June 17, 2008

May 2008 Sees Foreclosures Surge 48%

The month of May has changed the way I think about politics. I used to be upset that nothing was being done to help the people living in Southwest Florida, now I am just ticked off. Foreclosure filings were up 48% over May of last year. This statistic proves several things: First nothing is being done on the Federal level to help the people of Southwest Florida keep their homes. Second, nothing is being done on the State level to help residents keep their homes. Third, where are the results that the mortgage companies promised when they argued not to change the bankruptcy laws. Where is Hope Now, President Bush's coalition of mortgage companies dedicated to helping people save their homes.

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May 7, 2008

How Many Bankruptcies Will Be Filed In 2008?

Will bankruptcy filings exceed 1 million this year? A look at the current data and the historical data make the case for bankruptcy filings to exceed 1 million. But wait a minute, I thought Congress changed the bankruptcy laws in October 2005 to curtail consumer filings and prevent abuses in the system. I though Congress had fixed the problem. As usual, Congress fixed a problem that didn't need fixing and created several other bigger problems. Our fearless leaders have created an economic nightmare in this country that needs to be fixed, and they are doing nothing to improve the problems. I'm willing to bet that if their homes were going into foreclosure something would be getting done to stem the wave of foreclosures in this country.

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April 28, 2008

TIB Financial Corp Showing Losses

As a consumer bankruptcy attorney in Southwest Florida, I hear about financial news as it happens. This is particularly true when it comes to creditors hitting hard times. Many of my clients keep me updated with creditor information like TIB Financial Corp. TIB bank and its affiliates finance cars and real estate. Their 2008 first quarter loss was $1.44 million dollars. This information alone is not so bad; however, when you combine it with the losses from the fourth quarter of 2007 of $6.49 million, then you start to see a problem. In the last 6 months, TIB Financial Corp. has lost almost $8 million.

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April 1, 2008

Senator Martinez Addresses The Florida Legislature About Foreclosure Problem

Yesterday, Florida Senator, Mel Martinez, addressed the Florida Legislature about several issues including the mortgage crisis. Senator Martinez stated in his newsletter that the problems Floridians face, like the environment and finances, are compounded by the national economy and the housing crisis. He made reference in the newsletter to initiative that are being implemented at the Federal Level to help the economy and the mortgage crisis. That's it. That's all it states in the newsletter. No kidding. What kind of message is that?

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March 24, 2008

New York Bankruptcy Judge Is Taking Financial Literacy To The Students

United States Bankruptcy Judge John C. Ninfo is taking financial literacy to the next level. As bankruptcy filings rise, Judge Ninfo is teaching students of all ages to live within their means. Although, the Judge has some very strong views about the people that he is seeing in his courtroom, his message is crystal clear to the students.

At the Dellutri Law Group, we encourage the members of our firm to go out into the public, especially schools and trade organizations, to speak with people about what we do and how we do it. In the bankruptcy/consumer world, people always have so many questions. This is also true when we go into classrooms and speak about personal injury cases. The questions are always entertaining and enlightening.

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March 20, 2008

CitiGroup Announces Plans to Lay Off 2000 Investment Banker

This post is submitted by Carmen Dellutri, Esq. of The Dellutri Law Group, P.A. Mr. Dellutri is a Board Certified Consumer Bankruptcy Attorney and is one of the founding members of the Bankruptcy Law Network, Mortgage Law Network, Debt Law Network and the Credit Law Network.

Citigroup just announced plans to fire approximately 2,000 investment bankers. This release comes just days after the Fed had to bail out Bear Stearns with billions of dollars in guarantees. What does this mean to you? me? and the future of this country?

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March 10, 2008

Consumer Bankruptcy Filings Rise in February

This post is written by Carmen Dellutri, Esq. of the Dellutri Law Group, P.A. Carmen Dellutri is a Board Certified Consumer Bankruptcy Attorney with offices in Port Charlotte, Fort Myers and Naples, Florida.

In the month of February2008, consumers across the nation filed over 76,000 bankruptcies. This is a staggering number, and the United States has not seen a number like this since before the BAPCPA. As you will recall, BAPCPA is the name of the new bankruptcy law which is now over 2 years old. The interesting part of this story is that the number of bankruptcy filings was up over 15% from January. That means over 10,000 more cases were filed in February. This may be a sign of things to come in the future.

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January 25, 2008

U.S. Debt Hits 9 Trillion Dollar Mark

Well, the U.S. Government has finally done it! We, the taxpayers of the United States, are in debt over $9,000,000,000,000.00. As shocking as it sounds, our spend-thrift ways and our ambitious politcians have put us into a debtor's prison.

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January 10, 2008

Another Fed Rate Cut: What Does It Mean for Southwest Florida?

Last week, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben S. Bernanke, sent a strong message that the central bank may lower interest rates in another attempt to hold off a recession. Mr. Bernacke added that the Fed will continue to monitor monetary policy and may well have to lower interest rates again.

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