Foreclosure rates: how does Texas compare to other states?
The issue of home foreclosure and the role that bankruptcy can play in keeping foreclosure at bay is one of the recurring themes in this blog. Most recently, in our September 20 post, we wrote about how the late-payment rate for mortgage payments has been going down recently as more consumers make those payments a […]
Football coach gets clear of many debts through bankruptcy
The NFL football season kicked off last night and the second weekend of college ball is coming right up. In Texas especially, football is a game that has rightly been called America’s passion. From the famous Friday Night Lights to college and pro stadiums, the passion is palpable. It’s easy to forget, however, amid all […]
Mortgage debt: consumers trying hard to keep up
For several years — before, during and after the Great Recession — huge waves of home foreclosures rolled across the country like a storm at sea. Some areas of the country were hit harder than others. As we discussed most recently in our June 27 post, the San Antonio / New Braunfels area was certainly […]
Foreclosure in San Antonio: an update on the data
In many parts of the country, the real estate market is finally showing signs of improvement. It’s been a long wait, as the double whammy of the real estate crisis and the Great Recession caused severe problems with mortgage debt for many homeowners. Waves of foreclosures swept the country. And to make matters worse, real […]
Bounced checks add insult to injury of wrongful foreclosure
It’s a classic case of adding insult to injury. Big banks that engaged in wrongful foreclosure practices have finally gotten around to sending checks to compensate homeowners for at least some of the harm they suffered. But the checks bounced! In the San Antonio area and nationwide, foreclosure has affected an almost unimaginable number of […]
Foreclosure in Texas: how long does the process take?
It’s been a few months since we wrote about foreclosure. We last covered it in a discussion of the benefits of the automatic stay in bankruptcy. The points we made in our December 5 post about the benefits of bankruptcy as a form of genuine debt relief remain valid. Today, we will explain how foreclosure […]
Foreclosure defense: the benefits of the automatic stay
Few people or organizations want to seem Scrooge-like at Christmas. The enduring image of Charles Dickens’s fictional character is a cautionary tale of pushing people too hard at the holidays. It is perhaps no surprise, then, that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the giant, quasi-public mortgage lenders, have announced a moratorium on evictions from December […]
Foreclosure in San Antonio: an update on trends
In the long, sluggish slump that has followed the real estate crisis, many people turned to bankruptcy to help save their homes. In particular, the automatic stay on creditors’ collection efforts that comes with a bankruptcy filing can help forestall a home foreclosure action by a mortgage lender. The San Antonio area has been greatly […]
Preventing Foreclosure: How Banks Failed on Loan Modification
Big banks bear a lot of responsibility for the foreclosure crisis of recent years. In fact, they’ve admitted it. Five of the nation’s largest banks entered into a settlement with the federal governments and 49 states earlier this year. The banks agreed to pay $25 billion as compensation for foreclosures that often did not meet […]
Families of Elite Olympians Often Have Ordinary Financial Problems
To the television viewer, Olympic athletes seem to be on top of the world. They are young, strong and highly skilled in their sports, with bright futures beckoning. But most athletes come from ordinary families with ordinary financial struggles. For example, the mother of a gold medal-winning gymnast filed for bankruptcy to help keep her […]
