In 2008, 29,000 of the 32,000 Texas foreclosures were in the 10 county area surrounding Dallas/Fort Worth. In July 2008, Dallas County showed a decrease by 4% in foreclosures, while Tarrant County reported a 3% increase from June 2008. However, in looking at the overall year, foreclosures are up 22% in Dallas County and 38% in Tarrant County. This places Tarrant County as one of the 7 out of 10 counties in the North Texas area showing a 25% or more year-to-date rise in foreclosures. Other counties include Rockwall, Denton, and Kaufman.

Foreclosure doesn’t have to happen. Bankruptcy can save homes from foreclosure. By filing bankruptcy, foreclosure proceedings are immediately halted where they are by Automatic Stay Protection.

Under Chapter 7 bankruptcy, Automatic Stay protection is temporary until your case is discharged, but if you’re able to keep current on the mortgage with discharge, you can keep your house. However, it also gives you the time to decide if you should keep the house or sell. Under Chapter 13 bankruptcy, Automatic Stay protection runs the length of the repayment plan. It can help you catch up and keep the equity in your home.

You don’t have to face foreclosure alone. Bankruptcy is an economic decision. You have options. The experienced bankruptcy lawyers at Higgins and Associates have helped thousands of North Texans stop foreclosure and file their bankruptcy cases. You don’t have to lose your home. Let the Higgins and Associates bankruptcy attorneys evaluate your case for free.

Homeowners facing possible foreclosure can get help at a Homeownership and Foreclosure Prevention Fair set for 5-8 p.m. today at Texas Wesleyan University Pavilion, 1201 Wesleyan St. in Fort Worth.

If you are one of many Fort Worth residents facing foreclosure, it’s important to get all the information available. Filing bankruptcy is an important option for stopping foreclosure. Bankruptcy attorneys are available to discuss your unique financial situation and if bankruptcy can save your home from foreclosure.

The quiet neighborhood, where residents say homeownership is as much a dead end as the cul-de-sacs at each end of the street, is at the heart of the subprime-mortgage crisis.More than half of the 56 homes on Ronay Drive have been posted for foreclosure at least once since August 2005, and eight are scheduled for foreclosure in July. Nine others are now for sale.

From the Fort Worth Star Telegram, 6/15/2008

In this Forest Hill neighborhood, CasAlegria Finance out of Houston has enticed neighbors with the promise of homeownership, only to become part of the foreclosure crisis. This company is now under state investigation for their business practices. However, that doesn’t help the residents of this neighborhood keep their homes.

There are options for many people. Bankruptcy stops foreclosure. Talk with a bankruptcy attorney today about your financial situation. You don’t have to lose your home.

An event is scheduled today to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. The free Homeownership Preservation Event will be from 2 to 8 p.m. in the ballroom of the Arlington Convention Center, 1200 Ballpark Way.

The rest of the story, including dates and times for other similar events around the region can be found here.

Information is a powerful tool in dealing with foreclosure. If you have further questions regarding foreclosure, speak with a qualified bankruptcy attorney for further options to stop your foreclosure and save your home.

For the first six months of 2008, foreclosure postings in the Dallas-Fort Worth area were up 20 percent from the same period last year, according to statistics from Foreclosure Listing Service Inc. of Addison.

More than 25,000 North Texas homes have been faced with foreclosure so far this year.

Read the rest of the story here.

Foreclosures are epidemic across the country, and we’re feeling it here close to home. With adjustable rate mortgages resetting interest rates, soaring gas prices, and many companies laying employees off, many North Texans face financial disaster through no fault of their own.

Bankruptcy may be a way to create a fresh start and save your home. If you are facing foreclosure, speak with a bankruptcy lawyer today to discuss your options.

Key senators announced Monday [May 19] a bipartisan agreement on the broad elements of a plan to avoid foreclosures and speed the refinancing of mortgages for roughly 500,000 troubled homeowners without taxpayers footing the bill.

Read the rest of the here.

With President Bush promising to veto a House of Representatives bill addressing the foreclosure crisis, the Senate is stepping in with their own legislation. Both the House and the Senate propose ways to stem the housing market collapse; however, the Senate has program funding coming from Fannie Mae and the Federal Housing Administration rather than taxpayers. The program allows for voluntary refinancing of qualifying mortgages to help stem the foreclosure crisis.

On the eve of the three-year anniversary of president Bush’s controversial bankruptcy bill becoming law, data show that in the last two years nearly 1.5 million individuals filed for personal bankruptcy. The new data further questions the merits of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005.

The rest of article is here.

With consumerbankruptcies continuing to rise due to credit card debt and rising foreclosures, it’s important to know you aren’t alone. Financial disasters can happen to anyone for any reason. If you are considering filing for bankruptcy, discuss your case with an experienced bankruptcy attorney today to see what options are available to you.

Read the full article here.

With so many individuals also facing financial disaster because of the housing bust, it’s not difficult to see how a city may also fall victim. Financial disasters can, indeed, happen to anyone at any time, and for any reason. If you find yourself in the same situation as Vallejo, CA, please, contact a bankruptcy attorney today to discuss your options. It may not be too late to save your home.

Here is an excerpt from John Councils article at Texas Lawyer:

Tom Vick is looking for about 100 lawyers willing to volunteer for what likely is the biggest family law case in Texas history. 

Their mission will be to represent hundreds of children recently removed by Child Protective Services from a secretive polygamist compound in West Texas. 

The removal petitions CPS filed on April 7 will test the state’s civil justice system in an unprecedented way because of the sheer volume of litigants, five family lawyers say. 

As of Texas Lawyer’s presstime on April 10, CPS had filed 123 separate removal petitions in the 51st District Court, one of which is In the Interest of 330 Children From the YFZ Ranch, says Dean Rucker, presiding judge of the 7th Administrative Judicial Region, which includes Schleicher County. That’s where the “Yearning for Zion” ranch of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) is located. 

A bankruptcy trustee for Saint Vincent’s Catholic Medical Centers of New York has sued McDermott, Will & Emery for legal malpractice, charging that partners at the Chicago-based law firm “put their personal relationships and selfish economic concerns above the interests of the charitable institution they were entrusted to protect.”

Read the full article at Law.com HERE

Also occurring recently, a judge barred a bankruptcy law firm from collecting ANY fees (would have been millions) in a case due to “putting their own concerns in receiving fees over the concern of providing good counsel to the client.”

As bankruptcy attorneys, we represent a debtor before his or her creditors and in doing so must uphold the highest ethical and professional standards. There is nothing wrong with getting paid to do your job, but your job must be done as it should be, and to the best of your ability.