http://scbankruptcyblog.com Helping South Carolina Consumers When They Need it Most Fri, 03 Oct 2008 01:05:30 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The news seems bad, all over. After jobless claims rose to a seven-year high last week, and compounded by the Congressional vacillation over the bailout legislation, the stock market continued a downward trend. Factory orders fell by the largest amount in four years, and if that wasn't enough to get ... http://scbankruptcyblog.com/2008/10/02/is-bankruptcy-the-right-thing-for-your-family/ Tiberius has graciously permitted me to reprint this "open letter to Wall Street" announcing the details of the new proposal for bailing the financial giants out of the mess they created. The letter was originally posted at Democratic Underground: "[N]ow that we're in the role of lender, and you're in the ... http://scbankruptcyblog.com/2008/10/01/an-open-letter-to-wall-street-your-new-bailout-plan-has-arrived/ UPDATE: From The Huffington Post comes this article by Dean Baker: Why Bail? - arguing there is no good reason to bail out Wall Street and several good reasons not to lift a finger. In the immortal words of Little Richard: Good Golly, Miss Molly.  What the bejeebers is going on ... http://scbankruptcyblog.com/2008/09/29/bailout-deal-reached-no-help-for-foreclosure-victims/ Congressional leaders have announced they have "a plan" for the bailout. They claim there is something in it to protect homeowners. Something's better than nothing, right? I don't know. But you can read more for yourself here at CNN. Details should be forthcoming later this afternoon. http://scbankruptcyblog.com/2008/09/25/update-congress-has-a-bailout-plan/ Maybe, if we don't act now. News isn't encouraging this morning. After Senator Obama sold us out changed his mind and stated his belief that the mortgage reform angle was "probably something we shouldn't try to do in this piece of legislation" predictably the rest of the party followed suit and ... http://scbankruptcyblog.com/2008/09/25/is-bankruptcy-reform-on-its-way-out/ The National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys* has joined the growing chorus of voices demanding that Congress not give in to rampant bullying pressure to act hastily in passing bailout legislation (something I wrote about on this blog right here). As I did in that post, they've suggested some language ... http://scbankruptcyblog.com/2008/09/24/more-on-bailout-bankruptcy-reform/ CNN reports that the FBI has 26 open cases in which it is investigating mortgage fraud. Some of the targets identified read like a "who's who" of recent financial crisis news: Lehman Brothers, AIG, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae. Developing http://scbankruptcyblog.com/2008/09/24/breaking-fbi-investigating-mortgage-fraud/ Now it's on to the Senate, which will vote to enact this much needed legislation to ramp up consumer protection against predatory practices such as:Increasing credit account interest rates for cardholders based on information in their credit reports from other accountsDouble-cycle billingUnrestricted imposition of overlimit feesAnd more. To read the ... http://scbankruptcyblog.com/2008/09/23/credit-cardholders-bill-of-rights-hr-5244-passes-the-house/ Negotiations between Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Congressional leaders continue, and specifics of the proposed bailout plan are a bit thin on the ground, but recent reports are that Congressional negotiators will push for provisions that will allow bankruptcy courts to modify certain mortgage terms but that the White House ... http://scbankruptcyblog.com/2008/09/23/will-wall-street-bailout-give-us-mortgage-reform/ Asides, featured post, pages and more! Read about the latest components of our makeover in progress here. http://scbankruptcyblog.com/2008/09/22/new-stuff/