Make it Stop!
Protection from $274 up front.
Call Now for your Free Consultation
Toll Free 1-800-414-3328
Atlanta Metro 404-235-3328
A report released by the Mortgage Bankers Association revealed that homeowners with good credit and so called “prime” loans were defaulting at double last year’s rate.
The report also shows that a record 12 percent of homeowners in the U.S. are behind on their mortgage.
Anyone who has fallen behinid on their house payment should consider Chapter 13 bankruptcy, which will protect your home from foreclosure and allow you to make up back payments over three to five years.
Job loss numbers from the Georgia Department of Labor
A Georgia Department of Labor report on job loses showed that Dalton was the biggest loser. While Atlanta may have shed more jobs by number, Dalton shed 9.7 percent of its workforce since April 2008.
Downturn in the housing industry has hit the manufacturing base in the area. An economist at Georgia State University has said that recent slow downs in the growing numbers of job loses is just a calm before the storm.
Rajeev Dhawan, director of the university’s Economic Forecast Center predicted that the Georgia economy will lose about 179,000 jobs this year and an additional 26,000 in 2010.
For many facing hard times already, the prospect of more jobs leaving the area may be hard to stomach.
When considering bankruptcy, you should remember that you must qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Georgia by undergoing a means test.
The means test is used to determine if you have enough disposible income to repay some of the unsecured debt that you owe. It is based on the median income for the state and is adjusted annually by information obtained by the U.S. Census Bureau.
If your income is below the median income level for determined for Georgia, you will automatically qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Below is a chart with the new median income numbers for those hoping to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Georgia.
|
Median Income For Georgia |
||
| Household Size |
Old Median |
New Median (3/15/2009) |
| 1 | $39,253 |
$40,760 |
| 2 | $52,055 |
$54,054 |
| 3 | $59,668 |
$61,959 |
| 4* | $68,908 |
$71,554 |
* Add $6,900 for each additional dependent.
If your income is above the median income level, that does not necessarily mean that you cannot file a Chapter 7 banktuptcy case. It just means that you will need to work with a Georgia bankruptcy lawyer to determine if you can find a way to qualify.
Dalton will lose another 280 jobs when Pilgrim’s Pride Corp closes its chicken processing plant in the next 60 days. The Pittsburg, Texas based poultry producer announced that it will consolidate the production at its plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Pilgrim’s Pride filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections in December, and the company is currently in the process of reorganizing.
Its hatchery in Cohutta, Georgia, will stay open but as part of the Chattanooga complex or other nearby operations.
About 120 independent contract growers who supply to the Dalton plant will be transitioned to the Chattanooga plant or other nearby plants within about 90 days.
Dalton-based Shaw Industries announced that it would close two yarn plants in Calhoun and Valdosta, eliminating 600 jobs in the two communities.
Company officials announced the closures recently citing “unprecedented difficulties” in the housing industry.
Once the layoffs are completed, Shaw, the world’s largest carpet manufacturer, will have shed almost 10 percent of its workforce since 2006 when it employed over 31,000 people.
The unemployment rate in Dalton reach 12 percent in January, according to a report released by the Georgia Labor Department.
The Dalton metro area, which includes Murray and Whitfield counties, has been hit hard due to the downturn in the housing market and construction industry.
According to the report, the two counties shed 5,800 jobs between January 2008 and January 2009.
An article on the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Web site says that commercial banks in Georgia saw their profits drop a shocking 91 percent in 2008.
Data released Thursday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp shows that the state’s 314 insured financial institutions earned $241 million last year. By comparison, the state had 332 banks that pulled in net income of $2.9 billion in 2007.
The data also showed that some 46.2 percent of Georgia banks were unprofitable in 2008, compared with 14.8 percent in 2007 and 10.2 percent in 2006.
Without a healthy banking industry, economic growth will be difficult to achieve. This data makes it look like the banking industry in the state will have a tough time recovering without aggressive recapitalization.
A story in Sunday’s Atlanta Journal Counsitution discussed the number of job losses faced in Dalton and how it will effect the future of the city.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, Dalton ranks second in the nation in its rate of job loss after unemployment rates jumped form 6.2 percent to 11.2 percent last year.
Most of that increase comes from job losses at Dalton’s carpet mills. Once the carpet capital, where business has fallen off 30 percent since 2005, civic leaders are looking for ways to diversify the area’s industrial base.
Dalton’s Mayor David Pennington and Brian Anderson, presdient of the Chamber of Commerce, told the paper that diversifying, cutting taxes and drawing more college-educated residents are the priorities for this economic downturn.
The article provides some interesting insight into the state of mind of many people in Dalton, some of whom may have to file bankruptcy to survive the current economic crisis.
The unemployment rate in Dalton is almost double what it was a year ago, according to numbers released by the Georgia Department of Labor. The area’s unemployment rate climbed to 11.2 percent in December.
The nationwide downturn in the housing market has affected Dalton’s economy, which includes numerous flooring companies.
The regional unemployment rate for Northern Georgia is 10.1 percent, according to the Department of Labor.
Economists expect the growing unemployment rates to translate into higher foreclosure rates and bankruptcy filings.
If you have lost your job and are having trouble making it on your unemployment benefits, you should consider speaking to a Dalton bankruptcy attorney about your options.
Chapter 7 bankruptcy can clear most of your unsecured debt and give you a fresh start free from the harassing phone calls of bill collectors. Let a bankruptcy lawyer in Dalton explain how you can protect your personal assets from creditors and get your financial house in order.
