California’s unemployment rate hit a record 11.2 percent in March, leaving 2.1 million people jobless — the highest level since World War II.

The 21 banks receiving the most bailout money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program made or refinanced 23 percent fewer loans in February than in October when TARP funds were first distributed and consumers, whose tax dollars have been used to bail out the banks, are wondering where their money has gone.

The credit crisis has taken its toll on many consumers’ immediate ability to borrow and pay down their debt, but economists predict that this vastly altered consumer credit market won’t be a fleeting change.

Foreclosures — already up 24 percent during the first quarter of 2009 — are poised to climb even higher as major lenders initiate a new round of foreclosures after a temporary moratorium.

Homeowners are more likely to lose their homes to foreclosure because they’ve lost their jobs than because their loan payments have become unmanageably high, according to a new study by the Boston Federal Reserve that is raising doubts about the effectiveness of the government’s new loan modification program.

President Obama is encouraging homeowners to take advantage of record-low, 4.78-percent mortgage rates by refinancing their homes as soon as possible.

A growing number of consumers whose outstanding debt has gone into collections are unexpectedly having their bank accounts seized by creditors after the debt collection companies creditors have hired to notify debtors of pending legal proceedings have failed to deliver the notices

Citing the nation’s ballooning unemployment rate, Bank of America has decided against its plan to raise overdraft fees from $35 to $39

After receiving hundreds of consumer complaints regarding questionable debt collection companies, Oregon’s legislature has passed a bill that gives the state attorney general new authority to sue any U.S. debt collection agency.

After some 10 million consumers with poor credit saw their credit lines reduced earlier last year, responsible consumers with good credit are now seeing the same credit card limit reductions as credit card issuers move to insulate themselves from default.