Demand phone companies put anti-robocall technology to work
Promising technology to help stop unwanted robocalls is being tested now, but we need the FCC to require phone companies to adopt it – and to make sure companies are implementing it at no cost to you.

Add your name to our petition to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to take strong action and require all phone carriers adopt free call-verification technology that will help stop ‘spoofed’ robocalls.


Consumers banding together helped pressure the FCC and phone companies to come together and develop anti-number-spoofing technology.

Last month, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai called on the phone companies to adopt this technology and implement it by the end of 2019.

But we know robocallers are stealthy and adaptable. The longer phone companies wait to get on board -- or if they are not forced to act at all -- the more time spammers have to change tactics. That's why it is critical the FCC require the phone companies adopt this technology ASAP, and to police how it is implemented.
Sign on to our petition, and let the FCC know that you want this promising technology ASAP, at no charge, to help stop robocalls.
Sign the petition
And if you have friends and family who are fed-up with robocalls (no doubt!), please let them know how they can help us ramp up the pressure on the FCC as much as possible.
action.consumerreports.org/...

 We are launching a new “Tell YOUR Story” tool that will enable residents, families, ombudsmen, and those who work with them tell their story about nursing home or assisted living care.

The form is available on our website at https://nursinghome411.org/tell-your-story/.
 
One can fill out the form on the website, download it to fill out on a computer or phone, or print out a hard copy to mail in. All personal identifying information is kept confidential unless the individual provides specific permission otherwise.
 
Stories about resident care can have an enormous impact on advocacy for better care and dignity. We would appreciate any help you can provide in getting the word out and passing this along!
 
Other news from LTCCC…

1. Dementia Care & Antipsychotic Drugging.
   
2. We have just published the latest antipsychotic drugging rates for all U.S. nursing homes and citations for inappropriate drugging. Sadly, recent data indicate that drugging rates are no longer going down! https://nursinghome411.org/learning-center/dementia-care-antipsychotic-drugging/  [Please note that some facilities with a low resident population are not included in these data.]
   
3. Safe Staffing.
   
4. We recently published the staffing levels for all U.S. nursing homes in easy-to-use files. Staffing is critical to quality, yet too many nursing homes have insufficient staffing. For the first time, these files include city and county information, to make searching for your nursing home, or those in your community, even easier. https://nursinghome411.org/nursing-home-data-information/staffing/
   
5. Resident & Family Councils.
   
6. We have issued a new Issue Alert on family and resident council rights, https://nursinghome411.org/ltccc-issue-alert-resident-family-councils/ and have launched our new Family & Ombudsman Resource Center, https://nursinghome411.org/families-ombudsmen/.
   
7. Webinars on Quality of Care & Resident-Centered Advocacy.
   
8. Please join us for our next free “lunch-and-learn” program on November 20 at 1pm Eastern. Topic: Making Your Voice Heard in the Nursing Home… and Beyond. https://nursinghome411.org/upcoming-webinars-nursing-home-care-resident-centered-advocacy/
   
9. New Report on Assisted Living: Promising Policies and Practices. https://nursinghome411.org/ltccc-report-assisted-living-promising-policies-and-practices/
   

All of these resources are free to use and share. If you would like to sign up for future updates and alerts, please email info@LTCCC.org.
 
Sincerely yours, Richard
 
Richard J. Mollot, Executive Director
The Long Term Care Community Coalition
One Penn Plaza, Suite 6252
New York, NY 10119
Phone: 212-385-0355
www.nursinghome411.org

A bill pending in the U.S. House of Representatives, H.R. 5082, Practice of Law Technical Clarification Act of 2018 (Mooney-Gonzalez) (amending the previously filed H.R. 4550), would exempt attorneys and law firms engaged in litigation from the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and eliminate Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) authority over them.

The changes made in HR 5082 make it even more harmful to consumers than H.R. 4550 because it would add an exemption from the FDCPA for “any other activities engaged in as part of the practice of law . . . that relate to the legal action.” This vague language expands the scope of the exemption significantly. While the bill requires attorneys to “attempt” to give the consumer legal notice of the lawsuit, abusive activities would be exempt even if the consumer never had actual notice.

Congress1 and the courts2 have recognized for decades that consumers must be protected from false, deceptive, misleading, and unfair practices by lawyers collecting debts in courts. This bill attempts to turn back the clock, and would allow collection attorneys to engage in egregious practices such as:

•     Proceeding to trial without any witnesses or admissible evidence, hoping that consumers will not show up or asking the court to reschedule if they do.3

•     Routinely filing court documents without confirming the accuracy of that information,4 often resulting in default judgments based on inaccurate information.

•     Filing lawsuits in courts hundreds of miles away from the consumers’ homes,5 making it nearly impossible for most consumers to appear in court to defend themselves.6

*     Filing lawsuits on ancient zombie debt after legal time limit to sue has expired7 and when consumers are less likely to have critical records to prove their payments.

•     Seeking fees or costs that are not legally allowable,8 adding to the amount of judgments against consumers who cannot afford attorneys.

•     Misusing state garnishment proceedings,9 such as by knowingly seizing Social Security or other income or property that is exempt from collection."

State Consumer Protection Laws May Not Cover Attorneys.

Maintaining coverage of attorneys under the FDCPA is important because many states do not have laws that are equivalent to the FDCPA. In these states, exempting attorneys from coverage under the FDCPA would mean that no federal or state laws would protect consumers from abusive litigation practices by consumer attorneys.10"

States Do Not Have the Capacity to Protect Consumers.

Even in states that have the legal authority, resources are insufficient to monitor the tens of thousands of debt collection lawsuits that are filed yearly in each state11 or to bring sufficient enforcement or disciplinary actions in response to abusive litigation activity.

Court and Ethical Rules Are No Substitute for the FDCPA.

To date, neither the courts nor bar associations have been effective in policing litigation abuses by collection attorneys.12

There is no reason to believe that these agencies will suddenly step up now if FDCPA sanctions against collection attorneys for litigation abuses are eliminated.

Collection Attorneys Would File More Lawsuits.

H.R. 5082 would exempt lawyers from the FDCPA for conduct in litigation that would be a violation outside of court. For example, misstating the amount owed in a lawsuit would be exempt from FDCPA liability but misstating the amount owed in a pre-litigation letter or phone call would be a violation. As a result, attorneys would be encouraged to file suit first rather than attempting to reach a resolution with consumers outside of court. This would drive a huge increase in collection lawsuits filed in state courts, further clogging the already overburdened trial courts.

H.R. 5082 Would Prohibit CFPB Supervision and Enforcement.

The CFPB has special insights into abusive collection practices through extensive national data from consumer complaints and information gleaned from industry supervision. H.R. 5082 would tie the CFPB's hands and prevent it from acting on abusive practices by attorneys or law firms when they are engaging in debt collection litigation. Previous CFPB enforcement actions against collection law firms have focused on law firms operating large debt collection “mills” churning through a high volume of lawsuits with minimal attorney oversite.13

H.R. 5082 would protect attorneys who engage in abusive litigation collection practices that hurt American consumers. We urge members of Congress to oppose this bill.

For more information, contact attorneys April Kuehnhoff (akuehnhoff@nclc.org or" "617.542.8010) or Margot Saunders (msaunders@nclc.org or 202.595.7844).

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Salem Harvest's November Newsletter worth sharing entirely

Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week

November 10th through the 18th is Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, where people come together across the nation to draw attention to the problems of hunger and homelessness. Hunger on college campuses is a rising issue faced by many students. Salem Harvest will be joining Willamette University students and Marion-Polk Food Share in discussing these issues at a forum on the 15th.

As the holidays approach and you ponder the thought of giving, please consider donating to Salem Harvest.
We rely upon the generosity of our community to be involved in events like these, fulfilling our mission of feeding hungry families by harvesting food that would go to waste.

Donate
Salem Harvest a 501(c)3 Nonprofit Organization
E-mail | 503.400.6618 x5 | Website
‌ ‌ ‌

"Don't buy a used car until you've read this"
Daily Mail, Australia
Sept. 6, 2018
"Dealers who still sell cars with killer Takata airbags can still face fines up to $220,000 or penalties of $1.1 million."
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6137609/Vehicles-killer-airbags-offloaded-unsuspecting-motorists.html


"Why cars with deadly airbags are still being sold"
Yahoo News

Sept. 8, 2018
 
"Not only can dealers face hefty fines over such practice, if someone is injured as a result of a faulty vehicle sold, the dealer would be liable for the accident and could face prosecution."
https://au.news.yahoo.com/cars-deadly-airbags-still-sold-062047068.html

We’re afraid of warranty stickers, but really, manufacturers should be

written by Kay Kay Clapp Director of Communications at iFixit.

According to a survey published today by consumer group U.S. PIRG, 45 out of 50 appliance manufacturers automatically void the warranty of a device if it has undergone “unauthorized” repair. And worse, they aren’t even upfront about it: 31 of the companies surveyed discourage independent repair in the language of their warranty, but don’t explicitly disclose whether or not doing so actually voids the warranty. PIRG reached out to the customer service teams at each of these organizations and found that 28 of them would still automatically void a warranty. They even included a couple of screenshots from a customer support chat with leading appliance brand Bissel, where they asked point-blank:

“So independent repair would void the warranty?”
“That is correct.”  

Warranty agreements exist largely to give manufacturers a monopoly on repairing your stuff. And their scare tactics are working: When I talk to people—at repair events, on our site, in the comments of our Youtube videos—their number one fear about trying a repair for the first time is that they’re afraid of voiding their warranty. That fear has translated into a fear of fixing our stuff—and it’s become so deeply ingrained in us that we’ve become increasingly disconnected from our stuff.

If I had a nickel for every time I came across a “warranty void if removed” sticker, I could easily buy the newest iPhone. . . .

Most consumers don’t know that these stickers are actually illegal—and that’s because manufacturers don’t want you to [know that]. Under the 1975 Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, the Feds mandated that you can open your electronics without voiding the warranty, regardless of what the language of your warranty says. That makes all of that inconsistent (albeit crafty) language used by the 50 manufacturers surveyed by the U.S. PIRG illegal.

Manufacturers have been waging a quiet war against tinkerers for years. . . .

Up until April of this year, manufacturers have enjoyed this repair-monopoly uncontested. But consumers found their first warranty win when the FTC sent letters to six major manufacturers warning them to knock that “warranty void” s[tuff] off. A small victory in the ongoing battle for the right to fix our stuff, but apparently not enough to scare manufacturers from scaring us out of our right to repair.

We’re lending the FTC a hand in giving those manufacturers a fright—by re-opening our #VoidIfRemoved contest. . . .

We want everyone to know that warranty stickers are just crafty trickery from manufacturers. Don’t fall for it. The Feds have granted you a license to tinker—now let’s make sure we use it.

Scammers demand gift cards | Consumer Information
by Cristina Miranda

Gift cards are a great way to give a gift. But did you know they are also a scammer’s favorite way to steal money? According to the FTC’s new Data Spotlight, more scammers are demanding payment with a gift card than ever before – a whopping 270 percent increase since 2015.

Gift cards are for gifts, not for payments. If someone calls with urgent news or a convincing story and then pressures you to pay them by buying a gift card, like an iTunes or Google Play card, and then giving them the codes on the back of the card – stop. It’s a scam.

Gift cards are the number one payment method that imposters demand. They might pose as IRS officials and say you’re in trouble for not paying taxes; or a family member with an emergency; or a public utility company threatening to shut off your water; or even a servicemember selling something before deployment. Or they might call with great news – you’ve won a contest or a prize! But to get it, you need to pay fees with a gift card. Scammers will say anything to get your money. And they know how to play into your fears, hopes, or sympathies. They like gift cards because, once they’ve got the code on the back, the money is gone and almost impossible to trace. But knowing how these scams work can help you avoid them, and you can help even more by passing on the information to people you know.

If you paid a scammer with a gift card, report it as soon as possible. Call the card company and tell them the gift card was used in a scam. Here is contact information for some of the gift card companies that scammers use most often. Then, tell the FTC about it – or any other scam – at ftc.gov/complaint. Your reports may help law enforcement agencies launch investigations that could stop imposters and other fraudsters in their tracks.

Report Scams

Amazon

• Call 1 (888) 280-4331
  
• Learn about about Amazon gift card scams here.
  

Google Play

• Call 1 (855) 466-4438
• Report gift card scams online here.
• Learn about Google Play gift card scams here.

iTunes

• Call 1 (800) 275-2273 then press “6” for other, then say “operator” to be connected to a live representative.
• Learn about iTunes gift card scams and how to report them here.

Steam

• If you have a Steam account, you can report gift card scams online here.
• Learn about Steam gift card scams here.

MoneyPak

• Call 1 (866) 795-7969
• Report a MoneyPak card scam online here.