The North Carolina Bankruptcy Information Blog

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 believe the federal government has already launched yet another stimulus program. This one’s called the U.S. Census.

Every 10 years, the Census Bureau takes a demographic snapshot of the American population, determining how many people reside within our nation’s borders, who they are, and where they live. The results help determine our representation in government, as well as how federal funds are spent in our communities on things like roads, parks, housing, schools, and public safety.

Don’t think the census can make a direct economic impact? The numbers don’t seem to lie.

As Nightly Business Report’s Terri Cullen reported in her article The Census as Economic Stimiulus, “Nearly 1.4 million census takers are expected to earn upwards of $15 billion helping to help compile the 2010 census.…

Foreclosures have become a plague across the country, sickening the economies of small towns, the general contractor industry and even the commercial real estate industry. No facet of the real estate world has gone unaffected.

Whether your home was foreclosed upon or your mortgage lender granted you a short sale (negotiated permission to sell your home for less than what is owed), it was probably considered a tremendous relief to drop the proverbial financial anchor tied around your neck.

However, thousands of Americans once in the same boat are now finding that the tide is again rising around them, as banks and lenders are coming back months later for the remainder of what is owed on the home.…