Hoglund Law Blog

Consumer spending over the last three quarters of 2011 has shown a reversion to credit card use over debit card.  Silvio Tavares, senior vice president at First Data, which processes card transactions for 4.1 million merchants, notes that “Consumers have spent the last couple of years de-leveraging and reducing credit card use, but the past [...]

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Although most people would like to have zero debt compared to much debt, student loan debt may not be as bad as other kinds.  With low interest rates and flexible payment options, Carolyn Bigda from the Chicago Tribune contends that student loans tend to be more forgiving than other types of debt.  However, the primary [...]

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Earlier this week, the bipartisan 12-member panel, the so called “super committee,” failed to reach an agreement on the goal of $1.2 trillion in debt reduction.  The final vote originally was set for Wednesday before Thanksgiving, but because the panel did not have a blueprint of a proposed package, the super committee announced on Monday, [...]

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The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that consumer expenditures rose by a nominal .1% in October, which is down slightly from a .7% increase in consumer spending that we saw in September.  Meanwhile, U.S. incomes rose a bit, up .4% in October compared to a .1% increase in September.  However, despite these lack luster figures, there [...]

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During the second quarter of 2011, almost one third of all home sales were foreclosures. According to RealtyTrac Inc., foreclosure sales made up 31% of home sales during April through June 2011. A foreclosure sale occurs when a home is purchased after the owner receives a notice of default or when a home is repossessed. [...]

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Fewer American parents are willing to go into debt to finance their children’s education. According to a report prepared by Sallie Mae, 51% of parents “strongly agreed that they would stretch financially to send their children to college.” This represents a 13% decrease from the 64% of parents who felt the same last year. Approximately [...]

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When a person is in financial trouble, one way of dealing with creditors is negotiating a settlement where the debtor pays a lump sum to the creditor. Typically a debtor will offer a small percentage of what is owed to the creditor and the creditor will then accept the settlement and forgive the debtor for [...]

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The U.S. Postal Service has been struggling financially. Patrick R. Donahoe, the postmaster general, has stated that if Congress does not take action the agency will not be able to make a $5.5 billion payment this month and may be forced to shut down this winter. Recently, the Postal Service has proposed cuts to eliminate [...]

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According to TransUnion, a credit bureau, consumer credit card debt in the U.S. has decreased to $4,699 per borrower. This represents a 5% decrease since the second quarter of 2010, and is near a 10 year low. The decrease is considered positive news for the struggling economy. Additionally, the number of borrowers who were at [...]

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Consumer Bankruptcies Decrease in July According to the American Bankruptcy Institute, consumer bankruptcy filings in July were down 18% from July 2010. Nationally, 113,470 consumer bankruptcies were filed in July of this year. In July 2010, 137,698 consumer bankruptcies were filed. The decrease in July continues the downward trend in bankruptcy filings in 2011. The [...]

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