The North Carolina Bankruptcy Information Blog

It would make sense that recent signs of recovering economy would be great news for jobless Americans. But as a report on public polling explains, even though the overall economic picture may be brightening, many job seekers are still very much in the midst of a stark economic haze.

According to a report from The Huffington Post’s Janell Ross, “Economic data suggests the long-stagnant economy may finally be gaining momentum, but Americans aren’t seeing a turnaround yet, according to a pair of newly released polls. The economy — and more specifically the nation’s persistent jobs crisis — remains the number one concern for most Americans, according to a CNN/ORC International poll released Friday.…

“This matter is serious and will cause problems at the job.”

Believe it or not this is exactly what collection representatives from California-based debt collection company, Rincon Debt Management, were asked to tell unassuming Americans each time they attempted to collect on back debts.

But based on a complaint filed by the Federal Trade Commission, often the debtor they were trying to pressure didn’t owe any money at all. In many cases either they had already paid back their debts or never had them to begin with. Unfortunately, some of these people were so afraid of the debt collector calls, they sent Rincon money anyway just to make these types of aggressive calls stop coming.…

If you’re like many beleaguered and over-budgeted Americans, you grew weary and wary of credit card debt during the throes of the Great Recession.

The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (Credit CARD Act) was supposed to address the fact that you’ve been “paying” with plastic both literally and metaphorically ways for years, shielding average Americans from unexpected and massive changes to their credit card terms—terms that had previously led directly to financial hardship for an overwhelming amount of our nation’s families.

Fast Forward to 2011 when new legislation is actually worsening many of the gains from the Credit CARD Act, by tightening federal regulations on debit card usage and causing banks to push their credit card offers to supplement lost debit income.…

A couple of months ago we reported that North Carolina one of ten states with the largest employment gaps. That meant that as of this summer, the state of North Carolina would have needed to generate nearly 500,00 additional jobs in order to keep up with growing population numbers and old and new workers flooding the Tar Heel market in future months and years.

With these disturbing jobless figures in mind, it should therefore come as double-dose of economic reality that the Tar Heel State now also ranks among another not-so-distinguished list: One of the 10 states where the most unemployed could lose benefits.…

Need signs that credit card companies are getting more aggressive with their credit card tactics and tricks? Well, there’s 346 million reasons from one particular credit card purveyor, Citigroup.

Based on a new report from The Wall Street Journal, in the third quarter alone, the bank mailed more than 346 million credit card offers to unwitting customers. Keep in mind, that’s more than the approximately 308 million people in the U.S, according to the Census Bureau.

Despite this high volume of consumer credit offers, according to the financial experts at Bloomberg, revolving credit usage, which includes credit cards, dropped the most in six months in July.…

About a year ago, we reported that North Carolina was at the “top of the heap,” when it came to being home to one of the ten best cities to find jobs. Despite the fact that millions of struggling Americans were still working hard to find employment, economists were heartened about prospects for growth in 2012 as industries increasingly reported better profits and adding new jobs. As a result, back then, cities like Durham, N.C., which had rebounded with more jobs post-recession based on gains in the tech industries, looked like beacons of hope for a new economic recovery.

But now we’re forced to fast-forward to 2011, and Friday’s news that the United States failed to add any jobs in August.…

No one needs to tell you times are tough and money is tight.

And all too often in this “new economy” (full of new financial realities), average Americans just like you—already suffering under the intense strain of rising mortgage costs, consistent credit card debt, mounting medical bills, employment woes, and other blights on your bank accounts—are also in the market for more ways to trim shrinking household budgets.

This was confirmed by a brand new survey from Harris Interactive, published this month, proving that two years after the recession officially ended there’s no real end in sight to all of the coupon cutting, penny pinching and wallet tightening.…

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.…

By now we know that “paying” with plastic is both a literal and metaphorical proposition, especially as a good number of bankruptcy bound individuals—even in an era of home-made foreclosure filings and mounting medical bills—find credit card debt to blame for their insolvency.

The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (Credit CARD Act), signed into law by President Obama on May 22, 2009, was meant to change much of that. Signaling a new era of consumer protection, the so-called CARD Act was intended to shield average Americans from unexpected and massive changes to their credit card terms—terms that had previously led directly to financial hardship for an overwhelming amount of our nation’s families.…

If you’re like many average Americans, you were dealt a hefty budgetary blow during the recent Recession. And, as a result, you may have responded by trying to spend less, save more and reduce debts where you could—including cuts in your consumer credit card use.

If so, you’re not alone.

According to a recent report from Credit.com, since the inception of the economic crisis, more and more men and women are resisting the urge to spend, climbing aboard the equivalent of the “Good Ship Spendthrift” in order to create a sea of savings on a new course to a better financial future.…

While millions of struggling Americans are considering all kinds of smart moves to make ends meet—taking on extra work, cutting corners in their household budgets, or even considering the benefits of bankruptcy—others may be considering literal moves from state to state as some prove to outweigh others in what they can offer on the job front.

Are you one of the many still looking for work? Well you’ve come to the right place. Or, at least, the place where you can find the best “places” to find work, as Gallup has published its latest Job Creation Index, providing a state-by-state comparison of which states predominately hired and fired in 2010.…

While millions of struggling Americans still working hard to find employment might disagree, economists are heartened about prospects for growth this year as industries increasingly report better profits and add new jobs.

In fact, job growth is said to be at its fastest pace in 10 months.  In recent surveys, American employers were found to have added 162,000 jobs in March 2010, the most in three years. Wages and salaries also are improving.  And, obviously higher salaries bode well for the recovery, since consumer spending accounts for as much as 70 percent of our nation’s economic activity.

So, are you still looking for work?…

Just two months ago, the Obama administration reworked its troubled $75 billion foreclosure prevention plan. The revamped Home Affordable Modification Program (or HAMP), put into play an attempt to help those hardest hit by the housing crisis, targeting homeowners who were unemployed or underwater in their mortgages (owing more on their loans than their homes are worth).

While only 170,000 homeowners to that point had completed loan modifications under the President’s plan—out of 1.1 million who began the government’s HAMP last year—the current effort was designed to help a total of three million to four million homeowners avoid foreclosure by the end of 2012.…

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, in the weeks following this tax season’s deadline, important financial news abounds for many cash-strapped citizens and the struggling states they live in.

Looking for good news amid the bad? Take a gander at the latest economic outlook and what it might mean for you.

Our Great Recession Continues (Or Not)
Last week, the Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research, a group responsible for determining official start and end dates for recessions based on analysis of financial indicators, announced that it cannot yet officially declare an end to the recession.…

It was easy to spend money a few years ago, somewhere around late 2005 and into 2006, when the economy was flying, anyone could get a loan and every house in the zip code was appreciating at eight percent a year.

Those who managed to avoid subprime loans and the desire to keep up with whatever the other side of the cul-de-sac was spending turned out to make it through the recession in decent shape, provided the unemployment crisis didn’t catch up with them.

Truthfully, the degree of financial difficulty at which someone finds themselves is no measure of intelligence or social wherewithal.…

Even the briefest of hospital stays can result in bills just big enough to tilt a person already precariously balancing their finances over the edge and into a long-term financial abyss. The problem with being able to afford medical care is enough to make many Americans wait until circumstances become dire before heading to the emergency room. Even the well-insured become cautious about co-pays and premium increases.

For college student Samantha Palmer, a one-day lapse in insurance coverage led to a medical debt hassle requiring legal assistance. In the midst of switching medical insurance providers, Palmer found herself suddenly in pain on the one day she was without insurance.…

In these tough economic times, many families are facing unprecedented financial challenges. This country’s recent Great Recession has dealt, and continues to deal, a significant blow to the budgets of Americans—leaving millions in debt, underwater in their mortgages, perpetually jobless and looking for any means necessary to get back on a financially-healthy track. As a result of this economy, many need loans and are unable to get them without the financial support of a co-signor.

In part one of the series, “The Responsibility of Co-signors in Default and Bankruptcy,” we’ll look at why it’s better to be cautious than to co-sign.…

This blog talks at length about savings strategies and offers a great deal of consumer spending advice. Our goal is to create an all-encompassing approach to helping readers, clients and potential clients be financially successful after bankruptcy.

Having a healthy savings account should be the goal of anyone rebuilding after bankruptcy. But after the great bank fallout of the last two years, it’s becoming hard for a lot Americans to trust some of our nation’s largest financial institutions. Not only are the rate of return on these accounts very low, it seems every day banks are surprising account holders with a sudden fee or reduction in service.…

If you’re reading this, odds are you’re considering bankruptcy. As such, you have a lot on your plate. Yet, what might make you feel a bit better about being bankruptcy bound is the knowledge that you’re not alone. Millions of average Americans just like you are facing desperate circumstances as they struggle to stay afloat in the wake of this decade’s Great Recession—facing foreclosure, job insecurity, rising costs and, of course, insolvency.  In the series, Our Great Recession 2.0, we’ll delve into some of the more unique stories of this decade’s unprecedented economic downturn, allowing you to see familiar faces and dire places people are going in order to handle the financial meltdown head-on.…

As many people facing significant financial hurdles already know: compulsive spending, like smoking, can often be a difficult habit to overcome. And like chain smoking, spending sprees can have devastating consequences, literally causing people just like you to “shop ‘til you drop”—sacrificing not only cash, but sometimes the ability to keep other possessions, relationships, and even, a healthy financial, emotional and physical future.

Addressing compulsive spending by taking a personal financial audit—admitting you have a problem, creating realistic expectations, using a budget and avoiding temptation—can end your string of endless debt-making and put you back on course for a better tomorrow.…