As she left a courthouse meeting with her estranged husband, a New Hampshire woman bit the court-appointed mediator.

A New Hampshire judged ordered the woman to pay more than $300 in medical bills for the bitten mediator, UPI reports.

Well, that’s one way to get your medical bills covered.

CBS7 reports that some Salvation Army donation kettles in certain parts of Texas will now be equipped with debit and credit card machines.

While most people are used to dropping spare change and bills into the famous red kettles, national Salvation Army surveys show that people give more when they are allowed to donate with credit. In fact, people often give 750 percent more when paying with a card.

Salvation Army spokespeople said the credit card readers are just as safe as those used any store or restaurant. Donors will complete the transaction themselves, entering their own PIN or signature, and getting a receipt.

If you plan on being generous this holiday season, remember that you are still responsible for your credit card bills, regardless of how you spent the money.

Add Advanta to the list. CNN Money reports that small business credit lender Advanta decided to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy recently.

The company was hit hard with defaulting loans from small businesses as the economy worsened. In September alone the default rate reached 24 percent.

Recently, the company stopped new loans for more than one million customer accounts. They also attempted to collect $2.7 billion from a total of 360,000 customers, but have are still unable to get full returns.

Previously, the company tried different methods to stay afloat and avoid liquidations. They raised interest rates on credit cards to 25 percent, a move which upset many of their customers.

According to Business Week, the FDIC stated that the increases were unfair and deceptive practices. Advanta never denied or accepted liability for the increases, but the company was forced to send reimbursement checks to their customers by the FDIC for the “unfair” interest rates. Most of their small businesses customer base received checks of around $100.

The company also enforced layoffs for most of their workforce back in July. This left the company with about 200 employees to run the business.

Advanta excluded its subsidiary – Advanta Bank Corp – from the Chapter 11 reorganization and stated the filing should not have any impact on outstanding credit cards balances.

At this point Advanta’s Bank’s capital is said to be below regulatory requirements. Over time, Advanta Bank Corp might be turned over to a FDIC receivership to give the FDIC control over any liquidations for the business.

Chairman and CEO Dennis Alter advised he will waive his salary and his bonus during the Chapter 11 reorganization.

Said Alter: “The economic debacle over the last two years devastated Advanta’s small business customers and Advanta itself.”

Experts are interested to see how Advanta comes out of this reorganization and wonder if the business can avoid falling into Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Several prominent gay and lesbian magazines recently closed their doors following Chapter 7 bankruptcy filings by their parent companies.

According to a report by CNN, Window Media, the largest publisher of gay and lesbian newspapers in the country, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. As a result, employees of Window Media holdings found a note on the door when they arrived at work on Monday morning, informing them of the liquidation and asking them to prepare to empty their offices.

One of these operations was Southern Voice, one of the South’s most prominent publications..

Based in Atlanta, the newspaper has been catering to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities for 20 years with a circulation that topped 100,000.

The bankruptcy and dissolution of the Georgia publication caught employees, including 12-year-veteran Laura Douglas-Brown, by surprise. “Certainly we knew finances were tight,” she told CNN, “but none of us were expecting this today.”

She spent that day at the office so that her fellow former employees wouldn’t have to find the note by themselves.

Several other gay and lesbian publications have recently decided to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

At the Washington Blade, the oldest gay and lesbian newspaper in the country and the second-most largest, two corporate officers greeted employees, including Blade editor Kevin Nass, to tell them that the newspaper would be shut down immediately.

“The bottom line was they filed for Chapter 7, which means liquidation,” Nass told CNN. “I think a lot of us expected a Chapter 11 reorganization … but they didn’t go that route and I guess the creditors wanted out.”

The South Florida Blade, which was under the Window Media ownership umbrella, was also closed.

According to employees, they were unaware that a shut down of such prominent publications was in the near future. Douglas-Brown described the information that she received from the company, including speculation that a major investor in Window Media would attempt to sell off the paper’s assets. But she was not expecting the very dramatic shut-down of the paper.

“We had been told the impact on us would be minimal and that the company would be sold,” said Douglas-Brown.

On the contrary, the impact was felt quickly and deeply across the South and East.
Nass stressed the need for gay and lesbian publications and the purpose that they serve. Citing issues such the gay marriage debate to the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policies, he said “There’s never been more news, more need of this niche.”

The Pennsylvania club, located just outside Philadelphia, made national headlines last year after being accused of racism when a group of mostly black and Hispanic children from a day camp had their memberships revoked, reported the Assocaited Press.

Now, the Philadelphia Daily News is reporting that the swim club is filing chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Several news outlets got their hands on an email sent by club president John Duesler. The email announced a 5-1 decision by the pool board to file chapter 7, which will result in the closing of the club.

In the email he also addresses last summer’s controversy, which drew national media attention when the black and Hispanic members of the Creative Steps day camp arrived for their first day of swimming.

The camp had their membership pulled and payment refunded, and the families of many campers filed discrimination lawsuits. The AP reported that “the club had no black members among 334 paid memberships for the last two years.”

While Duesler admits that legal fees associated with the lawsuits have added to the club’s expenses, he said in the email that the club was already experiencing financial difficulties. The Daily News story quotes the email:

“While many will point towards our legal situation and negative media exposure this summer as the reason” for the bankruptcy filing, “the truth is that the club has struggled to stay out of the red for at least the last decade,” he wrote.

Although the exact debt of the swim club isn’t known at this time, the Daily News reports that legal fees and expenses from the last year have put the club more than $100,000 in debt. The club’s property is estimated to be worth $2-3 million.

The Associated Press reports Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse proposed a bill that will provide an exception to bankruptcy laws for those who file due to medical bills.

Called the Medical Fairness Act, if passed it will allow provide families struggling with medical debt:

• Protection for homes worth up to $250,000
• Extend bankruptcy protection to financially distressed caregivers of ill, injured or disabled family
• Allow bankruptcy filers to pay attorney fees when they are financially able to do so after filing.

The proposed legislation will also waive the Chapter 7 means test and credit counseling requirements. The means test is used to determine if a person is qualified to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Chapter 7 allows the debtor to get rid of all their debt and start fresh.

The Medical Fairness Act will only apply to those who meet the definition of medical debtors.

Republican Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama disagrees with the provision of the bill eliminating the means test. The fear is that people who have gone bankrupt only partly due to medical bills  could file as medical debtors and receive the “special treatment.”

But there are many out there who hope the bill passes. Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of the former Senator and presidential candidate John Edwards, supports the proposed bill. She claims it could give medical debtors “a less burdensome, less catastrophic bankruptcy option that recognizes the unique circumstances that have driven them to bankruptcy.”

Kerry Burns attended the Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing to plead senators to support this legislation. Despite having insurance, she lost her savings and retirement funds after her young son was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.

She and her husband spent a lot of time in the intensive care unit with their son. They each missed a lot of work and shortly after, they weren’t able to keep up with their mortgage payments and other bills. Insurance covered most of the $5 million in medical expenses for their son, but they were still forced to file bankruptcy.

At this point the proposed bill is still in the legislative process. It must be reviewed and revised by committees before it can move on to the next step of debate.

InkStop owes $1.1 million in wages, vacation pay and expense reimbursements to employees, including $63,804.17 owed to CEO and co-founder Dirk Kettlewell.

On Oct 1., InkStop laid off 456 employees. Those employees were told the company didn’t have the cash needed to issue their final paychecks, and had not paid their health care premiums for the previous month, reported the Plain Dealer.

In all, InkStop owes more than $48 million to more than 1,000 creditors, many of them landlords owed back rent at store locations.

There are also several lawsuits involved in the case, including one on behalf of more than 200 employees trying to get money owed to them for past work.

And now, it seems, so can American spending habits.

CNN International looks at the changing face of credit card use in China. Previously, Chinese citizens were models of savings. According to CNN, residents there, on average, saved “40 cents of every dollar of disposable income is saved, compared to 3 cents of every dollar in the U.S.”

But as a new generation comes of age with a new Chinese economy, these habits are changing. Check out these numbers from the CNN report:

• Credit card issuance is up 32 in the last year
• Credit card debt is up more than 130 percent in the last year
• Consumers more than two months behind on credit card debt rose 133 percent in the last six months

What has some financial experts most concerned, though, is how Chinese law handles deep debt.

The law in China does not contain any Chapter 7 bankruptcy provisions, just payback or prison. From CNN:

“If you cannot pay it back you either have to go to parents or friends to pay back for you, or you got to jail,” said Yeongwen Chiang, a consumer expert.

Here in the United States we have multiple personal bankruptcy options. It’s a freedom we may not often think about or be thankful for. But when compared to the alternatives, it can be comforting to know that serious debt relief is available to those truly in need.

Lear Corp., a company that manufactures seats and electronics for automobiles, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy four months ago, reports the Wall Street Journal. Now the company may soon emerge from bankruptcy protection in a better position to thrive.

The company is among 50 other auto suppliers who decided to file for bankruptcy this year. Most were able to reorganize and avoid liquidation and full shut down.

Lear Corp’s chief executive, Bob Rossiter, arranged deals with lenders and creditors to fund a $500 million debtor in possession facility, a move not uncommon for companies in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

These deals allowed the company to maintain the operations and provided the opportunity to continue business during the bankruptcy reorganization. The creditors received new equity in exchange for the deal.

Rossiter has been chief executive since 2003 and has attempted to cut costs while running the company. He moved operations for the company to lower cost markets in an effort to keep expenses down and win business in markets outside the U.S  – including Europe and Asia.

The company also reorganized supply and labor contracts to cut down on costs.

Rossiter’s main concern with Lear Corp. is their dependence on auto makers. The US auto industry has had a tumultuous year, and many car makers asked their suppliers to reduce prices, cut down on costs and incur debt to win valuable contracts.

Even with the company’s attempt to cut costs, they decided to file for Chapter 11 because of all debt obtained thus far.

Analysts believe the Chapter 11 bankruptcy will lower interest rates for Lear Corp. and help drive profits. Lawrence Orlowski, S&P’s (Standard and Poor) credit analyst said: “The new company will reduce its debt by 75 percent.”

Lear Corp. said its stock should be back up and trading in the New York Stock Exchange after they exit bankruptcy court. The equity is now owned by the creditors who supplied the monies for the Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The equity is expected to be worth about $1.9 billion after the company gets out of bankruptcy protections.

Rossiter stated, “We think we fixed the business and we’re going to come out with investment-grade metrics.”

A Chapter 7 bankrutpcy would mean an end to the company, but a Chapter 11 business filing with a quick turnaround for bankruptcy protection may prove beneficial to their operations.

Yesterday, the Fed released a survey of banks from across the country on how they are handling credit cards. From the New York Times report:

About 50 percent of the banks responding to the Fed’s survey said they were increasing interest rates and reducing credit lines on borrowers with good credit scores. About 40 percent said they were imposing higher fees. The banks also said they were demanding higher minimum credit scores and tightening other requirements.

In short, credit will be harder to get, and consumers who can get credit will be paying more.

But what raised the ire of Congress, and led the House to send a new bill to the Senate speeding up the enactment of new laws, are the ways in which credit card companies are going about raising rates and fees. From the same NYT story:

A study by the Pew Charitable Trusts, released late last month, concluded that the 12 largest banks, issuing more than 80 percent of the credit cards, were continuing to use practices that the Fed concluded were “unfair or deceptive” and that in many instances had been outlawed by Congress.

We’ve seen many anecdotal reports on these practices. New outlets and bloggers across the country reported seeing overnight rate increases, closed accounts and new fees. Now, thanks to the Fed survey, we know that banks will continue to go down these paths.

So what can you do? Continue to read your credit card bills and reports closely. Be on the look out for rate changes and new fees. If you don’t understand your statement, find a friend who can help you or contact your bank.

The debate over how health care reform should be handled has been raging for months – the Wall Street Journal calls the talks over the weekend “theatrical” even.

But after all the talk – much of which fell along party lines – a health care reform bill is moving onto the Senate. Detaisl of the bill from the WSJ:

The measure spends $1.05 trillion over a decade to provide health insurance to an additional 36 million Americans and creates a new public insurance plan by 2013. It requires most Americans to carry insurance, creates a new exchange where they can shop for it and gives the lowest earners tax credits to help them pay for it.

What do you think of this plan? The word out of the papers is that the plan won’t survive intact in the Senate, where Republicans, some Democrats and some Indepedents disagree with much of it. President Obama said he wants a bill by the end of the year, but this version narrowly passed the House and will face a more difficult road in the Senate.

What provisions do you think are absolute must-haves for the final health care bill? We’ve written on here before about the problems with “pre-existing conditions,” complicated billing and lack of real coverage for even the insured.

We’ll keep you posted as this bill moves along, and see if changes are really on the way, or if medical debt will continue to build up as before.

Small businesses are still struggling to survive, as shown in the seven percent rise in business filings last month. Many businesses have been struggling to obtain financing and loans due to tight credit markets, and things may be getting worse.

With major small-business loan provider CIT Group recently filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy many small and medium-size businesses wonder where they will turn for financing. The CIT bankruptcy was one of the largest in this country’s history, and they were  key source of financing for mid-size companies.

A total number of 7,771 businesses filed for bankruptcy during the past month. This was an increase from from the 7,271 filings during the previous month of September.

Some of the industries that have been hit the hardest are real estate and retail. But many other industries have been affected as well such as manufacturing and home building.

California seems to be the state that has been most affected and has the most commercial bankruptcies filings, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Personal bankruptcies are also on the rise. More personal bankruptcy filings were reported in October than any month in the last four years. In all, 135,914 peopled filed for bankruptcy protection.

While the stock market has seen some recovery, job losses remain high. Congress recently extended the unemployment benefits, but more people are going longer without jobs.

And while aid packages for first-time home buyers continue, there is little help besides bankruptcy for home owners facing foreclosure. Credit card bills and interest rates remain high, and many people are facing dwindling savings accounts.

Maureen Thompson – legislative director for the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys – told CNN “People are still carrying a lot of debt in terms of credit cards and home equity loans, and unemployment is still rising.”

According to CNN, the last time that personal bankruptcies were this high was in October of 2005 due to state legislation that made it more difficult for consumers to prove they needed to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and clear their debts. Many were forced to file for chapter 13 and set up a repayment plan for five years.

Experts are forecasting the number of personal bankruptcies to surpass 1.4 million in 2009. Until the economy provides more jobs, personal bankruptcies might be on the rise. Personal bankruptcies affect businesses. If consumers cannot afford to spend their money, then businesses start to suffer.

This is the last move for a company that was bringng in $150 million in annual revenue a few years ago. But the acquisitions that helped them grow to that size put Ascend in a large debt hole. Their 2004 purchase of Medical World Communications cost $130 million.

Much of Ascend’s business was centered on health care related publications, including magazines, newsletters and custom publications. Some of these pieces have been sold off over the last two years. The event and custom media division was purchased by a former Ascend CEO, who took part of the name and started a new venture.

Other products sold off before the bankruptcy include:

• Professional services division, including 17 publications
• Expo magazine
• Dental group, featuring four publications
• Ascend Health publishing division

Ascend is based in Kansas City.

Passed back in May, new legislation was set to take effect in February that would change the way credit card companies do business. Some of these laws went into effect this fall, but the big ones don’t hit until next.

Congress gave the credit card companies a waiting period before the law kicks in to give them time to prepare for the changes. But this fall, many Americans have seen their interest rates and fees skyrocket.From the WSJ:

“We gave them time–more time than I wanted to,” said House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.). “They then used that time not to calibrate so they’d be ready for the effective date, but to start to jack up the rates.”

Recently, Senator Chris Dodd proposed legislation that would freeze interest rates until the new laws take effect. The House beat him to the punch and passed their own bill, which will now move to the Senate.

The House bill would also make the new credit card law effectively immediately. The new law sets limits when a card issuer may increase rates, how they market to students and the fees they charge.

We’ll keep you posted as this bill moves to the Senate. The WSJ says it’s unclear how much support this measure has in that chamber.

Former ‘Husker lineman Aaron Taylor was forced to liquidate seven championship rings and his Outland Trophy to settle his debt after filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Taylor was a star offensive guard for the University of Nebraska football team from 1994 through 1998. In his time as a Cornhusker, he helped the team to three national championships. In 1997 he won the Outland Trophy as the nation’s best interior lineman. The trophy itself depicts a lineman charging forward to make a block.

Taylor filed for bankruptcy as a result, for the most part, of the failure of his Cornhuskers-themed restaurant, the Scarlet and Cream Letter Club, at which he was an officer. He started the restaurant in Omaha with several other former Nebraska football players, ESPN reported.

But the business struggled, and Taylor filed for bankruptcy, reporting more than $100,000 in debt, most of which came in the form of taxes owed on the failed restaurant for which he was legally responsible. In the filing he only listed $5,300 in assets, leaving off his football memorabilia.

Initially, Taylor tried to block the liquidation sale of his college football memorabilia. According to the conditions of his Chapter 7 bankruptcy, however, the law did not allow him to do so, and the items were put up for auction.

Chapter 7 bankruptcy is designed to clear your unsecured debt quickly, but creditors may be allowed access to valuable non-exempt property. Every state outlines extensive exemptions which can be used to protect valuable when you file.

Unfortunately, Taylor’s case did not qualify for a bankruptcy filing that would have allowed him to maintain possession of some assets while he repaid the debt. And the court’s viewed Taylor’s rings and trophies were too valuable for the exemptions, which typically include things like homes, cars, clothes, work tools and household goods.

According to the New York Times, it took only about 30 minutes for Taylor’s college football memorabilia to change hands via online auctions. The auction items included the Outland Trophy, which sold for $6,800, and the championship rings, which were encrusted with diamonds, which sold for between $2,000 and $5,900. In total, the auction items sold for $28,500.

A group of Nebraska Cornhusker football fans were reportedly upset about the situation, and attempted to raise funds in order to help Taylor bid on the memorabilia himself. Those attempts seemed to have been futile, however, as the bankruptcy trustee in the case told the Associated Press that Taylor did not appear to be the buyer for any of the auction items.

While he was drafted by the NFL after college, Taylor began his business career following a short-lived attempt to play football professionally. As a college player, he was voted onto several All-Century teams, honoring him as one of the best college football players of all time. Even that sterling reputation, however, was not able to save the trophies and rings that marked that time from the saddening realities of financial hardship.