Credit binge faulted for rising bankruptcies, loan defaults and repos
In 1964, Sandra Miller married the man of her dreams, but that dream turned into a nightmare after she realized their finances were in disarray and the only way out of tremendous debt was filing for bankruptcy in 1996.
"Now I can't buy anything, I am done," said Miller, 62, of Fort Pierce, Fla. "I am just trying to keep a roof over my head and some food in my belly."
Miller isn't alone.
Millions of people are struggling to keep financially afloat. As the already-fragile economy struggles to overcome a three-year stock market nosedive, millions of layoffs, corporate scandals and waning consumer confidence, an alarming trend has emerged from the 1990s, when consumers binged on easy credit.
Personal and business bankruptcies, mortgage foreclosures, consumer loan defaults and auto repossessions are all on the rise or showing signs of increasing, which is fueling a tide of economic uncertainty.
"The bubble was going to burst sometime," said Chris McCarty, survey director at the University of Florida's Center of Survey Research for Consumer Confidence. "With credit cards lowering their standards ... lower interest rates on homes and cars ... and people refinancing their homes for 125 percent of what they are worth, I could see this coming a mile away.
"We were at the top of our game in 1998 and 1999. Things were bound to crash."
"Things will get better when they stop getting worse," said Merle Dimbath, an economist and president of Dimbath Economics in Stuart, Fla. "There isn't a quick fix to this. It will be a slow process."
In 1964, Sandra Miller married the man of her dreams, but that dream turned into a nightmare after she realized their finances were in disarray and the only way out of tremendous debt was filing for bankruptcy in 1996.
"Now I can't buy anything, I am done," said Miller, 62, of Fort Pierce, Fla. "I am just trying to keep a roof over my head and some food in my belly."
Miller isn't alone.
Millions of people are struggling to keep financially afloat. As the already-fragile economy struggles to overcome a three-year stock market nosedive, millions of layoffs, corporate scandals and waning consumer confidence, an alarming trend has emerged from the 1990s, when consumers binged on easy credit.
Personal and business bankruptcies, mortgage foreclosures, consumer loan defaults and auto repossessions are all on the rise or showing signs of increasing, which is fueling a tide of economic uncertainty.
"The bubble was going to burst sometime," said Chris McCarty, survey director at the University of Florida's Center of Survey Research for Consumer Confidence. "With credit cards lowering their standards ... lower interest rates on homes and cars ... and people refinancing their homes for 125 percent of what they are worth, I could see this coming a mile away.
"We were at the top of our game in 1998 and 1999. Things were bound to crash."
"Things will get better when they stop getting worse," said Merle Dimbath, an economist and president of Dimbath Economics in Stuart, Fla. "There isn't a quick fix to this. It will be a slow process."
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