as-vts5midw's blog

The number of Chattanoogans  defaulting on their mortgages or going broke fell below the year-ago level as the economy improved early in 2012.  Although these are good signs, foreclosure notices in the first quarter were still up from the fourth quarter of 2011, according to data released by online services, Realty Trac.

Tennessee led the nation in the rate of personal bankruptcy filings in the first quarter of this year, too.

A new filing by HealthSouth Corp., according to Jefferson County officials, threatens to cost the county more than $11 million in instant revenues and millions more in expenses, both of which the bankrupt county can’t afford.

A West Virginia Woman, Diana Mey, won the largest judgment ever against an abusive debt collection – more than $10 million.

From her small-town home base in Wheeling, Mey went after a debt collection empire that hounds people nationwide and won.  “I don’t know that I’ll ever collect a dime, but if I can get their operation shut down, that would make me very happy.”  She still hasn’t received any money.

Bankrupt Jefferson County in Alabama is laying off more government workers.  Lay-off letters have been sent to 75 employees of Jefferson County, the home of Birmingham. The county filed America's biggest municipal bankruptcy last year.  The county already employs 700 fewer people than it did a year ago.

Unfortunately for county employees, according to County Manager Tony Petelos,   eighty more lay-offs are planned at the end of May.

In April, Representative Hansen Clarke discussed his plan to ease student loan debt with students from a Detroit classroom. 

H.R. 4170 would forgive student loan debt for those who have paid 10 percent of their discretionary income toward their loans for 10 years and would cap interest on federal student loans at the current rate of 3.4 percent.  Also, individuals who go into teaching, public service or practice medicine in  under served areas would have their debt forgiven after only five years.

The nation’s bankruptcy courts are facing a substantial decrease in the number of judges available even as personal and corporate filings remain high, according to The Wall Street Journal. In order to combat the judicial shortage, lawmakers established a temporary judgeship program to provide bankruptcy courts with additional judges. However, the program will end soon unless Congress votes to extend its lifespan, at an estimated cost of $16 million.

Pinnacle, a regional airline serving northwest Alabama, has filed for bankruptcy protection in the face of increasingly high debt. The company has been forced to admit that its business model, in which it provided regional and commuter service to the newly-merged United and Continental airlines, plus US Airways and Delta, had become “unsustainable.” In its bankruptcy filing, Pinnacle listed $1.42 billion in debt, compared to $1.54 billion in assets.

The airline will end its agreements with United/Continental and US Airways, but retain its relationship with Delta.

Real estate services firm Grubb & Ellis Co. has filed for bankruptcy protection. Most of the company’s assets will be sold to BGC Partners Inc.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the company pointed to the decline in housing markets that began in 2007 as a major source of its financial troubles. The strain placed upon the company’s money supply was so heavy that it became difficult to continue normal operations. The company tried to find a buyer before declaring bankruptcy, but no such buyer was found, leading to the Chapter 11 filing.

Jefferson County’s bankruptcy case, the largest such municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, has attracted national attention. County authorities are hard-pressed to provide even basic services, such as affordable water and sewer service; according to BBC report, the county’s poorest can no longer afford to keep the water turned on. The New York Times reports that, in a decision rendered in January, federal bankruptcy judge Thomas B.

According to a Reuters report, the bond insurers involved in the record-setting Jefferson County bankruptcy case found themselves in dire straights as a result of the county’s shrinking payments on its $3.14 billion debt. Syncora Guarantee Inc. was forced to file a motion to temporarily increase the county’s payments. The company believed that “its very viability as a going concern may be threatened” by the situation, according to its lawyers.