Social issues are the biggest threat facing the Island, according to a Magistrate who has seen a big rise in the number of cases coming before his court where people are no longer able to afford their bills.Juan Wolffe says the underbelly of Bermuda’s subculture is festering and anything short of a top down approach to address it will have devastating consequences.The spin-off effects of unemployment have become increasingly evident over the past five years in Bermuda’s Civil Court. The number of cases filed each year in civil court is now between 4,000 and 4,500 — about 75 percent of them are debt collections. Prior to 2009 the average number of new cases was about 3,500.By far the biggest tally lies with unpaid cell phone bills and Mr Wolffe said the situation was becoming much worse. He said he was concerned by the direct link between unemployment and crime, unpaid debts and the future of Bermuda.He said that prior to 2008 “the vast majority that came before my courts were not paying bills because they were just being irresponsible, and deliberately delinquent”.“But now I find people are coming with genuine problems, they’re unemployed, they’ve been laid off and prices have skyrocketed. They genuinely cannot pay their bills and the court has to respond, I think, to that reality.“You cannot squeeze blood out of a stone but at the same time you have to balance the interests of both parties — not only the judgement debtor, but also the judgement creditor. With a recession, certainly since 2008, the type of person who has come before me has drastically changed.”He said he had professionals, “persons who were dressed in a shirt and tie and suits” come before him, many of them crying, upset and distraught.“They want to pay their bills, have no problem paying their bills, but just cannot pay their bills, it’s really as simple as that,” said Mr Wolffe.“For many of them it’s embarrassing, these are people who have had houses or a house in the past, who were able to pay their bills. It’s certainly a blow to their dignity to have come to court owing money. In many cases they owe thousands of dollars they cannot pay because they lost their job or their hours have been reduced drastically.”He has heard many people’s stories about debt, but he said one stood out in his memory.Said Mr Wolffe: “It really hit me probably about two years ago just how really bad it was when a gentleman came before me who was struggling to pay his bills. I was going through the process of what I normally do to examine their means and expenses to determine exactly what they could pay.“He was in his early 40s, a big guy who stood about 6ft 4 ins. He was kind of a tough looking guy as well and as I was talking to him I could see him fidgeting and clearly getting upset with all the questions. It got to the point where he just fell, literally slumped into a heap just crying.“He had reached the depth of his depression and immediately I saw that something was wrong. He started to tell me that he had been paying his bills and doing what he was supposed to do but now all he feels was a great deal of shame.“He lost his job, not because of anything he did, but because of the economy and not being able to pay his way had such a devastating effect on him.“I must say it teared me up and my eyes started to water a bit. Here was this huge man who weighed at least 260lbs slumped on the floor. It definitely made me realise the impact is very real, and again, this was not a person who was shirking their responsibilities. That’s when it hits me that this problem is pervasive especially because I only see the cases that end up in court.”Mr Wolffe said that in the past 12 months he has dealt with at least ten cases where people had lost their homes.“The affect socially has been devastating because now some of them have had to take their children out of certain schools. Some are unable to provide their children with things which they would have liked to.“It’s a very humiliating situation and I think the courts have to respond to that reality.”He admits there are some people who ‘play the system’ and he sees people in his court who are showing up for other people.“I’ve seen $5,000 for cell phones on one bill, and then what happens is that subscriber will then shop around,” said Mr Wolffe. “They get a girlfriend, or a friend, or their mother to sign up for them, that’s probably one of the major problems in my court. Somebody shows up for someone else’s bill phone bill. They rack up all these bills and who’s in court for non-payment, the person who’s name is on the bill is in.“It’s not necessarily because they’re delinquent or anything like that, it’s because the bill is in their name. But yet the son, who may be 27-years of age, stays home, plays video games and music all day, sleeps, and does nothing productive in the household.“And I get tired of having grandma’s or mothers who have worked hard all their life, are still trying to work hard, but yet they have a son or grandson who is home doing nothing. Again it’s mama’s boys and not holding them accountable for their behaviour.”* In part two of this series tomorrow, Mr Wolffe, who presides over Drug Court, will discuss the increasing toll the abuse of drugs and alcohol is taking on the social fabric of the Island’s community. “I think that we’re certainly in a situation where there should be a lot of concern about where we’re going to be in ten years,” he says.