The Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware, has announced the plan that it will follow to reorganize after emerging from bankruptcy.

The plan includes details on how the troubled diocese will face more than 100 civil lawsuits in the near future.

The lawsuits are in connection to claims of abuse by priests. These accusations and the accompanying lawsuits led the diocese to file bankruptcy last year, according to an article in Delaware Online.

The diocese had to announce the reorganization plan as a result of bankruptcy procedure, said Wilmington Bishop Francis W. Malooly. The reorganization plan is not, he said, a result of conceding that the church would discontinue its attempts to settle with individuals claiming abuse outside of court.

“While the plan is not supported by all creditors at this time,” he said in a statement, “its filing comes after months of negotiations. A glo

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New regulations governing debt settlement and other debt help services are now in effect as the result of consumers complaining about being ripped off by scams that require up-front payment and offer little or no debt help. Highlights of new disclosures that must be made to consumers engaging debt settlement services include:

• Cost: Consumers must be notified up-front of all fees and costs associated with a debt settlement program.
• Time frame: Debt settlement services must advise consumers how long it takes to “see results” from the program being offered. This language leaves room for interpretation, so it’s best to ask prospective debt settlement companies how long it should take to complete the program being offered.
• Impact of debt help programs on consumer credit scores: Debt help services must advise consumers how their programs can affect consumer credit scores. Altho

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A damaged credit is certainly a serious matter. To solve the problem, a person has to be willing and determined to take positive action. Listed below are ten steps that people with bad credit must do to be free.

1. Go easy on your credit cards. Obviously, you don’t want to accumulate more debts by charging expenses to your credit cards. If you own credit cards, keep them somewhere safe and out of your reach.

2. Examine your personal credit report. When was the last time you checked your report? In some cases, a low credit score could be a result of errors in the report. The best way to be sure is to order a copy of your report from each of three major credit bureaus. This way, you can check the real status of each of your accounts.

3. Fix errors in your report. You should know that errors in your report can be fixed or removed. Y

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The McAlpine Group, one of the busiest residential developers in Charlotte, North Carolina, is facing a group of investors and creditors that want the company to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and liquidate.

The McAlpine Group has already cut some of its staff, sold its company office building and limited employee hours. Nonetheless, creditors are fighting to recoup the money that the developer owes.

Among those who have called for bankruptcy against The McAlpine Group is local investor Roger Williams, who has spent time in court in opposition to the group in court since he invested in the firm in 2008.

The claims in the bankruptcy filing total $2.2 million,and Williams himself has a claim for $1.28 million.

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It seems like every time I check my bank’s interest rate, it’s getting lower. But while today’s record low rates are bad for growing my savings, they can be good for paying down debt – a saving method in itself.

Eventually – and probably sooner rather than later – rates are going to start going up again. Who wants to lock up money in a 5-year CD at 1.5% when rates could be double that in just a couple years, right? Fortunately, as Chicago bankruptcy attorneys point out, compounding can work in reverse, too.

Let’s say you invest $2,000 in a 2-year certificate of deposit at 2% interest. Every time interest is applied, your balance gets a little bigger, more interest is applied to that larger balance, and so on. With a high interest rate and enough time, the rewards can be, well, rewarding – but in this case, they amount to a final fund of $2,081 – just $81 more than what you started with.

Now let’s say you take that $2,000 and apply it towards a $10,000 credit card debt for two years- in other words, you pay about $83 (or $2,000 divided by 24) over the minimum each month.

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You’ve paid off your credit cards, but it doesn’t take too many unplanned expenses to rocket your credit card balances back into the stratosphere. Here are options for getting the damage under control.

Debt management methods: One size doesn’t fit all

• Debt consolidation using home equity financing: Home equity loans have traditionally offered homeowners with enough equity an opportunity to borrow against home equity at lower rates than typically charged for personal loans or credit cards. Current housing markets have eroded home equity for many, but if you can qualify for a home equity loan or line of credit, this can provide funds to pay off multiple balances and consolidate several payments into one home equity loan payment. Borro

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Bankruptcy is an all-too-familiar topic in today’s financial and economic discussions.

One demographic is dealing with the challenges of bankruptcy as much as any other: the baby boomers. According to an article from Fox Business, baby boomers make up a big proportion of those affected by and dealing with bankruptcy.

The American Bankruptcy Institute’s ABI Journal lists baby boomers between the ages of 45 and 64 making up 42 percent of individuals who filed for bankruptcy protection in 2007.

The number of baby boomers who filed for bankruptcy protection is also on the rise. Between 2002 and 2007, the figures for baby boomers filing for bankruptcy rose by 65 percent. Dur

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