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According to an Equifax’s December National Credit Trends Report, U.S. consumers were much more diligent about paying their debts in 2011, resulting in significant declines in delinquency rates among the majority of tracked lending sectors.

Not only did U.S. consumers do a better job of paying their bills on time in 2011, but total consumer debt declined to $11.1 trillion. This represents a nearly 11 percent decline in debt from its peak of $12.4 trillion in October 2008.

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A wealthy Florida polo club founder has adopted his longtime adult girlfriend in what attorneys believe may be a legal maneuver to protect his financial assets–which he estimates as “several hundred million dollars”–as he faces a trial for a drunk driving incident that killed a 23-year-old.

John Goodman, 48, formally adopted Heather Laruso Hutchins, 42, in October 2011. The couple started dating in 2009. Goodman is the founder of the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington, Fla.

West Palm Beach Judge Glenn Kelley wrote in a court order that the twists in the case “border on the surreal and take the Court into a legal twilight zone.”

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Poll suggests business bankruptcy filings will increase by more than 10 percent in 2012.

According to a report released by the American Bankruptcy Institute on Jan. 19, 2012, the results of an ABI Quick Poll show that a majority of respondents believe that business bankruptcy filings will increase by more than 10 percent in 2012. Sixty-eight percent of respondents agree that business filings will increase by more than 10 percent while 25 percent of respondents disagree that filings will increase by 10 percent in 2012. Five percent did not know or had no opinion on the subject.

For calendar year 2011, the total commercial filings fell to 74,142, representing a 19 percent decline from the 92,070 business filings recorded in 2010. However, the fallout from the recent recession continues to take a toll on U.S. businesses as access to credit remains tight and debt levels are elevated.

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had improved in November, increased further in December. The index now stands at 64.5 (1985=100), up from 55.2 in November. The Present Situation Index increased to 46.7 from 38.3. The Expectations Index rose to 76.4 from 66.4.

“After two months of considerable gains, the Consumer Confidence Index is now back to levels seen last spring (April 2011, 66.0),” said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center. “Consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions improved again. Looking ahead, consumers are more optimistic that business conditions, employment prospects and their financial situations will continue to get better. While consumers are ending the year in a somewhat more upbeat mood, it is too soon to tell if this is a rebound from earlier declines or a sustainable shift in attitudes.”

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First mortgage and bank card default rates rose to 2.17 percent and 4.91 percent in November, from 2.08 percent and 4.85 percent in October, respectively, according to the latest S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices. Second mortgage and auto loan default rates decreased slightly. Second mortgages moved down from 1.29 percent in October to 1.26 percent in November, and auto loans from 1.22 percent to 1.17 percent. The increases in first mortgage and bank card rates, however, caused the national composite to rise from 2.15 percent to 2.22 percent.

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Lending institutions in the United States reported a 16 percent increase in their credit card chargeoff rates in the third quarter of 2011, according to data released last week by the Federal Reserve.

The Fed said that its member banks reported a seasonally adjusted, annualized credit card charge-off rate that averaged 5.81 percent in the third quarter, up from 5 percent in the second quarter. The average writedown rate was, however, drastically lower than the 8.71 percent rate reported in the year-ago period.

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The United States economy added 80,000 jobs in October, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate ticked down to 9 percent from 9.1 percent in September on the strength of larger-than-expected revisions to jobs growth in the preceding months.

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A Bel-Air man who declared bankruptcy, then hid his assets and threatened a process server with a golf club, was sentenced today to almost six years behind bars.

Milton Lee Vandevort, 50, was convicted in July 2010 of money laundering, concealing assets in a bankruptcy case, and making a false oath and a false declaration in a bankruptcy case.

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LEHIGH ACRES, Fla.—Joseph Reilly lost his vacation home here last year when he was out of work and stopped paying his mortgage. The bank took the house and sold it. Mr. Reilly thought that was the end of it.

In June, he learned otherwise. A phone call informed him of a court judgment against him for $192,576.71.

It turned out that at a foreclosure sale, his former house fetched less than a quarter of what Mr. Reilly owed on it. His bank sued him for the rest.

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