As companies fail and unemployment rises, the rate of personal bankruptcies has only just begun to rise to levels that were last seen before a new bankruptcy law in 2005 changed the culture of personal bankruptcy.

The Philadelphia Business Journal recently tracked these trends in personal bankruptcies in an article that attempts to deal with the peculiar case of modern personal bankruptcy.

Philadelphia area bankruptcy lawyers told the Journal that consumer bankruptcies had not skyrocketed in the last few years, though they have seen the numbers slowly going up. They noted a combination of factors that have kept the tide of filings slower than intuition might suggest.

First is the more stringent bankruptcy law that recently went into place. The 2005 law change made it more difficult and more expensive to file a personal bankruptcy as a consumer.

The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 ratcheted up requirements for bankruptcy protection with the creation of the Chapter 7 means test. Overall, the law made it harder for some consumers to file for Chapter 7 protection.

Above-average income consumers now often must file for Chapter 13 protection, which can have more restrictive allowances. Among these is a five-year repayment plan. Under Chapter 13, filers must also receive credit counseling.

Current figures for personal bankruptcy filings are now starting to approach the levels reached before 2005, and before the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act.

Before the 2005 law went into action, there were between 1.1 and 1.6 million consumer bankruptcy filings in the U.S. People rushed to file for bankruptcy before the new law in 2005 and the number rose to 2 million.

In 2006, the number fell by 70 percent to just under 600,000 filings. Only with the mortgage crisis did the figures start to go up again, and it wasn’t until 2009 when bankruptcy filings reached pre-2005 numbers, at 1.4 million.

The cost of personal bankruptcy filings has, in the estimation of Henry Sommer, the dean of the Pennsylvania consumer bankruptcy bar, risen from about $1,000 to about $2,000 after the passing of the bankruptcy law. This difference, he said, was more than many low-income people are likely to pay. In addition, filing is more complex than it used to be.

According to bankruptcy lawyer Paul Winterhalter, bankruptcy lawyers are finally starting to adjust to the new laws, but that some laws requiring counseling are holding up the process.

“It imposes hardships and creates impediments to filing because the counseling holds up the filing. It doesn’t serve a practical use. It’s a charade,” he told the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Another reason for the drop in bankruptcy filings may be that some people don’t qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy because they make too much money but are still unable to afford a Chapter 13.

Another factor leading to fewer bankruptcies, in Philadelphia at least, may be the foreclosure prevention program that has enabled some residents to restructure their mortgage agreements.

A waitress in Illinois is suing her former employer after the credit card transaction fees were taken out of her paycheck.

Julia Hendrickson alleges that the Chicago Diner violated a number of “federal and state minimum wage and overtime laws,” reports WBBM 780. he claims that she was not paid minimum wage while performing un-tipped tasks before and after the restaurant opened. She is seeking compensation for the unpaid wages, as well as “compensatory damages” for the credit card fees taken out of her tips.

While most restaurants do not ask their servers to cover the cost of credit card transactions, some do. In the case of Hendrickson, the Chicago Diner started the policy in the middle of her employment.

The change was announced weeks after it took effect. Management said they were saving about $800 a month by transferring the fees to the waitstaff. They said the savings were needed after minimum wage rates changed.

Credit card transactions fees vary depending on the card, but are typically a percentage of the purchase, and there is often a minimum fee assessed. Often, the fee is a percentage of the purchase, typically from 1-5 percent, reports AllBusiness.com.

Most servers earn an hourly wage below minimum wage because they also earn tips. However, a few credit card transactions on a slow night may take a deep cut out of a paycheck. If you’re struggling to pay off your own credit card debt, or trying to stay out of chapter 7 bankruptcy, then you may need every dollar.

While it’s tough to tell the policy of a restaurant when you’re tipping, this is another example of how credit cards are integrated into so many different parts of our lives.

While many analysts expected credit card companies to cut back on perks for customers, CNN Money is reporting that in many cases banks are aggressively increasing their paybacks.

The perks are popping up by as much as 25 percent for reward points and a whopping 60 percent for some cash back programs.

Why are the credit card issuers suddenly in such a giving mood? They are hoping the increased perks and points will help retain big spending customers who are less likely to default on their credit card debts.

While credit card companies earn money off the interest on customer’s balances, they are increasingly earning more from the transaction fees collected when you use a card.

Banks are hoping by increasing the benefits they’ll improve customer loyalty and retention. Also, they hope the new points and rewards, which are tied to spending, will encourage their most responsible customers to spend more. (More transactions = more fees).

A closer look at the reward updates reveal:

• American Airlines cards users with Citibank will now earn 1.2 miles for every dollar spent, up from 1 mile per dollar.
• British Airways card holders with Chase will now earn 1.25 miles per dollar spent, up from 1 mile per dollar.
• Chase Freedom Card users will now get 5 percent cash back on certain purchases, up from 3 percent for the same categories

If you’re one of these card holders be sure to take advantage of your new rewards.

If you’re considering getting credit card rewards be sure to read the fine print and get fully informed on the costs of the card. Some rewards cards come with high annual fees, and you’ll want to weight the benefits before signing on.

Placer Fire specialized in building “wildland firefighting and light rescue vehicles” such as crew carrier trucks according to Firefighting News. At their height, the California company had contracts with fire departments in Sacramento, North Lake Tahoe and the U.S. Forest Service office in Golden, Colorado.

The company was housed in the former Mather Air Force Base in Central California. According to Firefighter News, the company recently their production to include “water tenders.”

But the expansion didn’t bring in revenue, and in 2009 the company lost more than $1 million. They also lost a major contract when Cal Fire chose to use trucks made by a Michigan-based company.

Things weren’t going much better three months into this year, and the owner decided to file chapter 7.

The company listed debt around $3.8 million. Those debts include back wages to employees, owed sales tax, and several truck dealers.

Dykstra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July of 2009, but now he has told the media that he wants the judge in the case to dismiss the bankruptcy case, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Dykstra claims he does not belong in bankruptcy given the assets that he claims to possess.

The former MLB star’s case was originally a California Chapter 7 bankruptcy, but was later converted to a Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Questions remain about why Dykstra filed for bankruptcy in the first place, and he failed to answer them in recent interviews.

“Bottom line,” he said, “you don’t belong in bankruptcy when you have $100 million in assets.” The Wall Street Journal was not sure how Dykstra came up with the $100 million dollar figure that he discussed. According to the report, creditors have filed for approximately $27 million in claims. Dykstra referred additional questions about his bankruptcy case to his lawyers, who were not available for comment.

In the motion for dismissal of the case, Dykstra makes the case that he would rather work to pay off creditors himself, rather than give over to control of his assets to a trustee that, Dykstra feels, “is only interested in dumping assets as quickly as possible and has in no way shown any regard for the benefits of the creditors.”

Dykstra also expressed interest in regaining control of his car wash business, with the help of what his motion termed “an interested party.”

He stated in the motion’s conclusion that he wanted to “once again claim his role as a productive member of society” by taking ownership of his debts and assets, and working with creditors to pay off debts himself. The motion states that Dykstra is highly motivated to achieve these goals.

A year ago, Dykstra spoke to prominent sports talk radio host Dan Patrick, and had something of a different story to tell about his journey into chapter bankruptcy. He talked of bogus lawsuits and issues with former employees and business associates that added to his financial problems.

He told Patrick that “people pile on, that’s why I did the 11. It makes people stop. It’s probably one of the best weapons known to man for situations such as this.”

“Chapter 11 is like putting a sniper on top of the roof to gun down all those people that are piling on,” Dykstra told Patrick. “It’s the last man standing that wins.” He also said that he felt that the bankruptcy filing would enable him to pay off his legitimate debts and get rid of the “bull,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

Dykstra had to change his approach when a judge decided that he should not have control of his own finances and converted the case to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. A trustee was appointed to steer the proceedings, and to generate cash for creditors by selling, for example, Dykstra’s multi-million dollar home that once belonged to hockey legend Wayne Gretzky.

A hearing on Dykstra’s motion is scheduled for April 6.

The New York Times has the report, calling the development the end of “$40 cup of coffee.”

Before the recent credit card reform, overdraft protection was a “service” offered by most banks. Customers were often automatically given the service, which would charge them a fee to allow a purchase to go through even if they lacked adequate funds in their account.

However, this practice caused many problems for consumers. For example, if when buying coffee consumers went only one cent over their account limit, they could be hit with a $40 fee.

Banks claimed their service protected the consumers from the “embarrassment” of having a card declined. But, Bank of America said their customers only wanted the protection when it came to bill payments, such as mortgages. From the story:

“What our customers kept telling me is ‘just don’t let me spend money that I don’t have,’ ” said Susan Faulkner, the bank’s deposit and card product executive, who said the overdraft changes were part of a broader push to build trust among its customers. “We wanted to help them avoid those unexpected overdraft fees.”

But those fees are big business for banks, generating almost $20 billion for banks last year.

Bank of America is the country’s largest issuer of debit cards, but it is unclear if other banks will follow their lead.

This is just the latest of many changes in the credit card and debit card industry since the new credit card laws were passed in May of 2009. The laws required banks to only offer overdraft protection to customers who opt in to the service. If you’re not sure whether you opted in to this service, check your most recent credit card bill or contact your card company.

The Associated Press reports New York Bankruptcy Judge Allen Gropper extended the reorganization until July 15th 2010.

General Growth wants to continue to reorganize their loans and debt. So far the company has restructured around $12.1 billion in secured debt.

General Growth Properties owns 200 shopping malls across 44 states. The company chose to file for bankruptcy in April of 2009 after they accrued $27 billion in debt. According to the AP, this was the largest real estate bankruptcy filing in U.S. history to date.

The company started seeing issues when they purchased the property developer Rouse Co. in 2004. Shortly after they purchased the company both the real estate market and consumer spending started to decline.

The company has six property level loans left to restructure, each worth $2.8 million. Property level loans are debt held by the individual unit that owns the property versus the corporate parent.

But General Growth also wants to review any potential buyout offers from competing companies.

The company received and rejected a buyout offer from Simon Property Management. This is the number one mall management property owner in the nation. Simon property offered $10 billion to purchase the company.

But General Growth rejected the buyout plan in hopes to receive a higher bid. Instead the company chose to exit bankruptcy with a Canadian property group, Brookfield Asset Manager Inc.

A few of the company’s unsecured creditors opposed the extension of the bankruptcy reorganization and the Brookfield deal. They claim it benefits the shareholders more than it does the company’s creditors.

The bankruptcy court will continue to review the chapter bankruptcy case to determine whether the company can have exclusive control over its bankruptcy for the next six months.

During the extension the court will take testimonies from creditors who opposed the Brookfield Management deal.

General Growth’s CEO, Adam Metz, told the AP “We’re going to do our best to accomplish what we need to accomplish within the time frame.”

Metz further said they are happy with the judge’s decision and will continue to review bids from other companies to determine who will buy them out.

The Baltimore Business Journal says “several” Maryland corporations, many of them with the same owner, filed Chapter 7 just one day before their property was to be foreclosed upon.

Each of the companies list less than $10 million in assets against almost $50 million in debts.

Known as Hollander 95, the park was to be a 51 acre development including 600,000 square feet of industrial work space. Developers said the new park would create 500 jobs when they purchased the property from the city for $4 million in 2004. The property was formerly the home of city housing projects, but those had been demolished.

The city of Baltimore is listed as a creditor. Most of the other creditors listed are contractors, including companies tied to associated with the HVAC, electrical and engineering work for the project.

While the project may continue in some form, it’s immediate future is uncertain. Before filing chapter 7, the group’s developers “defaulted on an $11.7 million loan,” the business journal reported.

But April showers bring more than just May flowers. Spring is big allergy season for people across the country.

And, as the New York Times’ Patient Money column illustrates, there are some serious costs for what is often an annual ordeal.

Take these stats from the column:

• Two million missed school days each year
• $2.3 million in medical bills for children under 12

These numbers don’t include any expenses the parents have with treating their own allergies or missed income from taking days off for their or their children’s allergies.

So what can you do to save money?

The experts advise taking two courses of action:

1. Spend money on treatments that work.
2. Don’t spend on unproven, over-the-counter gimmicks.

So how do you know what works? Start with a doctor, potentially even an allergist. Before you go, check with your insurance to see if your visit’s covered. If it’s covered, it may be worth your time, and even if you have to pay out of pocket, the information they provide may be valuable.

An allergist can perform special tests to help you identify the items that make your nose twitch the most. Then, you can take simple steps to avoid these.

Second, your allergist may recommend a series of allergy shots to help you cope. The first year, these may cost $1,000 and then another $350 the second year, says the Times.

However, some experts say that this cost could save you in the long run. A few years of allergy shots may save you from missed work and annual treatment of allergy symptoms, including buying costly medications.

These same experts also recommend that buyers beware when it comes to over-the-counter products promising relief. These include: “air filters, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, ozone machines, mattress and pillow cases, special breathing masks and more.”

Continues the NYT:

“Many of these products are expensive and some are ineffective. Ozone, for instance, can be a pollutant and actually worsen allergies.”

These lower-cost treatments may seem attractive, but if there’s no return then you may want to reconsider even a small investment.

In many cases, allergies aren’t just seasonal, they’re certain. Instead of treating the symptoms, and shelling out for short-term care medical bills, you may want to speak with a specialist and get long-term, real help. Remember, preventive care is often less expensive treating the symptoms later.

The Tamp Tribune reports that a judge converted National Gold Exchange’s chapter 11 case to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

This ruling likely signals the end for National Gold, a company Tampa businessman Mark Yaffe built into the one of the country’s largest gold and rare coin dealers.

Yaffe originally took his company into chapter bankruptcy after Sovereign Bank, National Gold’s chief creditor, discovered irregular business practices by the company.

An investigation by the bank revealed that Yaffe had been using company funds to pay for his opulent mansion in the high-end Avila community of Florida. The bank also discovered missing coins and bad accounting books.

At this time the bank began repossessing many of the company’s assets, such as rare coins and gold, which were central to its operation. Yaffe took the company into bankruptcy with the hope of protecting the coins as well as his personal fortune.

But with a judge forcing him to file chapter 7 bankruptcy, most of these assets will be sold.

Among the assets are an estimated $5 million in rare coins and a Yaffe’s 29,000-square-foot mansion.

That home is stocked with an estimated $7 million worth of antique music boxes. Collecting the items was a personal hobby of Yaffe’s, but now they may all be sold, reports the Tampa Tribune.

Despite the setbacks, Yaffe’s representatives said he hopes to remain in the coin and gold dealing business, and is already looking at acquiring loans from family members to start a new company.

VitalMedix, a biotech company founded by college professors in Minnesota, is now filing chapter 7 bankruptcy, only months after arriving in their new home, reports the Minnnesota Daily.

Founded by two professors from the University of Minnesota-Duluth, VitalMedix was built around a new treatment they developed for the shock to the body that occurs as a result of blood loss.

The company was the product of a program at the University of Minnesota that spins off commercial businesses. Reformed in 2007, the program—called the Office for Technology Commercialization—has launched 12 companies. VitalMedix is the only one of these companies so far to file for bankruptcy.

As a part of the arrangement, the University of Minnesota received 20 percent of the shares of the company. The school never realized any income from VitalMedix, but according to the director of the Venture Center at the OTC, Doug Johnson, the school did not lose any money because they received the shares at no cost.

The OTC was hoping to license the drugs that VitalMedix produced, drugs which investors hoped would save lives and create a prosperous business. This was not the case.

The OTC is willing to invest in companies that are in the very early stages, with technologies that are far from a sure thing. These technologies often have not been tested on humans, and they are more prone to fail than companies with more established technologies.

The drug that was licensed to VitalMedix was tested on ground squirrels—called “golden gophers”—and advanced to testing on pigs, but got no further along in the process. VitalMedix bought the technology from the university in 2007, and since that time there had been cooperation between the company and the University to bring the process to the point where the drug could be tested on humans.

When with the Chapter 7 filing, the technology upon which VitalMedix was based was returned to the university. Researchers at the school are currently attempting to get federal funding that would allow them to continue the research undertaken by VitalMedix.

Lester Drewes, the head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, told the Minnesota Daily that the life of the technology will continue despite the Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing.

“This could save lives,” he said. “We know it’s going to be successful.”

The OTC will attempt to market the technology to larger pharmaceutical companies, rather than smaller entities like the one that filed for bankruptcy.

Officials from the OTC estimated that the process of bringing a drug to the marketplace could cost anywhere from $50 to $100 million. At the time that it filed for bankruptcy, VitalMedix had raised just $1.4 million in investments.

Former CEO and President of VitalMedix Bill Brown said of the company’s failure, “In this case it was a business failure rather than a technology failure.”

Take White Birch Paper Co., a Canadian company based out of Quebec, recently decided to file for bankruptcy in both the US and Canada. The company is is the second largest newsprint maker in North America.

White Birch outlined in Business Week a few of the major factors which led them to their bankruptcy decision.

They cited the declining demand for newsprint, declining prices and the increased strength of the Canadian dollar.

The company said that “the filing comes at the culmination of a year of detrimental economic conditions which negatively impacted the company.”

White Birch has four paper mills including one operation in Ashland, Virginia – Bear Island Paper Co. The other three operations are run out of Quebec.

Bear Island Paper Co. filed for Chapter 11 in the U.S Bankruptcy Court in Virginia. They listed their assets between $100 and $500 million. It listed its debt load of $500 million.

White Birch also filed for bankruptcy protection under Canada’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act. This act allows big businesses with debt over $5 million to restructure their finances.

This is similar to Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States as it provides a way for businesses to reorganize their debt. The company filed in order to “preserve the value of its business and improve its capital structure.”

The Canadian branches also filed Chapter 15 in the U.S., which handles bankruptcies across the border.

White Birch said they will continue operations as normal in both the U.S and Canada. They are currently awaiting approval of $140 million for debtor in possession financing from its secured lenders.

White Birch sales totaled over $6 million in sales in 2009. But unfortunately it was not quite enough to cover their debts to its secured lenders. The company has not made any interest payments on its loans since September.

According to Associated Press, the president of Canada’s largest forestry unit blames this and other business bankruptcy filings on the current government. David Coles, head of the Communications at Energy and Paper Workers Union of Canada, said the government should have provided loan guarantees at commercial rates to prevent these bankruptcies.

“Bankruptcy filings by this and other forestry giants could have been avoided at no cost to the government,” he said.

The identity theft cases most frequently written about are those involving stolen credit card numbers, false charges and online phishing scams. But health care has become such a commodity, that many people are stealing or fabricating new identities to avoid medical debt.

According to NPR, here’s how it works: When arriving for care, people are providing false information, including their name, social security number and insurance info. In some cases, the patients are even providing fake or borrowed ID cards.

The patients then go on to receive treatment, and the medical bills are sent to elsewhere. One hospital in Missouri has seen four cases in the last 45 days, and is working on training their staff to spot potential fakes.

But the consequences of a false ID extends beyond bill payment, and could include some seriously harmful side effects.

If a doctor brings up another’s billing information they will also bring up another’s medical history. A patient’s medical history, including blood type, medications, and past conditions and treatments may all be incorrect. If a stolen identity is used again, from a record’s standpoint it may be as if the last doctor’s visit never happened.

In a worst case scenario, a patient could be given a dose of the wrong blood type, a medication they are allergic to, a medication that doesn’t mix with their current prescriptions or a previous ailment may be ignored completely. When dealing with medicine and health care, mistakes may end up in long-term harm or even death.

NPR says hospitals are working to crack down on such instances of medical identity theft, but experts say that consumers can do their part, too. Ask for printed copies of your treatments and records so you can ensure your history is correct.

When times get tough, many people are inclined to cover up what they hope will only be short-term debts.But not being open about your debt relief needs may compound the problems.

CNN highlights the strain this put on a couple in Texas. The husband runs a non-profit that focuses on teaching financial literacy, but his wife had a growing problem with credit card spending. She took a line of credit with plans to pay off overtime her purchases of clothing and toys for her children. But as she let the debt ride from month to month, interest and new spending mounted and quickly got out of control.

When the husband ran the couple’s credit report, everything came to the light of day. The couple then had to sit down for some heart-to-heart conversations.

Hidden credit card debt may also become a burden outside of marriage if you’re keeping your struggles from other family members. A major side effect of out-of-control debt may be increased stress and health problems. Keeping your debt a secret may only make things worse.

In one example from CNN, a son who was doing some investing for his mother went so far as to forge receipt documents so she wouldn’t know how much money she really lost. Those type of secrets can take a real toll.

So what should you do if you find yourself suddenly in over your head?

1. Be open and honest with yourself and others. Particularly if your finances affect others, be honest about your situation. Hiding your credit card debt may only increase your stress, complicate the problems and keep you from taking real action.
2. Explore your options. Even if you feel helpless, it’s important to know there are debt relief options out there. What’s more, there are many different types so there is a good chance you’ll be able to find something that fits your needs: From Chapter 7 bankruptcy to adjusting your monthly budget.
3. Take action. Your debt won’t magically disappear if you sweep it under the rug. Confront it head on.

Although he has other business interests, it seems Davidson’s personal finances were closely intertwined with the development known as The Landmark. The project, set to go up just south of Denver, would include two condominium towers and, according to the Denver Business Journal, “a retail district with shops, restaurants, a movie theater and the Comedy Works South.”

Despite the Chapter 7 filing, the venture should continue, as retailers continue to sign on to the project and many of the condo homes have already been sold.

Davidson’s future, though, is less clear. He listed almost $165 million in debts, and the post reports that his monthly expenses outpace his income by $5,000.

Most of his creditors are connected to the Landmark project, and some have already come after some of his assets. One of Davidson’s airplanes from his charter airplane company Endeavor Aviation was recently repossessed and sold at auction.

Davidson’s assets are worth millions, including more than $1 million real estate and an additional $141.3 million of “personal property,” reports the Denver Business Journal.