Memphis home sales have risen in 2012, and house prices have increased, according to The Commercial Appeal. Sales rose 7.4% in July compared to July 2011, with a price rise of 14.1%. While the article cited offers some exciting figures for the year so far, it also admits the numbers could be a bit deceiving. After all, comparing rates to 2011 can give a sense of false hope since 2011 was a very rough year on the Memphis housing market. As bankruptcy attorneys in Memphis, we certainly see the flip side of this story in our office every day. It’s wonderful to hear good news every once in a while, but the fact is many Memphians aren’t experiencing that good
Q: When someone comes to repossess my car, is it public record? Will everyone find out about it? A: Generally, no. In Tennessee, we have a system called self help repossession that allows creditors to repo the car without a court order. Without a court order, there’s no record it happened. So there’s no way for anyone to find out except if they see it happen or figure it out when they notice your car is gone. If the court orders a repossession, it becomes public record. While not usually necessary in TN, this does sometimes happen. If the person hides the car or seems aggressive, the creditor may want or need the sheriff to tow it instead of the
Memphis area realtors report increased sales in the last couple of months. According to their records, January and February of 2012 brought almost a 50% increase in amount of homes sold, along with an increase in the costs of those houses. More Memphis homes selling at a higher price makes sense next to another local real estate statistic: in December 2011, Memphis-area foreclosures beat the national average and decreased from the same time in 2010. So clearly, many people are buying homes or keeping the ones they have. At the same time, the rate of mortgage borrowers who have gone 90 days or more without making a payment increased at the end of 2011 to 6.24%. And 9.26 percent of
A Commercial Appeal article yesterday by Richard Locker detailed State Senator Jim Summerville’s view of the Tennessee Lottery. Summerville described the lottery as “blight,…immoral…and corrupt.” He is now advocating his bill to require all lottery advertising to have the warning: “You will probably lose money playing the lottery.” As a Memphis bankruptcy attorney, I agree with him 100%. It’s an abomination against the poor and the State shouldn’t be in that business. “Maybe you, like I, have seen people in convenience stores, liquor stores – which even I patronize – watching some poor son-of-a-gun line up his Social Security numbers, birthdays, marriages, death days in order to select the best possible combination of numbers to lift them out of the economic calamity of
Workers’ compensation is a form of insurance provided by an employer when employees are injured as a result of work or on-the-job accidents. In general, workers’ compensation covers a wide range of injuries; but in the case of transportation, things can be a little tricky. While most of us would never commute to work unless it was job-related, that commute isn’t covered by workers’ comp because of a law called the “coming and going” rule. This rule limits workers’ compensation claims so employers aren’t obligated to pay for accidents or injuries caused by traveling to and from work. So if a car hits you on your way into the office, or you’re injured on your bike while traveling home, your
Lately our drug injury lawyers in Memphis have been hearing a lot about back surgery problems, especially after the patients received a bone graft.Perhaps you were injured during a back surgery. You may be concerned it was medical malpractice. Maybe you’re wondering: “Did the doctor made a mistake? Did the surgery not go as planned?” But it could be neither of these things. There’s a type of bone graft right now that’s under severe scrutiny: the Medtronic INFUSE® Bone Graft. If you were injured during a back or neck surgery, you may want to look into this product as a possible cause. Basically, INFUSE® helps regrow bone during and after a surgery. It’s supposed to be used in specially-approved lower
Why you shouldn’t compare YOUR credit card debt to others’ By: Darrell Castle Daily Finance posted an article online today in which it posed two questions: 1. Is your credit card debt average? 2. What is average? The article went on to state that getting a definitive answer can be a challenge as different sources have gathered different information. Listed were three different sources – MagnifyMoney.com, NerdWallet.com and CreditCards.com. Based on their findings, if you have anywhere from $5,000 to $11,000 in credit card debt, you’re average. My answer? It doesn’t matter! You shouldn’t judge your credit card debt based on what the average US consumer’s credit card debt is. Instead, you should be basing your credit card debt on
Alcohol, drugs & medical malpractice By: Darrell Castle “Is your doctor stoned?” That was the question posed this morning on a Today show segment mixed with emotions of shock, heartbreak and rage – or at least those are the emotions that ran over me when I watched it. 100,000 – that’s the number of doctors addicted to drugs or alcohol! And addiction’s one thing, but for doctors to be under the influence while at work, PERFORMING SURGERY, is another. But it’s happening! “There are doctors out there right now under the influence of prescription narcotics as we speak, putting patients at risk,” said Dr. Stephen Loyd, a Tennessee doctor speaking from personal experience. At his worst, Dr. Loyd, who is
By: Darrell Castle Medical malpractice can happen to anyone. If you don’t believe that, just ask Joan Rivers’ family members. This past August, Joan Rivers died after a medical procedure left her unconscious. She never regained consciousness and died a few days later. The following details came out after her death: Rivers never consented to the medical procedure that left her unconscious Doctors in the charge of Rivers’ care failed to identify deteriorating signs and therefore failed to provide timely intervention for those signs A staffer snapped cell phone pictures of Rivers as she lay sedated Medical records lacked Rivers’ body weight and the dose of sedation medication she was given. A patient’s weight is critical in determining how much
In recent years, the Memphis pension debt has been national news. Basically the city doesn’t have enough money to pay the pensions it promised to city workers. There have been a few causes, including: investments gone bad from the financial crash underestimating how much they’d need and overestimating what the investments would make union negotiations and how the city has used its other budgeted money The problem deeply affects city workers. Police don’t want to risk their lives unless they know their families will be taken care of. Many workers feel betrayed, and some have sought work elsewhere or been recruited by other cities and states. It also affects non-government citizens. As a result of Memphis’ debt, the government can’t