Metro's mortgage woes 'will get worse'

I don't want to say we're going into a recession, but if I was a betting man I would say we're going into a recession, Beverage said. The size of consumer debt right now is almost scary. Last year, 8,748 bankruptcy filings were recorded in Oklahoma's three federal districts. That was up from 6,669 filings in 2006. However, totals in earlier years were much higher. In 2004, the last full calendar year before the major changes enacted in bankruptcy laws, 26,348 bankruptcies were filed in Oklahoma. Nationally, consumer bankruptcy filings last year rose nearly 40 percent over 2006, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute. The roughly 40 percent spike in consumer bankruptcies during 2007 presages even higher filings this year, as the heavy consumer debt load is made worse by the home mortgage crisis, Institute Executive Director Samuel J. read more

Subprime bailout unaffordable

Their lender said they could give the Greenville couple time to refinance the loan at a lower rate and avoid such a staggering increase in their monthly payment.

The Knudsons were among the 65 people – most caught up in the current mortgage crisis – who gathered to meet with lenders, housing counselors and attorneys to discuss ways to avoid foreclosure. The event was one of a national series of Foreclosure Prevention Fairs sponsored by ACORN – the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

North Texas foreclosures scheduled for next month are up by 27 percent from a year ago and have reached a record level. Nationwide, 1.25 million homes were in foreclosure last year, in part because of falling housing prices in formerly hot real estate markets, an economic slowdown and the widespread issuance of risky loans. read more