More middle class Virginians going bankrupt

More and more people are filing for bankruptcy across Central Virginia, and to see what got people in trouble, just sit in the trustee’s hearing for a morning.

One couple owned several rental properties around Richmond, including commercial property. But a zoning hiccup prevented them from renting one for more than two years, and then a tenant moved out of another. They could not keep up with the mortgages, and the banks took back most of the property. Read more

Will turn of calendar signal new page for Richmond area?

It’s a bit too early to call the bottom.

But as a new fiscal year begins, “green shoots” might be sprouting through the cracks. The pace of large-scale layoffs has slowed. In May, there were 1,066 mass layoffs in the region. None were announced in June or so far in July. And most of the remaining companies seem stronger – at least profitable – than those that went belly-up in the past 12 months (Circuit City, LandAmerica and Qimonda).

It’s also possible those green shoots are a mirage. More than 50,000 in the region are unemployed, according to May data from the Department of Labor. That is enough to fill the Diamond more than four times over. Read more

A flood of bankruptcies could sink more boats

Spurred by housing sector woes and the ensuing credit crunch, bankruptcies around Richmond are spiking to the highest levels in a decade.

Most filers in the area are individuals who can no longer tap equity in their homes to pay off credit cards. But the enormous rise in bankruptcies is also spilling over to the private sector – a sign that the economy is likely far from recovery.

So far this month, 465 people and businesses have filed for bankruptcy in the Eastern District of Virginia’s Richmond court. And the month isn’t over yet. That number is almost twice the previous high for any month of August since 2000. Around 570 people and businesses filed in July, and 551 filed in June. Read more