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 Pulitzer-Prize Winner explains why Oregonians are defenseless against systematic abuse by insurance industry

6/17/2015

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"The Gecko Chamber: A lengthy legal battle against GEICO underscores Oregon's weak laws to protect consumers."

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Vets -- remember those shady rip-off businesses that were always right outside the base? That's who sends you mail like this

6/14/2015

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Remember those shady businesses that preyed on military service members, and who always located right outside the base where the youngest, least sophisticated, soldiers and sailors couldn't help but pass by them? Well, there still out there, still trying to prey on you, years after you left the service.

Remember, you NEVER need to go through a private broker to apply for your VA benefits. The VA interest rate reduction loan program can be a great deal if you've got a mortgage, but not if you go through a scammy outfit like this to sign up. And there's no reason to! This business is like one of those scams that charges you a huge fee just to do something simple you can do yourself for little or no cost, like renew a business license.

Vets, remember: you never want to give any outfit like this your confidential financial information. If there's ANY VA benefits programs you can't figure out how to apply for on your own, call the Oregon Department of Veteran Affairs -- not a predator like these guys!

(Clarification: you apply for IRRRL through a mortgage broker, but before you apply, you should review program details with a Veterans Service Officer -- with interest rates having been so low so long, it's an unusual veteran who will be able to benefit from the IRRRL program -- meanwhile, the broker will make out like a bandit, and try to jack you into adding home improvements to your loan on top of charging you points and origination fees. Unless you have an unusually high-interest loan that you somehow have failed to refi already, you are probably going to be better off keeping your existing loan and using the money that you would spend on this to pay off higher cost loans, such as credit cards or student loans.)
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How elderly homeowners get ripped off: forgetting the rule that       THERE AIN'T NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH

6/11/2015

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Shady high-pressure sales types love to offer elderly people "free" meals and "free" trips and lots of "free" things. Now ask yourself: do you honestly think they would send you come-ons like the one above if they didn't have absolute certainty that the profits they will make off the people who fall for their pitch will more than pay for the piddling costs of these "free" meals and the postcards?

If you want to get honest, unbiased advice on ways to save money on your home energy costs, call the Energy Trust of Oregon at 1.866.368.7878 or send them an email at
[email protected] to request more information about home energy conservation programs. You already pay for ETO programs and services through a small surcharge on your monthly utility bills -- so you should use the program you've already paid for.  ETO is a nonprofit whose mission is to help the Northwest reach its conservation goals. They will help you evaluate all your energy and money-saving options at no cost, and they aren't selling anything. 

So don't fall for shady promotional "free lunch" deals, no matter how strong you think your sales resistance is. Companies that market like this are a lot hungrier and more experienced at this game than you are.

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THIS is what corporate control of the courts means

6/11/2015

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Real people -- normal people like you and your family -- often hear lawyers and others talking about "Corporate personhood" and "Corporate Control" and corporate this and corporate that, and you don't really know what it means, and most of the companies you deal with seem pretty OK, and they make good products, and you don't really know why everybody makes a big deal out of whether "Corporations are people, my friend" in the words of Mitt Romney. 

So it's important to note when a story really shows you what it means that our court system is dominated from top to bottom with judges appointed from the ranks of corporate lawyers, people who have never represented an actual real person in their entire lives.  The story below shows perfectly what it means when corporate values replace human values in the justice system
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/11/lost-hands-making-flatscreens-no-help
 

When I lost my hands making flatscreens I can't afford, nobody would help me Rosa Moreno Injured workers like me don’t ask for much of the billions these companies make off of our work. We just want enough to take care of our families

On February 11, 2011, I lost both my hands.

I was working an overnight shift at my job in Reynosa, Mexico, where I was cutting metal for parts used in assembling flatscreen televisions. I was working in my usual area, and the boss was pressuring us.

“I want you to work faster, because we need the material urgently,” he said.

I was moved to Machine 19, which can rip and cut metal and takes two hands to operate. It is heavy, weighing at least one ton, maybe two, and no one liked to work on it because it was too difficult. They always seemed to assign it to me.

I started work at 11pm. Around 2 or 2:30am, I was positioning metal inside Machine 19. My hands were actually inside the machine, because I had to push the metal in until it clicked into place.

That’s when the machine fell on top of them.

I screamed. Everyone around me was crying and yelling. They stopped the assembly line on the female side of the room, but the men were told to keep working.

Meanwhile, I was stuck. No one could lift the machine off my hands. They remained trapped for 10 minutes, crushed under the machine.

Finally, a few fellow employees created a makeshift jack to lift the machine up just enough for me to pull my hands out. I wasn’t bleeding very much, because the machine actually sealed the ends of my arms and forged them to the piece of metal. They took me to the hospital with the piece attached to my hands. The doctors were surprised when I showed up like that. I remember saying, ‘Take the piece off. Take it off.’ But they didn’t want to.”

My hands were flattened like tortillas, mangled, and they both had to be amputated. I lost my right hand up to my wrist and my left a little higher. I didn’t know how I’d ever work again.

Immediately, I started to worry about my children. I have six children at home, who were between the ages of 9 and 17 during the accident, and I am both mother and father to them. How would I take care of them now?

Working six days a week, I made 5,200 pesos a month ($400). Without my hands, I knew I wouldn’t even be able to make that much.

After five days in the hospital, I checked myself out. But I didn’t go home first. I went directly to the factory where I worked for HD Electronics. I asked to see the manager. He offered me 50,000 pesos ($3,800).

“I’ve lost both my hands,” I said. “How will my family survive on 50,000 pesos?”

“That’s our offer,” he said. “Stop making such a big scandal about it and take it.” I eventually got about $14,400 in settlement money under Mexican labor law, an amount equal to 75% of two years’ wages for each hand. But I knew I had to do better for my family. So I looked across the border, to Texas, where my former employer is based.

I found a lawyer with a nice office in a good part of town. I was sure he would help me. Instead, he said, “Go up to the international bridge and put a cup out and people will help you.”

I was devastated.

 That’s when I decided to tell my story on television. That led me to Ed Krueger, a retired minister who vowed to find me the right lawyer. That lawyer was Scott Hendler at the law firm Hendler Lyons Flores, in Austin, Texas. Even though I could not pay, he helped me file a lawsuit against LG Electronics, which contracted with the factory where I worked. Finally, about 18 months after the accident, I had hope.

Then the judge in my case threw out the lawsuit on a technicality, saying LG had not been properly notified. I wasn’t even given a chance to respond.

It’s been four years since I lost my hands. I have trouble paying my mortgage, and I wonder: Was that first lawyer right? Will I end up on a bridge, holding a cup out in front of me?

I constantly wish that someone with a compassionate heart could help me get some prosthetic hands that are flexible, so I could actually do something. Right now, I can’t do much. I can do smaller things, and move some things around, but I can’t do anything for myself. I can’t even take a shower. My family is surviving on a small disability benefit from the government, the kindness of friends and because my oldest daughter is now working instead of pursuing her education.

I’ve worked in factories most of my life. I know I am not the first person to be injured. But more needs to be done to help the workers who are making the products that so many Americans buy. We don’t ask for even a tiny share of the billions these companies make. We are just asking for enough to take care of our families and, when we are hurt, to take care of ourselves, too.

  I’m honored that I’ve been asked by Public Justice, a wonderful legal organization fighting on behalf of workers like me, to share my story. And I’m humbled that they’ve selected me to receive their Illuminating Injustice Award. That’s just what I hope to do: shine a light on the stories of workers, like me, so that the people who buy the products we make can understand a little about our lives, too.

I hope someone, somewhere, will hear or read my story and help prevent this from happening again. Because, while my hands are gone, the injustice for so many remains.

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BE CAREFUL -- Important reminder for Elders thinking about reverse mortgages

6/4/2015

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Reverse mortgages can be appropriate for certain elders in specific circumstances -- but they can also be very, very dangerous. They're like any other financial product -- the people selling them are selling them to benefit themselves, not you. Approach with Care!
Reverse mortgage ads are found on television, radio, in print, and on the internet, and many ads feature celebrity spokespeople discussing the benefits of reverse mortgages without mentioning risks. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau looked closely at dozens of advertisements and met with older homeowners to learn about their impressions of reverse mortgage ads. Today, we’re releasing a consumer advisory and report on what we found.
 
Here are three things to remember when you see a reverse mortgage advertisement:
 
·         A reverse mortgage is a home loan, not a government benefit.
·         Reverse mortgage ads don’t always tell the whole story.
·         Without a good plan, you could outlive your loan money
 
We found that reverse mortgage advertisements may leave older homeowners with the false impression that reverse mortgage loans are a risk-free solution to financial gaps in retirement.
 
Check out our report on reverse mortgage advertising to learn more:
 
Report
A closer look at reverse mortgage advertising
http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201506_cfpb_a-closer-look-at-reverse-mortgage-advertising.pdf
 
Blog
Consumer Advisory: Don’t be misled by reverse mortgage advertising
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/blog/consumer-advisory-dont-be-misled-by-reverse-mortgage-advertising/
 
Consumer Advisory pdf
Consumer Advisory: Don’t be misled by reverse mortgage advertising
http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201506_cfpb_consumer-advisory-dont-be-misled-by-reverse-mortgage-advertising.pdf
 
If you have questions about this report, please contact James Miner at [email protected]
 
Thanks!
 
Naomi Karp, JD
Senior Policy Analyst
Office for Older Americans – Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
202-435-7954
[email protected]

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John Gear Law Office LLC and Salem Consumer Law.  John Gear Law Office is in Suite 208B of the Security Building in downtown Salem at 161 High St. SE. That is right across High Street from the Elsinore Theater, a half-block south of Marion County Courthouse.

John Gear is only licensed to practice law in Oregon. This site may be considered advertising under Oregon State Bar rules. There is no legal advice on this site so do not take anything you read here as advice for your particular problem or situation. And I do not represent you and I am not your attorney unless you have hired me with a representation agreement. While I do want you to consider me when you seek an attorney, you should not hire any attorney based on brochures, websites, advertising, or other promotional materials.  All original content on this site is Copyright John Gear, 2010-2024.

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