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Useful Info on Avoiding Scams after the Wildfires

10/2/2020

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Some shady folks look at disasters and see dollar signs. Oregon DOJ has some useful information to help you keep from becoming a victim to those folks.  You can download them below.
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Vets need help year round, not just in November

9/23/2020

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No Veteran Should Be Without a Place to Call Home
Free Help for Homeless Veterans Dial 1-877-4AID-VET (1-877-424-3838) for 24/7 access to VA services for homeless and at-risk Veterans

Homeless Veteran Chat Confidential, 24/7 online support for homeless Veterans and friends

https://www.va.gov/homeless for more information

Are You a Veteran in Crisis or Concerned About One? 
Did you know that VA offers same day services in Primary Care and Mental Health at 172 VA Medical Centers across the country? Make the Connection Resource Locator
Contact the Veterans Crisis Line (1-800-273-8255 and press 1, Chat, or Text 838255.)
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Spear Phishing -- when a quick click can cost you a fortune

9/22/2020

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"Spear Phishing" or just "Phishing" is the term for email-based internet attacks by scammers where they trick you into clicking on a seemingly safe link or attachment in an email and that then causes all hell to break loose. There is pretty much no limit to the kinds of nasty things that can result, from infecting your computer and remailing the attack to everyone in your address book to locking up your computer entirely unless you pay thousands in ransom.

There's no easy answer to protect yourself. The open nature of email means that anyone who has your address (or has a computer capable of generating millions of addresses randomly) can send you a spear phishing email.

Thus, the only real solution is learning to be extremely skeptical of any emails you weren't expecting and always remembering to keep your hands away from the mouse -- that is, DO NOT CLICK on any unexpected email links or attachments unless and until you have verified (preferably from a trusted person known to you) that you aren't about to do the internet version of stepping on a land mine.

Today I got a pretty formidable phishing example that made me think the scammers are getting better all the time. And this one was extra potent because I have been dealing with First American Title lately. The scammers don't know that -- they sent this to millions of people, and of millions of people, some share of them are going to be dealing with any large company (such as First American, or Chase Bank, etc.). See below.

Luckily, the scammers are still not fully up to par -- and I know that September only has 30 days (the "9/31" was what first tipped me off to the fact that this email was just another scammer trying to make a buck at my expense). There are many other, more subtle, clues that this is a fraud (notice that there is no city or state in the address block for "Carin Wear," to name just one).

But, even with those errors, this is several times more convincing than the phishing attacks I used to get, and it suggests that it's just a matter of time until I am fooled.

The only thing that will protect me then is if I remember to stop before clicking and to get on the phone and call the local branch of whatever institution is supposedly sending me this email, and verify verify verify before clicking anything.

So, I urge you to join me in my rule: Assume any unsolicited or unexpected email is a ticking time bomb just hoping to explode on you. So never click attachments. Contact the supposed sender (NOT using the contact info in the email), and ask that the files be shared another way.


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Don't fall for a Foreclosure "Rescue" Scam -- BBB article helpful

8/18/2020

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Straight Talk: Don’t fall for foreclosure rescue scams

By Better Business Bureau
Posted Aug 9, 2020 at 11:00 AM

Are you facing the threat of losing your home? Be wary of individuals and companies offering to “help” you out of your difficult financial situation. Consumer advocates report an increase in complaints about foreclosure “rescue” scams. These scams specifically target homeowners who are in financial distress. Scam operators may advertise over the Internet and in local publications, plaster posters on telephone poles and at bus stops, stick flyers in people’s front doors or contact people whose homes are listed in public foreclosure notices. Sometimes they direct their appeals to specific religious or ethnic groups.

 
HOW THE SCAM WORKS
In one scenario, the scam operator offers to “buy” the homeowner’s property by paying off the amount that is overdue on the loan. The scammer convinces the homeowner to deed the property over to a third party. The homeowner is given the option of renting the property with the option to buy it back later. The rent payment on the home is often higher than the homeowner can afford. Frequently, the original homeowner cannot make the rent payment and is evicted from their home. Or, if the homeowner expresses a desire to buy back the property, the scam operator usually sets the price of the home higher than the homeowner can afford.


Hapless homeowners can lose their equity and their homes. Sometimes, the homeowner’s troubles go even deeper. In many cases, the initial mortgage has not been paid off and the deed was never transferred, as promised. Not only is the homeowner faced with eviction from the home, but the scam victim may still owe for the original loan amount.


In other versions of the scam, the homeowner receives a call, text, or email with the promise of lowering the mortgage payment and avoiding foreclosure. The scammer sometimes asks for payment for their services in the form of personal checks or gift cards. A recent victim in Ohio reported to BBB Scam Tracker that she sent $3000 in Walmart gift cards to a scammer asking for payment to help lower her interest rate.


The Better Business Bureau advises consumers who are tempted by such offers to recognize that they are at real risk of losing money, equity, their home or all three.
 


Tips to help if your mortgage is in arrears or you are facing foreclosure:
‒ Talk to your lender. Ask how to restructure your loan payment or how to refinance. Some foreclosure “rescuers” will offer to “negotiate” with your lender or lawyer. Know that such an offer is likely to involve a significant fee. If you are hesitant to talk to your lender yourself, engage the assistance of a trusted family member.
‒ Try selling the house on your own to pay off the lender. Signing over a deed in no way releases you from your mortgage responsibilities!
‒ Don’t allow anyone to complete paperwork for you, or ask you to sign a stack of documents, supposedly to secure a new mortgage. Victims have later learned that they signed a quit-claim deed to their home.
‒ Beware the personal approach. Some less-than-ethical businesses will stuff a handwritten note in your front door or mailbox that implies that “help” is available from someone you know or who has your best interests in mind. Foreclosure scam artists know exactly what neighborhoods to blanket with their offers.
‒ If a foreclosure “rescuer” instructs you not to contact your mortgage company or your attorney, beware. Your mortgage company is the very business that you should be in touch with! Furthermore, why would you agree to cease contact with your attorney when dealing with complicated financial matters that involve perhaps your biggest investment, your home?
‒ You should never sign a contract under pressure and never sign away ownership of your property when you don’t intend to sell it. Ask a trusted family member, your attorney or a financial professional to review any paperwork you may be asked to sign.
‒ Never pay with gift cards. A reputable company will not ask for payment via a gift card.
‒ Before signing any deals with a potential buyer, contact BBB to request a report on the company and check with your state Attorney General and local government department of consumer affairs.
‒ Seek foreclosure prevention information. Try calling the HOPE hotline, 888-995-HOPE, for free foreclosure prevention information, or visit their website at 995hope.org. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures website, the HOPE hotline is operated by the Homeownership Preservation Foundation, a nonprofit “dedicated to preserving homeownership and preventing foreclosure.”
 


FOR MORE INFORMATION Read more about housing scams in BBB’s Scam Alert on Home Title Fraud. This can be found at www.bbb.org/article/news-releases/22679-bbb-alert-home-title-fraud. If you encounter a scam, we ask that you report it to BBB.org/ScamTracker to help warn others.

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More Proof that Companies Use Forced Arbitration Because They Want to Evade the Law, not "streamline" it

7/6/2020

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Reuters carries a good "hoist on their own petard" story about textbook company CHEGG, which imposes a forced arbitration clause on students using its products. When CHEGG's negligence exposed the sensitive financial information of thousands of students, some filed suit, and CHEGG obtained a ruling that they all had to be kicked out of court and go file in arbitration.

And guess what, more than 15,000 of them did.

Suddenly CHEGG sees the wisdom of class actions, which allow people with similar cases to band together to have one procedure determine the result for all, at far less expense. Except that CHEGG also imposed a class action ban along with its forced arbitration clause!  

So now CHEGG is trying to evade the $7.5 million arbitration filing fee it agreed to pay for all those students it forced to file arbitration demands.

More proof (as if more was needed at this point)  that companies don't use forced arbitration for any of the reasons they claim they do -- it's not "better for our customers" or any of that crap these companies like to spew. They use forced arbitration because, most often, consumers will throw up their hands and walk away, letting the wrongdoers keep their ill-gotten gains.

But in this case, CHEGG's greed is going to get the better of them.  Good.
The background: As I told you in May, the plaintiff firm Z Law filed a class action in 2019 on behalf of millions of Chegg customers whose personal information was allegedly compromised in a 2018 data breach. Chegg’s lawyers at Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe moved to compel arbitration, citing a mandatory arbitration provision in the user agreement its customers are required to accept. In April 2020, U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett of Baltimore granted Chegg’s motion.
Z Law then filed more than 15,000 individual demands at the American Arbitration Association, asserting a claim of $25,000 for each Chegg customer. Z Law principal Cory Zajdel told me at the time that he sent six boxes of filings, containing individual demands by all of his 15,000 clients, to Chegg, hoping to foreclose arguments that his clients were not Chegg customers or did not exist.

In June, according to a July 1 letter from Zajdel to the AAA, the arbitration service instructed Chegg to pay about $7.5 million in fees to launch the arbitrations. (Chegg’s arbitration clause requires the company to pay the initial fees.)

I should say here that Chegg counsel Douglas Meal did not respond to my detailed email request for comment, so this account is based on Zajdel’s letter to the AAA.

Instead of paying the requisite fees and beginning the process of arbitrating with its customers, Chegg said those customers had breached their user agreements by asserting frivolous or improper demands for arbitration. Chegg unilaterally purported to terminate the agreements. The company then informed AAA that it was under no obligation to arbitrate with those customers, or, for that matter, to pay any fees associated with their arbitration demands.

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Nice resource for Oregon Legal Research - Integrated, Readable Online Statutes and Administrative Rules

6/18/2020

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Coder-turned-Attorney Robb Shector has further enhanced his first big online laws project from his law school days, the excellent online Oregon statutes  depository (Oregonlaws.org). Robb has made that even more valuable by coming up with a way to provide a very smooth integration with the statutes from his version of the online Oregon Administrative Rules (OARs). Robb's OARs database now provides hotlinks to statutes so you can easily go check the statutes as you are researching the rules and then easily return to the rules.

You can see Robb's administrative rules set here: https://oregon.public.law/rules (photo below of the entry page).

Having worked with others (I don't have the technical chops to do the coding myself) to bring readable OARs to Oregonians for a long time (see OregonAdminRules.org tab at top of page), I know Robb put in an awful lot of work.

Hats off to Robb for bringing this home at last. It's pathetic that the State of Oregon publishes statutes and rules in such a poorly designed format (all left-justified text that is all but impossible to use without extensive manual reformatting).

It would require little or nothing by the state to give Oregonians these important publications in a clear, always-up-to-date, easy to use form, as Robb has shown.
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Another great resource for your COVID-related legal questions

4/18/2020

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Links to http://www.consumer.law/
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Oregon's Gov. Brown bars creditor garnishments of CARES checks

4/18/2020

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The Governor has wisely ordered that any Oregonian's CARES check be free from garnishments by creditors (except for restitution garnishments for criminal justice debts) during the COVID-19 emergency. The top picture is the key provision. If you want the full text and all the details and definitions, the full order is shown below that and you can download it by clicking on the down-facing arrow.

Kudos to Gov. Brown for acting to help Oregon families survive this crisis in this critical period.
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Got COVID Stimulus Payment Questions?  NCLC has a FAQ for that!

4/16/2020

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The good people at the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC.org) are constantly tracking and updating reliable information about the economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic. They have put together a document with list of frequently asked questions about the $1200 payments, including the most common one about whether these payments are vulnerable to garnishments) (#7 below).

I would bookmark their FAQ page and their more comprehensive COVID-19 page if you have other questions.

FAQs on Stimulus Payments
By National Consumer Law Center
Updated April 15, 2020

Need legal help? Find a civil legal-aid office (income eligible) in your state or see the website of the National Association of Consumer Advocates to find an attorney in your state (search by subject area and licensed to practice). 

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) authorizes stimulus payments (also called “recovery rebates” or “Economic Impact Payments”) to certain individuals.  See § 2201 (pp. 55-60). Official information on these payments is at https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus  (click on “What you need to know about payments”), which is being regularly updated.   Other lists of FAQs are available at the New York Times.

The FAQs below are our best attempt to answer questions we are getting but please check the IRS website, which is updated regularly, for official information.  Notify us of any errors at consumerlaw[at]nclc.org. More information about responses to the economic crisis are on NCLC’s COVID-19 & Consumer Protections page.

THE QUESTIONS: (Answers at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qDSnSg_AXvzOCyegmJoX6h3_ljN-In9S/preview)

  1. When will the payments go out?
  2. Who is eligible for payments?
  3. How much am I entitled to?
  4. I haven’t gotten a payment yet. How can I get my money quickly?  
  5. I accidentally used the non-filer portal but I’ve discovered I need to file a tax return. What should I do?
  6. I don’t have to file a tax return. How will I get my money? 
  7. Can debt collectors, banks, or the federal government take my payment to cover back debts?  What can I do to prevent my payment from being garnished?
  8. The account that I got my 2018 tax refund in is closed. What will happen to the money?
  9. I receive Social Security, SSDI, SSI, or Railroad retirement and have dependents.  How can I get the extra $500 for my dependents?
  10. I received my 2018 or 2019 tax refund through a tax preparer prepaid card or through a tax refund anticipation check (RAC) or tax refund anticipation loan (RAL). How will I get my stimulus payment?
  11. I want to open a bank account for direct deposit but I have a negative history with an account screening agency. What can I do so that I don’t have to wait for a paper check?
  12. I changed my address or bank account since my 2018 or 2019 tax return. How do I notify the IRS of the change?
  13. I don’t have a bank account. Can I use a prepaid card, mobile debit card account ,or digital wallet? 
  14. Will the IRS use the Direct Express card or another prepaid card? 
  15. What do I do if I didn’t get my money?  
  16. Will the payments affect asset limits used for eligibility for public assistance?
  17. I am in bankruptcy. Are the payments considered income or can my creditors grab the payment?

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Outstanding FREE Online Resource "SURVIVING DEBT" to read if you are struggling financially due to COVID-19 (or for any other reason)

4/6/2020

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The heroes at the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC.org) have made their comprehensive 50th Anniversary guide for debtors called “Surviving Debt” available at no charge for ANYONE.

This is an outstanding resource for ordinary folks who don’t want to try to read law books or statutes etc.  It’s in clear, plain English.  I have given away more than two dozen copies to friends and clients and it’s usually the first book I reach for when someone has a question about how to manage their debts of ANY kind.


While you isolate in place, if you are worried at all about your finances, take the time to read the first 10 short chapters and then the chapters for your type of debts. So you don't have to read it all -- just the first couple chapters and then the chapters that pertain to your type of problem.

(And if you yourself are able to make a contribution to NCLC, they would welcome it and put it to good use.)

Find it here:  https://library.nclc.org/SD


  • Chapters
    • Glossary
    • Chapter 1 Six Essential Rules for Surviving Debt
    • Chapter 2 Responding to Debt Collectors
    • Chapter 3 What You Need to Know About Your Credit Report
    • Chapter 4 Collection Lawsuits
    • Chapter 5 Taking Out New Loans to Pay for Old Debts
    • Chapter 6 Reverse Mortgages
    • Chapter 7 Choices to Avoid at All Costs
    • Chapter 8 Reducing Your Expenses
    • Chapter 9 Options for Increasing Your Income
    • Chapter 10 Keeping Track of Income, Expenses, and Debt
    • Chapter 11 Medical Debt
    • Chapter 12 Credit Card Debt
    • Chapter 13 Student Loans
    • Chapter 14 Car Loans and Repossessions
    • Chapter 15 Utility Terminations
    • Chapter 16 What Every Homeowner Should Know About Mortgage Payments
    • Chapter 17 When You Are Having Trouble Making Mortgage Payments
    • Chapter 18 Defending Your Home from Foreclosure
    • Chapter 19 Property Taxes and Tax Sales
    • Chapter 20 Evictions and Getting Out of a Lease
    • Chapter 21 Civil Court Judgment Debt
    • Chapter 22 Debts Related to Criminal Law
    • Chapter 23 Federal Income Tax Debt
    • Chapter 24 Deciding Whether and When to File Bankruptcy
    • Chapter 25 How the Bankruptcy Process Works
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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, across from the Elsinore Theater, a half-block south of Marion County Courthouse, just south of State Street. There is abundant, free 3-hour on-street parking throughout downtown Salem, and three multi-story parking ramps that offer free customer parking in downtown Salem too.

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