I am predicting that the tide of bankruptcies will not be falling anytime soon based on the new numbers that came out in June 2010. Overall California’s unemployment rate decreased to 12.3% according to data that was released by the California unemployment development department. That’s a .1% decrease and a year ago the unemployment rate was 11.6%. Riverside county’s unemployment rate grew to 14.5% which is .5% up from a month before. I also recently read that 10% of homes in Riverside county are 90 days or more deliquent on their mortgage payments. The data spells trouble for people who have lost their jobs or who are currently working with lenders on modifications. Remember that bankruptcy is a right and is something that should be considered a tool to help move out of the current situation that we are in. Our economy is based on consumer spending and when consumers can’t open their wallets due to old obligations that are unlikely to be paid its better to take the pain quickly then to walk around on a broken leg for years. My personal feeling is that the banks are dragging people along and giving them false hope of a modification which are often meaningless so that they don’t have to dump all these excess properties on the market which will depress prices even more and affect the banks. Bankruptcy needs to be looked at as a business decision and people have to let the negative emotions and connotations that are associated with it fall by the wasteside. Getting your family back on track from a new starting point in my opinion is better for the economy than allowing modifications, late payments and collection companies to prosper in an environment that ultimately hurts everyone.
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