… the single most difficult decision we have ever been forced to make.”

Like most consumers, non-profits have also been hit by the recession and increased costs for goods and services.  The chief executive officer of Meals on Wheels, Marilyn Stidham, explained that increases in demands for services, higher gas and food prices, and fewer donations essentially outstripped available funding.  According to the DMN article, the demand for the agency’s services has more than tripled in the …

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… a new one.   The agreement was that once the debtors built the house it would be sold and the profits would be split equally with the creditor.  But when a buyer was found, the sale fell through, the debtors did not agree with the amount Ciappa (creditor) claimed he had incurred.

The debtors then mortgaged the property, but did not use the loan proceeds to pay Ciappa’s costs. Instead, they used the money to speculate on proper­ties at sheriff’s sales. Ciappa sued the debtors in …

… amongst other things, the credit card industry took decisive action to soften the blow to their profits. Below are some of the changes you may see on your credit card in 2010:

An annual fee.  Since the Credit Card Act was passed, about 43 percent of new credit card offers contained annual fees, which is significantly higher than the 25 percent we saw last year.  Even some current credit cardholders are seeing new annual fees introduced on their credit cards even if they are current.  …

… on Madoff’s final account statements. Claimants are insisting that they are entitled to the profits promised by Madoff despite the fact that those profits were only a figment of Madoff’s imagination.  The bankruptcy trustee ruled that it would not make sense to reimburse claimants profits that were essentially imaginary and did not exist.  Claimants in the bankruptcy case are challenging the ruling and bankruptcy judge Burton Lifland will make the final decision about how much …

… has pleaded guilty of attempting to defraud the IRS and the bankruptcy system when hiding profits earned from the purchase and sale of foreclosures.

On May 10, 2005, Minh-Vu Hoang filed for a voluntary petition under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland. On May 27, 2005, Minh-Vu Hoang filed several false schedules and a false Statement of Financial Affairs with the Bankruptcy Court, in support of her petition. In her …

… he saw the bankruptcy as an opportunity and beamed about its positive impact on the company’s profits.

“This word, bankruptcy, frightens people. But it’s been incredibly beneficial for us,” Tropicana Entertainment CEO Scott Butera says.

Even while still in bankruptcy, Tropicana is on track to generate about $700 million in cash per year and that’s with a very low debt obligation.  Many casino companies are trying to avoid bankruptcy at all costs because of the perceived …

… would aggressively pursue it for debt payments or that such payments would eat away at their profits. If MGM is able to successfully arrange a prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy, they could possibly move through bankruptcy in 30 to 90 days and sell the company with ease.  On the other hand, if the company is unable to sell the company, creditors may decide to keep the company and restructure it, by still filing a prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan.

… online, especially the elderly. Others say that the $1 fee is just another way to make up for lost profits caused by the Credit Card Act.

“When we did a very careful assessment of what the CARD Act meant in terms of changing our monthly billing statement, it now has to include much more detail relating to the terms and conditions of the card. That effectively meant that we couldn’t accomplish what we needed to accomplish on the number of pages that we had been mailing out in our monthly …

… These fees contribute $45 billion in revenue for credit card companies–$250 million of these profits come from charitable contributions.

The progressive non-profit MoveOn.org solicited members to sign a petition Friday requesting that credit card companies waive processing fees for charitable donations. “Credit card companies shouldn’t be getting rich off of Americans’ generosity. They should waive all fees on charitable contributions from today on,” the petition reads.

So …

… now we’re suppose to care that new and sensible legislation will cut credit card companies’ profits. Many Americans don’t fully understand how past credit card policy has been a major driving factor in the rising rates of bankruptcy in this country.  Before the Credit Card Act was put in place, credit card lenders could raise interest rates almost at will.

Increased interest rates could send increase an individual’s risk of  bankruptcy if they could not afford to pay. And …

… have taken this opportunity to negotiate deep discounts on their leases cutting into the profits of the landlords and making them more vulnerable to foreclosure. But it’s not just office buildings becoming more vulnerable to foreclosure, many retail spaces are facing a large amount of vacancies because several large box retailers such as Circuit City have filed bankruptcy and gone out of business in 2009.  Dependent on the revenue of their largest renters, many retail spaces have …

… many new protections; but credit card lenders want to undermine the law and increase their profits.

Seriously consider bankruptcy if you find that you cannot repay your debts.  Filing bankruptcy in 2009 and discharging debt you are unable to pay may be the best way to get 2010 off to the right start.