Entries categorized as ‘blogs’
This morning I noticed on Yahoo’s front page that “Worst recession since 1930s hits end.” Let’s just say I’m still skeptical. Unemployment still hovers at 9.9% and that just doesn’t feel like a party. The actual article to which the link refers contains the more subdued headline “Economy growing but recovery could be at risk.” I thought so.
Look, the GDP has grown 3.5% this quarter. That’s good news. According to a New York Times article, this growth rate is on par with average annual growth rate that the U.S. has enjoyed for the last 80 years. Nice. But before we get too excited, this increase in consumer spending (a major component of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product) is driven by the exorbitant expenditure on government programs. And as soon as such programs as Clash for Clunkers end (and they will eventually), economists predict that this recovery may not last.
Basically, the economy grew by 3.5%… but in the long term, it may or may not matter. Does a current quarterly increase in consumer spending mean that consumer spending has actually increased for good? It’s just too early to say.
Categories: bailout · bank · bankruptcy · blogs · bubble · consumer · current-events · data · debt · economy
September 4, 2009 · 1 Comment
From MacroScope comes this gem about the “recovery” we are supposed to be experiencing . The Blue Chip Survey published August 10 indicated that economists were in agreement about one thing: that the recession, the longest since the Great Depression, will be over in September. Can you feel the recovery yet? Maybe these opinions from the surveyed economists will help:
87% Expect a recovery by September
16% Expect a strong recovery
16% Expect a double-dip recovery
65% Expect a long, slow recovery
100% Were full of hot air (hey, they’re economists)
Nearly all agreed that the economy would continue to lose jobs for some time no matter what. The consensus was that the national rate of unemployment would peak at 10.2% by the first quarter of 2010. In short, prepare for more pain.
Categories: blogs · business filings · consumer · current-events · data · economy · individual · jobs
2 roommates + 2 incomes
In re Bostwick, 2009 WL 1788046 (Bky.D.Minn. June 23, 2009)
Sounds like sanity could be returning to the Bankruptcy system, but you be the judge. As reported in this piece by Attorney Craig Andresen for the Bankruptcy Law Network, a court in Minnesota has ruled that unrelated roommates living in the same house or appartment constitute a “2-person household’ while at the same time not taking the roommate’s income into account when it came to the debtor’s Means Test. In other words, a debtor living with a roommate in Minnesota can make more money than his neighbor in Wisconsin or Illinois and still file Chapter 7 (or finish Chapter 13 in 3 years instead of 5). It’s actually an interesting and perfectly logical way to look at things – take a look and see if you don’t agree. The alternative can be downright ridiculous; just ask any consumer bankruptcy lawyer frustrated by the system (hint: that’s everyone …). [read the full article]
Categories: BAPCPA · Blogroll · Census Bureau · aoc · article · bankruptcy · blogging · blogs · case update · ch 13 · ch 7 · consumer · current-events · income · individual · means test · median income
Bankruptcy's Back
From MSN Money By Liz Pulliam Weston
It looks as if last year’s reform law did not really stem the enormous flood of bankruptcies after all. Here are the states with the highest bankruptcy rates. advertisement By Liz Pulliam Weston The lull in bankruptcy filings may already be a thing of the past. Consumer bankruptcy cases plunged to a 20-year low in the first three months of 2006, reflecting the passage of a tough new bankruptcy law last year. But the pace of new filings is already on the rise. Courts now see an average of 2,000 new filings a day — four times the number that were filed in November 2005 after the bankruptcy law went into effect, according to Chris Lundquist, founder of Lundquist Consulting, which tracks bankruptcy trends. If filings continue to rise at anything like this rate — which is not a given, but certainly a possibility — we could see close to 1 million filings by the end of the year. That would still be significantly less than the record filing levels that drove passage of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. But it would be a pretty clear indication that the bankruptcy juggernaut was just stalled, not cured, by the new law. [read the full piece]
Categories: BAPCPA · Middle class · article · bailout · bankruptcy · blogging · blogs · bubble · business filings · ch 11 · ch 13 · ch 7 · consumer · credit cards · credit counseling · creditor · crisis · current affairs · current-events · data · debt · disposable · economy · elderly · empty-nest · filings · foreclosure · fraud · income · individual · investments · jobs · lists · means test · median income · mortgage · real property · research · short sale
October 19, 2008 · 1 Comment
By Susanne Robicsek, North Carolina Bankruptcy Attorney
Short sales are being pushed as a win-win situation since the bank gets something, and the homeowner avoids foreclosure. To me it looks like a lose-lose-lose situation. Short sales hurt the mortgage company who loses money. The homeowner loses their home. Families that live around the property lose value in their homes since short sales and foreclosure drive down the values of the homes around it. This hurts families who did everything right, but are still pulled into a situation where they are also underwater on their home. Short sales are not going to stop the spiral of foreclosures that have contributed to the mortgage crisis, and although they might make sense for a particular property owner they can create their own problems.
1 in 6 homeowners, or nearly 12 million homeowners, are upside down on their mortgages. Experts believe that this number will climb to over 15 million in a year, and this figure could be higher if house prices continue to fall. This was reported in a story on ABC News Nightline on October 17, 2008 on the mortgage crisis. The story was on mortgages that were upside down or underwater, meaning that the house was worth more than what is owed. [full article]
Ed. Note – thanks to Jay Fleischman for the heads up on this article
Categories: Blogroll · Middle class · article · blogging · blogs · bubble · consumer · crisis · current affairs · current-events · economy · flipping · foreclosure · individual · investments · mortgage · property · sale · subprime
