealing that holders of cashback reward cards, in particular, are more willing to assume and carry higher debt loads.…

As we’re all aware, this decade’s Great Recession has dealt, and continues to deal, a significant blow to the budgets of many American families, leaving millions in debt, underwater in their mortgages, and looking for any means necessary to get back on a financially-healthy course.

Now, tax time is yielding another short-term problems for some cash-strapped citizens.

With tax deadlines just a few weeks away, tens of millions of taxpayers will owe the government. If you’re one of those taxpayers who owes in 2011 for the income of 2010, and find you cant pay, here are five tips to file away for your reference:

1.…

If you’re currently in bankruptcy or considering the benefits a bankruptcy can provide, you might be wondering about budget-conscious ways to truly get-away this summer, without, that is, wearing a complete hole in your wallet. But with gas prices on the rise and high unemployment holding steady, the prospects of seasonal vacation may not seem possible.

Nevetheless, while expenditures on luxuries are not recommended for the bankruptcy-bound, there are some financially-friendly ways to take a trip without “breaking the bank,” including the best places to go, the best ways to get there, and the top ways to make the most of limited budgets.…

While many are led to believe that filing for bankruptcy can kill your credit score, it turns out missing a single mortgage payment—a common symptom of recent economic malaise—may be just as deadly to your credit’s near future.

According to a recent article from The New York Times, “Missed mortgage payments, serious loan delinquencies, loan modifications, short sales, foreclosures and bankruptcies all drag down credit scores. Because a mortgage is such a big slice of anyone’s credit profile, it carries more weight than other loans. Both FICO and VantageScore have studied and quantified those impacts. They reached similar conclusions: for people with near-perfect records, a single mortgage payment that’s 30 days late reduces a credit score enough to hurt.…

Pick up any newspaper or turn on any news channel and you’ll see economists and financial experts pointing to signs of a slow and steady economic recovery, including facts and  figures showing spikes in consumer savings, spending and home sales. Unfortunately, you can also hear about average Americans, joining those who are down on their luck, who are simply choosing to walk away from their monthly mortgage payments.

According to an article from Dina ElBoghdady for The Washington Post with Bloomberg, “a growing body of research shows that these so-called “strategic defaulters” defy the tell-tale characteristics of most people whose loans go bad.…

For many Americans, smart phones are an indispensable part of daily life. These brainy devices can act as mobile sources of personal e-mail, banking and even location-based services. But these pocket-sized personal assistants are far from impenetrable when it comes to identity thieves, and with these tantalizing technologies come hidden hacks that can leave you (and your money) vulnerable.

“It is very difficult to have any protection on your phone,” Dave Aitel, whose company creates penetration-testing products (i.e. hacking tools) told Kiplinger.com. According to the financial publication, Aitel’s company, Immunity, “developed a tool that can easily hack into Google Android phones, Aitel says.…

After political unrest in the Middle East fueled global insecurity about oil availability, Americans shuttered (and sputtered) as gas prices rose above $3.70 per gallon. Now, experts are saying that we’re in for another “crude awakening” as the price of oil is poised to push $100 a barrel after a global economic rebound sent it surging 34 percent in the past year.  This surge could send fuel prices soaring to $4 a gallon by summer in some parts of the country.

These increases will mean airfare, shipping, and food costs (not to mention commuting) will all become more expensive endeavors in the coming months.…

In April, the world celebrated the 41^st anniversary of Earth Day with global conservation efforts of all sorts culminating in A Billion Acts of Green®. But in these tough economic times, one of the toughest things to conserve just happens to be green: money. Fortunately, there are a slew of ways to save some cash while you’re also saving the environment.

We know what you’re thinking. Yes, while you can ultimately save on energy costs with many green goods, it often comes at a major upfront cost. Compact fluorescent light bulbs, a more efficient dishwasher, a professional home energy audit, an entire home energy monitor or hybrid vehicle can mean shelling out some major green in order to ultimately save some.…

With the blooming beautifully manicured landscapes, fresh-cut lawns and new signs of curb appeal, Spring used to be prime time for home buying. But with all of the hoops that potential homebuyers now have to jump through just to begin the process, tis the season of one in three Americans walking away from the actual home buying experience without an actual mortgage.

According to the financial experts at WalletPop, “Understanding the mortgage process and meeting lenders’ more stringent qualification requirements have become big obstacles for applicants, according to a survey [MortgageMatch.com] conducted. Most recent home buyers – 70% – described the mortgaging process as more difficult than they expected.…

Avoiding Spring Break Scams

Despite some last-minute winter weather, it seems that spring has finally sprung. And if you’re a hard-working student considering a spring break respite or an average American worker considering your first vacation since the beginnings of the Great Recession, it’s important to refresh your memory on the perils of heading for paradise, including ever-present travel scams.  So if you’re gearing up for that quick getaway, it’s vital to remember that these travel con artists cost unwary consumers $12 billion (with a “b”) each year.

So how do they do it?

According to the Better Business Bureau, the lure of deep discounts and disreputable booking companies are largely to blame.…

In the wake of the lingering real estate reckoning, skyrocketing foreclosure rates, and high unemployment and underemployment, folks all across the U.S. had a lot to complain about in 2010. But last year’s well publicized economic troubles were matched by less-reported consumer outrage at a range of financial and privacy concerns sweeping the nation.

In an attempt to get at what’s really getting under the skin of average Americans, the Federal Trade Commission recently released a report of the top consumer complaints it received in 2010.

So, without further adieu, the countdown of top ten consumer complaints in 2010 includes:

#10 – Credit cards: This old standby on the consumer pet peeve list made the top ten despite new protections imposed by the 2009 Credit CARD Act, with well over 30,00 complaints filed about problems with plastic.…

After suffering through years of an economic downturn driven by a mortgage crisis, rising consumer debts, and mounting medical expenses, of late many average Americans are increasingly hungry for the country to rebound financially. Unfortunately, at the same time, a confluence of events is prompting a resurgence of literal hunger in the U.S. as well as many other corners of the world-at-large.

According to a recent report from The World Bank, global food prices are on the rise.  Between October 2010 and January 2011, the Bank’s food price index rose by 15 percent, as global prices of wheat, maize, sugar and edible oils increased sharply.…

The U.S. has always been a nation of givers. Despite the recession and high unemployment, approximately 80% of Americans continued to give to religious and/or secular charities.

That trend has continued in earnest following the recent earthquake catastrophe in Japan.

According to a Chronicle of Philanthropy report, as of March 14, 2011, $24 million in donations has already rolled in to charitable organizations like The American Red Cross, Salvation Army, Save the Children, and more.  But while American hearts appear in the right place during this trying time for the Japanese, according to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), so are the con artists and scammers, all working hard to part you with your donation during this and any other global natural disaster.…