| US Foreclosure Filings Rise 12 Percent in February (Update3)
March 26 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. foreclosure filings last month jumped 12 percent compared with a year ago as owners struggled with declining home values and higher adjustable mortgage rates. More than 130,000 homes entered foreclosure last month, according to a report from RealtyTrac, an online listing of foreclosed properties. That's the second-highest since RealtyTrac began collecting data in January 2005. The worst housing slump in more than a decade is pushing down home prices and hampering the ability of owners to refinance mortgages. Borrowers with poor or incomplete credit are also vulnerable to mortgages that are resetting at higher rates than introductory or so-called teaser rates. ``The rise in foreclosures over the past year probably only marks the beginning of the problem,'' Jan Hatzius, a Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Why health care won't cover it all
Doug and Judy Schill don't know where they stand financially in the wake of a deluge of medical bills resulting from Doug's aneurysm, dissection and stroke.They do know this: They have a $50,000 home-equity loan on their comfortable Malvern Road home near Hope Valley Road. One of their four children, Mark, has assumed a $60,000 second mortgage on his Milwaukee home to pay off the first round of expenses. Friends have contributed $70,000.The Schills are $21,000 in the hole today. During the next two years that could balloon to $71,000 or more, according to rough estimates by Mark.Doug is covered by Medicare and has a Thrivent supplemental policy. "This is all so new," Judy says of Medicare's maze of regulations.Here is what happened to Doug Schill and how his family has coped financially.For a six-week stay in the hospital in Seoul, Doug's medical bills totaled more than $100,000.
US industry group demands more H-1B visas
Ken Wach, SIIA president, said: "The USCIS announcement that it met the cap on H-1B visa petitions on the first day of eligibility is further evidence that the current visa allotment system is broken. "If Congress does not take action to reform the system, the global competitiveness of many American companies will be threatened." US companies use H-1B visas to employ foreign workers in occupations that require technical expertise in specialised fields such as computer programming, science and engineering. The announcement by USCIS that the cap for H-1B visa petitions was reached on the first day of eligibility means that many 2007 foreign graduates of American universities will eventually be precluded from pursuing significant employment within the US for a period of 18 months, Wach warned.
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