Illinois Bankruptcy Lawyer Blog

According to this press release from the American Bankruptcy Institute, total consumer bankruptcy filings in the first 9 months of 2011 totaled 1,044,722: a 10% decrease from the 1,165,172 filings recorded during the same period a year ago. The statistic is based on data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center (NBKRC).

September consumer bankruptcies decreased 17% from September 2010. Data showed that consumer filings in September reached 108,517 - down from the 130,329 recorded in September 2010.

"The trend of declining filings has been consistent with consumers continuing to reign in their spending, household debt, and an overall pull back in consumer credit," said ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano. "Total consumer filings for 2011 will be less than 2010."

The September 2011 filings also represented a 4 percent decrease from the August 2011 consumer bankruptcy total of 113,432 filings, a slight change that could be the result of one less day in the month. The percentage of chapter 13 filings for September was 30 percent, a one percent increase from August.

I harbor no love for The New York Times, which I consider to be arrogant, liberal, and self-satisfied. But I have to give credit where credit is due. The Old Grey lady has managed to capture the dramatic story of America's post-war economic rise and fall in these chilling graphics.

 I would have thought the Wall Street Journal or The Economist might have done it instead, but there you go. 

And the numbers tell us we've gotten ourselves into a real mess. Although naturally the Baby Boomers - America's spoiled children - rode the fat part of the curve in the 50's and 60's,  leaving ensuing generations to foot the bill. How typical.

Welcome to the 21st century's Lost Generation.

According to the American Bankruptcy Institute, interpreting the data supplied by the National Bankruptcy Research Center, the number of consumer bankruptcies filed last month was 11% lower than it was last year. That fact is also consistent with the 2011 trend of fewer new filings each month than in the same month of 2010.

All of which sounds promising until we remember that last month 113,432 Americans still had to file bankruptcy to ward off severe financial turmoil, much of it due to their upside down mortgages and ever-sinking home values: trends that have not changed in 2011.

According to ABI Executive Director Sam Gerdano, consumer bankruptcies are declining due to the deleveraging of credit card accounts by consumers and the fact that new credit is so hard to get. 

Again I ask: how is that good news? No new credit? What if you need new appliances? A new vehicle? What if you are in a once-in-a-lifetime cash crunch? I guess it's alright as long as it's some else's pain. 

But hey, at least the August filings represented a 1% decrease from July. I know, I'm not that impressed either. Hey O'Bama, where's your messiah now? But seriously... the President had better do something or he'll end up as a one-term-wonder.

According to a NY Times article, bankruptcy filings are down. There are projected to be between 5 and 10% few filings this year. There are a number of factors cited: access to credit, amount of consumer debt, and economic factors (unemployment and foreclosures).

Could it be that public-sector employee unions in Illinois are out of control? Not according to the lobbyists, lawyers, and shop-bosses who would be thrown out of work if public-sector employees had to work for a living instead of sponging off the State. If you ask them everything is fine. But pieces like this one in the Chicago Sun Times tell a different story.

The way they tell it, the Illinois public-sector employee pension system holds $60 billion of assets but has $200 billion in legacy liabilities. 9% of the paycheck of each State worker or teacher is therefore supposed to go towards fixing the problem. But the problem is that instead of money being invested and the proceeds used to make payments to retirees, contributions are going straight to retirees.

In other words, the system is a Ponzi Scheme and by 2018 all of its assets will have been liquidated so there won't be anything left to pay employees - former, current, or future.

So why are the teachers and other public-sector employees in Wisconsin acting like victims? Aren't public-sector employee unions the ones that broke the system in the first place along with the corrupt politicians who allowed them to play kick-the-can with the future?

That does it. I'm moving to China. I heard they haven't grasped the concept of Unions yet.

This article in CNNMoney identifies 9 credit cards industry experts told CNNMoney were among the worst in America for nose-bleed interest rates and ridiculous fees. Here's the list:

1. Applied Bank Unsecured Visa Gold Card
2. First Premier Bank MasterCard
3. Baby Phat Prepaid Visa RushCard
4. Hooters MasterCard
5. The Shack Credit Card
6. Shell Select Member Card
7. Visa Black Card
8. JCPenney Rewards Credit Card
9. Household Bank Premium Platinum MasterCard

In re Earl W. Shields, 10-000943

800 Springer v. Shields, 10-00693

Issued: February 8, 2011

By Judge: John H. Squires

Click here to download and view the Opinion in .pdf format.