Published Sunday, September 25, 2011 @ 10:20 am

Foreclosures? Theeeey’re Baaaaack.

After several months of falling default rates, foreclosures were up again in August 2011, rising by about 7 percent compared to the month before. In fact, according to new numbers from the real estate firm RealtyTrac, some of the biggest increases were in the nation’s wealthier places: suburbs, industrial hubs, as well as small town service worker centers, already hard-hit by the great recession.…

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Published Monday, August 15, 2011 @ 9:20 am

Some are calling a recent drop in consumer bankruptcies during the first half of 2011 a sure sign that the tides may finally be turning for the U.S. economy, as these new figures from the American Bankruptcy Institute Americans fuel the idea that American may be more financially stable in 2011 than they were at the same time last year.…

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Published Monday, August 8, 2011 @ 6:11 pm

In this new “rough and tumble” economic era, 117,000 sounds like a lot.

$117,000 dollars. 117,000 shares of stock. 117,000 jobs?

Well, in all but one of those cases, you’d be right. In July, the American economy beat expectations by adding 117,000 new jobs to the current market and dropping the unemployment rate from 9.2 to 9.1%.…

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Published Tuesday, July 12, 2011 @ 1:11 pm

It’s been two years since experts signaled the end of our recent Great Recession. But based on the most recent job report, it seems like only yesterday. In fact, according to last week’s surprisingly dismal government labor figures for June, a true recovery from the economic downturn of the late 2000s could be a long way off indeed.…

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Published Tuesday, June 14, 2011 @ 1:28 pm

Two years after experts found the recession to have ended, real estate prices continue to fall in major cities all across the country according to a new report—in some cases to their lowest level since the housing bubble burst in 2006—signifying a true recovery has yet to materialize in the beleaguered housing market.…

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Published Wednesday, March 30, 2011 @ 7:12 am

It may seem strange, the whole prospect of turning a timely tax return into a bankruptcy, but in a nation currently dealing with a healthy debt load, the whole idea that half of Americans get some form or return, comes at a good time for those looking to pay down those debts, or, better yet, find a longer-term solution for their cash-strapped situation.…

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Published Tuesday, March 29, 2011 @ 11:09 am

In tough financial times, sometimes it’s hard to see the forest for the trees. But as another global conflict unfolds in the Middle East, and with the United States very much involved, it’s important to understand another war’s potential impact on the national economy, local layoffs and your individual financial future.…

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Published Tuesday, February 15, 2011 @ 10:40 pm

As countless bankruptcy clients in this country have made clear, seeking the debt dissolution solutions of a personal bankruptcy can help free up finances that help with home mortgage payments—even amid the real estate reckoning of the recent recession—and, as such, aid many households in avoiding the perils of foreclosure.

But now the proof is in the reporting.…

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Published Tuesday, February 8, 2011 @ 6:20 am

Amid the lingering national housing crisis, many renters may have felt that they had gotten away relatively unscathed in these tough economic times, avoiding underwater housing prices, high interest mortgage fluctuations, and the fear of foreclosure from lenders eager to toss unwary debtors from their humble (or not so humble) homes.…

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Published Sunday, January 30, 2011 @ 11:21 am

The nation’s residential real estate market continues to tumble, further complicating life for millions of Americans looking to either buy or sell a home in the near future.

Not only that, but home sales are so tightly wound into our economic system that every ebb and flow tends to create ripples on Wall Street.…

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Published Friday, January 14, 2011 @ 11:52 am

Following the worst financial downturn since the Depression of the 1930s, men and women of the middle-class have found themselves profoundly affected by an economic meltdown that’s quickly pushed many into poverty. Widening unemployment paired with shrinking government safety nets means one unexpected and unfortunate incident—a sudden layoff, debilitating injury or illness, a missed mortgage payment—can mean a person’s life is instantly transformed from “happy-go-lucky” to the brink of homelessness or worse.…

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Published Wednesday, January 12, 2011 @ 5:17 pm

Last year will be known for a number of things. Most of us will probably remember it as the year America attempted liftoff from the great recession but failed. That failure was not due to any one thing or person but more the result of a vastly complex economy that few people, even those put in place to do so, truly understand.…

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Published Monday, November 15, 2010 @ 10:13 am

While some experts are calling the latter portions of 2010 a new era of economic recovery, bankruptcy filings remain in true recession-era form.  In fact, according to the 2010 Fiscal Year statistics from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the number of bankruptcies filed between October 1, 2009 and September 30, 2010 increased from 1,402,816 to 1,596,355, marking an increase of 13.8%.…

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Published Tuesday, October 5, 2010 @ 12:06 pm

If you’re reading this, odds are you might be suffering through a pretty tough financial time. What may make you feel a bit better about your current economic situation is the firm knowledge that you’re not alone in this global economic meltdown. Specifically, millions of average Americans just like you are facing a shared financial burden as we all struggle to stay afloat in the wake of this country’s recent Great Recession—full of folks facing insurmountable health care costs, foreclosure, job insecurity and losses, and, in some cases, complete and total insolvency.…

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Published Thursday, August 12, 2010 @ 10:22 am

If you’re reading this, odds are you may be suffering through  a tough financial time. Yet, what might make you feel a bit better about your current ordeal is the knowledge that you’re not alone. Millions of average Americans just like you are facing a shared financial circumstance as they struggle to stay afloat in the wake of this decade’s Great Recession—facing foreclosure, job insecurity, and, in some cases, insolvency.…

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Published Monday, May 3, 2010 @ 9:21 am

Could the food industry be the latest bellwether of a better economy and returning consumer confidence? Some industry experts seem to think so.

According to William Neuman’s report in his recent New York Times article, “The Tables Turn,” “Restaurants all over the country are beginning to see signs of a potential recovery after a dismal 2009.…

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Published Friday, April 9, 2010 @ 7:27 am

While many economists say this decade’s Great Recession ended in the middle of 2009, millions of struggling Americans still working hard to find meaningful employment would definitely disagree…and now, the figures do too.

According to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment report, more than 40% of the nation’s 14.9 million unemployed workers have been out of a job for at least 27 weeks, with an average member of this beleaguered club having been unemployed for 29.7 weeks.…

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Published Thursday, April 1, 2010 @ 10:18 am

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 can  yield a long-term solution for some cash-strapped citizens.…

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Published Tuesday, March 30, 2010 @ 9:50 am

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.…

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Published Tuesday, February 9, 2010 @ 6:25 pm

Very few people set out to open a credit card account intent on not paying off the balance.  Those who do are assumed to be criminals, usually identity thieves or some other sort of con artist.

Credit card debt, and all other forms of long term financial drain that lead good people into the need to file bankruptcy, is very often caused by a setback of some kind, like illness or job loss.  And if recent unemployment predictions are on track, we can expect the bankruptcy rate to continue to climb.…

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Published Thursday, January 14, 2010 @ 4:37 pm

After the rapid, pre-arranged bankruptcies of several of our country’s largest companies, it seems the federal government is once again on the path toward bankruptcy reform.

This time it doesn’t involve border-line unconstitutional changes to consumer bankruptcy processes. No, this time the effort may include change that some believe will carry even more impact: a specialized bankruptcy court for banks and financial firms that carry the now ubiquitous label, “too big to fail.”

However, there are two approaches to the problem.…

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Published Thursday, January 7, 2010 @ 9:24 am

Well, this isn’t really good news: the number of bankruptcy filings by businesses in the U.S. is officially rising faster than the rate at which individuals file.

The less stability in the business world, the less stability in the job market. In turn, meaning that those on the brink of serious financial trouble, may soon go beyond the brink.…

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