Archive for July, 2009

As a follow up to my blog post about a record month for bankruptcy in Brantford, an interesting article appeared yesterday on brantford.com. The article, part of their series on Tough Times, discussed the record rate of increase in personal bankruptcies in Brantford. I liked the article because rather than emphasizing the bad news, the articles authour, Jennifer McCarthy, explained the options I discuss with everyone to help them deal with their debts.

I believe bankruptcy may be necessary, but it should not be considered until you have looked at your other options:

• Work through the problems on your own, perhaps by making a budget and cutting expenses.
• Get a debt consolidation loan to lower the interest you are paying, so you can pay off your debts faster.
• Talk to a credit counsellor at the Family Counselling Centre of Brant, Brantford’s only not for profit counselling agency
• Consider a consumer proposal;
• If none of those options are possible, bankruptcy may be the final option.

For an interesting discussion of the pros and cons of bankruptcy, Greg McMillan wrote and interesting article asking whether or not residents of Brantford are jumping the gun by filing for bankruptcy?

Each situation is different, so if you have questions about your situation, call my Brantford office at 519-770-4440, or e-mail me to set up a free initial consultation.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but June was a record month for the number of personal bankruptcy and consumer proposals filed by my firm in Brantford. Since we opened our Brantford bankruptcy office in 1999, we have never had a busier month than we just finished. In fact, our volume in June, 2009 was more than twice as high as it was in June, 2008. The bad news for Brantford residents is that June is not normally a busy month; we are usually busy in March, April and May, and then as the summer approaches we slow down. Not this year. Our Brantford help line is busier than ever, with no slow down in sight.

Why is this happening?

First, more people in Brantford are losing their jobs, or having their hours reduced at work, so they just can’t make ends meet.

Second, house prices continue to fall in Brantford, so it’s no longer possible to re-finance your house to pay off your debts, or sell your house at a profit to raise cash. An increasing number of Brantford residents are finding themselves “under water” (the value of their house is less than the amount owing on the mortgage), so they are letting the bank foreclose, and they are finding a place to rent, and then dealing with the resulting shortfall.

Finally, a large number of the people I meet are no longer optimistic. They believe that the recession won’t end tomorrow, so they are deciding to go bankrupt now to deal with their debts, in the hope that by 2010 the economy has improved, and they will have a fresh start.

I can’t predict when the recession will end, or when house prices in Brantford will start to increase, but I can tell you that debt problems don’t go away on their own, so if you are struggling with debt, now is the time to act. Call my Brantford bankruptcy office at 519-770-4440 or 310-PLAN (no area code required), or e-mail me today with your questions, and let’s get started making a plan for dealing with your debts.