Zhao writes that, “This marks the largest number of filings since the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act was enacted to curb the increase in filings five years ago.” The American Bankruptcy Institute is also predicting that there will be yet another 1.6 million filings before the year is over.

The state of Nevada has the highest unemployment rate in the country. Not surprisingly, their bankruptcy filing rates were double the national average, 6,800, at 15,000.

Filing rate changes vary between the states. The Wall Street Journal does report that, “While most states are seeing increased filings, some southern states like Tennessee and Alabama have lower filing rates.”

If you or someone you know faces bankruptcy, contact a Birmingham bankruptcy lawyer at Greenway Law, LLC, by dialing 205-324-4000.

Filings are down 2 percent overall nationwide, with certain states like New York seeing drops as large as 20 percent.

April is the first month of the year where foreclosure filings have fallen rather than risen.

“There were two important milestones in the April numbers that show foreclosure activity has begun to plateau — but at a very high level that will not drop off in the near future,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “April was the first month in the history of our report with an annual decrease in U.S. foreclosure activity. Secondly, bank repossessions, or REOs, hit a record monthly high for the report even while default notices dropped substantially on a monthly and annual basis.”

“We expect a similar pattern to continue for most of this year,” Saccacio said, “with the overall numbers staying at a high level and ripples of activity hitting the various stages of the foreclosure process as lenders systematically work through the backlog of distressed properties.”

California, Florida, Michigan, Illinois, and Nevada foreclosures account for more than half of the nation’s total filings, with Nevada leading at one in every 69 homes receiving foreclosure filings

If you are facing a foreclosure filing or bankruptcy, contact Birmingham foreclosure defense attorney Paula Greenway at 205-324-4000.

The company, which owns the amusement parks of the same name, will now be known as Six Flags Entertainment Corp. following the $725 million in equity that a new shareholders group, led by Stark Investments of St. Francis, has put up to back them.

When Six Flags Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware in June 2009, it listed a debt of $2.4 billion.

“This reorganization constitutes the final step in the repositioning of Six Flags globally,” Six Flags St. Louis Park president David Roemer said in a statement. “While the day-to-day operations of our park were never impacted, it’s very exciting to envision a future that will allow us to rapidly grow and expand the array of services and entertainment for every single guest.”

“Investing in the infrastructure of our park will also remain a top priority,” he said. “For Six Flags St. Louis, that means continuing to improve and upgrade all elements of the park and planning for new rides, attractions and special events over the next several years, including of course our highly anticipated 50th anniversary season in 2011.”

These large businesses are only able to emerge from bankruptcy due to the skilled handling of their financial and legal needs. If you are facing financial difficulty or looking for information on filing for bankruptcy, contact Birmingham bankruptcy attorney Paula Greenway at 205-324-4000.

This uncomfortable trend is mirrored at the national level, where one in 352 homes recieved a foreclosure filing. The 367,056 properties foreclosed on this March denotes a 20 percent increase from Feburary’s numbers and an 8 percent increase from last year’s numbers. RealtyTrac’s U.S. Foreclosure Market Report states that this is the highest number of home foreclosures that the United States has seen since January 2005.

“Foreclosure activity in the first quarter of 2010 followed a very similar pattern to what we saw in the first quarter of 2009: A shallow trough in January and February followed by a substantial spike in March,” said James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac.

This year’s trend is different from past years’ in that the trend in previous years was representative of the final stages of foreclosures, whereas this year the increase is from a 9 percent quarterly increase in bank repossessions as opposed to last year’s 13 percent quarterly decrease in bank repossessions.

If you are facing foreclosure and need legal advice regarding how to file for bankruptcy or what your repossession options are, contact Birmingham bankruptcy lawyer Paula Greenway at 205-324-4000.

In some cases, none of the tax obligations can be discharged. Certain obligations, though, may discharged depending on the type of tax owed, the age of the tax obligation, and whether the individual filed a tax return.

If you have questions about which taxes can be discharged, contact the Birmingham bankruptcy lawyers of Paula Greenway at 205-324-4000.

These documents include a list of creditors, outstanding loans, any secured debt, and any lawsuits related to these debts. Individuals should also bring bank statements from the last 90 days and a list of monthly expenses, including clothing, housing, and transportation.

If you or anyone you know is considering filing for bankruptcy, contact the Birmingham personal bankruptcy attorney Paula Greenway at 205-324-4000.

The bankruptcy filings included 60,837 business-related filings, which represented a 40% increase from 2008. Alabama was one of the five states with the greatest amount of bankruptcy filings per capita.

If you or anyone you know has considered filing for bankruptcy, contact the Birmingham bankruptcy lawyer Paula Greenway at 205-324-4000.

At this meeting, bankruptcy filers will meet with their bankruptcy trustees and any creditor that chooses to attend. If creditors choose to file a motion as result of this meeting, then filers may be forced to attend a bankruptcy hearing.

If you or anyone you know is considering filing for personal bankruptcy, contact the Birmingham personal bankruptcy attorney Paula Greenway at 205-324-4000.

This change in focus is often criticized because shareholders complain that their best interests are not considered. However, filing for bankruptcy can often help return value to an insolvent company, which in the long run increases shareholder value.

If you have questions about your company’s bankruptcy filing, contact the Birmingham bankruptcy attorney Paula Greenway at 205-324-4000.

However, according to U.S.C. Sec 525, employers cannot fire employees for this reason because they cannot discriminate against employees who file for bankruptcy. This protection affords bankruptcy filers with the security that their jobs will not be in jeopardy.

If you are considering filing for personal bankruptcy, contact the Birmingham personal bankruptcy lawyer Paula Greenway at 205-324-4000.