by Calculated Risk on 12/28/2009 12:31:00 AM

A couple of earlier posts:

Weekly Summary and a Look Ahead

Government Housing Support Update

From William Glaberson at the NY Times: The Recession Begins Flooding Into the Courts (ht Liam)

New York State’s courts are closing the year with 4.7 million cases — the highest tally ever — and new statistics suggest that courtrooms are now seeing the delayed result of the country’s economic collapse.
...
New York’s judges are wading into these types of cases by the tens of thousands, according to the new statistics, cases involving not only bad debts and soured deals, but also filings that are indirect but still jarring measures of economic stresses, like charges of violence in families torn apart by lost jobs and homes in jeopardy.

And this is apparently happening all across the country.

[T]he broad impact of the recession is clear in hundreds of thousands of new cases across the judicial system, including people challenging their real estate taxes, home foreclosures, contract disputes and family offenses.

I've been tracking the surge in personal bankruptcy filings, and an increase in business disputes always happens during a recession, but what is really is sad is all the family disputes.