A Statistic

NEWS RELEASE
Bankruptcy Filings Near Million Mark for 12-Month Period Ending June 30, 2008
In the 12-month period ending June 30, 2008, there were 967,831 bankruptcy cases filed, according to statistics released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. That is a 28.9 percent increase compared to filings for the 12-month period ending June 30, 2007, when cases totaled 751,056. Historic data on bankruptcy filings is available on the Judiciary's website under Bankruptcy Statistics.

Regulators Report Deteriorating Performance
New foreclosure filings fell during the latest quarter, but delinquency, foreclosures-in-process and real estate owned filings rose, according to new government data. An even more troubling statistic -- a deterioration in re-defaults on modified loans -- was led by investor-owned loans and sub-prime mortgages.
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The woman in the lime green suit jacket leans back in the chair and pushes away from the small wood rectangular table. Her eyes turn pink from the swell of tears ready to wash over her sullen cheeks. Her husband nods to the lawyer and then to the man who asked so many questions. She bows her head and walks out of the courtroom.
The balding man in the old-fashioned suit wrestles with a new file and the paperwork in front of him. It was time for another person to sit before him and respond yes or no to his questions.
The answers would determine, as well as the copious amount of paperwork, whether they would be absolved of their sins. Those in the courtroom prayed they would be.
Whether it was from lack of a job, a burgeoning mortgage payment, medical bills, missing child support, a business gone under, divorce or overspending, all the people in the courtroom were there for one reason. Bankruptcy.
And, as the lawyers assured their clients “an opportunity to start over.”
Those in the courtroom that rainy Friday morning became a statistic. Foreclosures up, jobs down, stock market down, economy down, bankruptcies up and lives turned upside down.
The old man adjusts his tie and begins asking questions. He pauses and aks, “Did I swear you in?” “Yes,” replies the woman into a microphone, barely looking at the inquisitor.
He returns to his line of questions and asks the woman if she has any assets. Not personal assets, like a winning smile, great eyes or a sunny personality. She did not matter.
Assets a bank or a creditor could take to pay the unfortunate mound of bills that had developed into a swiftly spreading plague. At first it seemed treatable, but then the late fees, the rising interest rates and the lack of funds could not sustain any hope of recovery. It was time to pull the plug.
And with it comes 10 years of the Scarlet Letter, “B.”
Future purchases, future jobs, future anything, to be determined by strangers who calculate dollars, cents and a credit score.
Not that you hadn't tried keep up with the infectious swell. You did. You went through thousands and thousands of dollars of retirement savings to try and stay afloat. But it all comes down to what is coming in, not enough, and what is to be paid out, too much.
The emotional toil money and bankruptcy takes on people is not seen in the statistics on television or on the Internet. The sleepless nights, the crying jags, the humiliation and the worthlessness you experience goes on and on.
The phone calls from the creditors telling you, “just $48, can’t you afford $48 this month?” Or others who say, “you aren’t taking this seriously.”
No?
Then why are we sitting here in a courtroom filled with very young couples, single divorced men, old married couples, single divorced women, old men and lawyers?
Is this not serious?
It will be a decade before lives can be restored and what had been built for years recovered, if at all.
No, this decision was not made lightly. It was thought out, it was researched. Jobs were changed, moves were made and nothing improved. An extremely tough choice was made.
“Don’t worry, everyone is going through it. You are not the only one,” says a creditor, attempting to make the debtor feel better.
That is the problem. There is a systemic reason for “everyone” doing it. It’s greed.
It’s the banks, the people who run the banks and us, who are to blame. We all want, want, want and some are able to get. The rest pay the price of trying to survive in a culture fraught with keeping up with the newest designer, the newest phone, newest electronic gadget, newest anything.
It all trickles. Trickle up economics. The poor get poorer and the rich get richer.
But hopefully since many have joined this growing fraternity sporting the disgraced letter “B,” the masses will rise up, be noticed and things will change. They will learn from past mistakes, take the time to discover what decisions will reap, and not spend, literally, the rest of our lives in poverty.