With the unemployment rate up to 5.9% in the Atlanta Metro area and a loss of over 10,000 jobs between May and June, according to the Georgia Department of Labor, more workers are out looking for fewer jobs.
With U.S. unemployment rates at a five-year high, and businesses being squeezed by high energy prices and the credit crunch, employers clamped down on hiring in July. The government reported a national unemployment rate of 5.7% in July, and employers cut more jobs driving the number of jobs lost in this country to 463,000 so far in 2008.
Living on the wages paid by unemployment insurance for any period of time is difficult. If you have been unemployed for a few months, you may have depleted your savings. You may be borrowing from friends and family to make your house and car payments, or worse, you just haven’t been able to make them. Do you have questions about bankruptcy and how it could protect you from foreclosure and repossession?
Filing bankruptcy may allow you to keep your home, car and most of your personal possessions. An experienced Atlanta bankruptcy attorney can evaluate your case for free and explain how you can be free from the harassment of debt collectors.
The Law Office of Berry & Associates has nine locationsconveniently located to serve you. The firm’s qualified bankruptcy attorneys can explain the Georgia bankruptcy process and help you determine which type of bankruptcy is best for you.
If you live in Atlanta, Georgia and you are facing a home foreclosure there are only two ways that the home foreclosure proceedings can be stopped. The mortgage company can voluntarily stop the foreclosure or you can file for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy.
Unfortunately under current Georgia law the mortgage company can place your mortgage in default status after you have missed only 2 or 3 monthly payments. If your mortgage is put in default status the mortgage company can also accelerate your mortgage and require the entire mortgage balance be paid in full.
In Atlanta, Georgia to foreclose on your home a mortgage company does not have to go before a state court judge to get the right to take the title of your home. Georgia is a non-judicial foreclosure state which means the mortgage company only must advertise a notice of the pending foreclosure of your property for 4 consecutive weeks in the newspaper for your county. The notice will outline how you can redeem your home and the time and date of the impending sale of your home. Current Georgia law requires a 15 day notification of the foreclosure proceedings. New legislation under review in Georgia courts has proposed an extension of the foreclosure notice, but currently no decisions have been made and the laws remain unchanged.
If you have tried everything possible and creditors will not cooperate, bankruptcy may be your best option to stop a home foreclosure on your property. Bankruptcy is a difficult decision, but there are some benefits to Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. If you file for bankruptcy in Atlanta, Georgia, you may be able to: protect your property, avoid wage garnishments, stop harassing creditor calls, eliminate debt and get a fresh financial start.
If you are considering filing for bankruptcy an Atlanta, Georgia bankruptcy attorney can help answer your questions and help you determine if bankruptcy is the best financial decision for your family.
According to the National Bankruptcy Research Center (NBKRC), consumer bankruptcy filings have increased 47.7% nationwide in April 2008 compared to statistics from April 2007. What’s more, April 2008 filings totaled 92,291, which is a 7.1% increase of March 2008’s 86,195 case filings.
ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano said attributes the nationwide increase to “the growing financial stress faced by American families, saddled with household debt and mortgage woes.” He also said the ABI expects “consumer bankruptcies to top 1 million new cases this year.”
Georgia continues to rank 2nd in state filing reports for consumer bankruptcies, just behind Tennessee. The state reported just fewer than 13,000 bankruptcy cases in the first quarter of 2008. This is not new for the state. Historically, Georgia rarely falls out of the top 5 states for filing bankruptcy, overall, and is ranked 8th in home foreclosure rates.
Financial experts site state laws allowing creditors to more easily collect on their debts as a major contributing factor to higher bankruptcy rates. These same laws allow for lenders to pursue housing foreclosure quickly, as well. This, along with a housing market recession, has sent individuals seeking alternatives through bankruptcy.
If you are one of the many Georgia consumers looking for financial relief, a qualified Georgia Bankruptcy Attorney at Berry & Associates can help evaluate your case today.
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