San Diego Bankruptcy Law Blog

Football star O.J. Simpson is well-known not only because of his NFL career, but also because of problems that he has had in his life. These problems include the famous criminal trial in which he was acquitted in the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her boyfriend Ron Goldman, in 1994.

Simpson's name was not completely cleared however, as he was held financially responsible in the wrongful death lawsuit brought by Goldman's family. That judgment was in the amount of $33 million. This judgment against Simpson is one of many factors that led to his bankruptcy and most recently a foreclosure filing.

Offers by companies to modify mortgages and create financial relief are often part of fraudulent schemes. Financially troubled borrowers should be leery of falling prey to foreclosure relief scams. A recent announcement by the California Association of Realtors is attempting to increase consumer awareness of these scams at a time when such fraudulent setups are becoming more prevalent.

San Diego foreclosure prevention lawyers note that scammers find consumers to victimize through the public foreclosure notices publishing in newspapers, on the internet and elsewhere. Scammers purport to be able to stop foreclosure proceedings immediately, and many offer money-back guarantees to create the illusion of a no-risk situation.

One of the growing issues coming out of the Occupy Wall Street movement and other groups is the increasing burden student loan debt has placed on young professionals and even individuals with families. But some of the more pressing criticism seems to be toward a broken system that rewards lenders for defaulted loans more than the ones that are paid off.

San Diego bankruptcy lawyers note that some observers of the student loan industry consider the lenders' actions to be predatory in nature. Because student loans are exempt from traditional consumer protections like bankruptcy, refinancing and statutes of limitations, lenders benefit from having a power over those in debt to them to a degree unmatched by lenders in other markets.

Mortgage foreclosures in the United States increased sharply in the third quarter of 2011 after a temporary suspension of foreclosure practices was lifted off of banking institutions. The 21 percent increase from the previous quarter brought national foreclosure levels back to the historically high levels that the mortgage industry has been seeing in the aftermath of the housing crisis.

San Diego foreclosure defense attorneys noted that part of the rapid spike in foreclosures is that banks are working more aggressively to process foreclosures for seriously delinquent loans. Now that the suspension period has been lifted, banks are working to catch up on mortgages entering into foreclosure proceedings.