Identity Theft

The Law Practice Management blog has a post on preventing identity theft. Some good points even though I wonder about how many pizza delivery boys will take a check without an address. Worth reading in detail.

An E-Commerce Blog

While e-commerce is not an area I specifically focus on, no one should ignore it in these days of the Internet. Here is the E-Commerce Law Blog and I suggest if you have an interest in e-commerce that you keep an eye on this blog.

Estate Planning for Same-Sex Couples

The American Bar Association's GP Solo e-zine has an article on estate planning for same-sex partners. I want to point out only two issues I have with this article:

• Funeral arrangements is an area fraught with problems for same-sex couples. Many states limit the right to make these arrangements to the decedent’s immediate family. Others, such as Ohio, have enacted legislation removing that restriction and allowing every person to name someone to make these decisions. For same-sex couples, these laws permit each partner to name the other as the person authorized to carry out the arrangements.

Indiana is one of those states which allows only family members to make funeral arrangements. However, that obstacle can be overcome in two ways.

The first method requires the person involved to set up a funeral trust. The article does not mention this rather simple device. Each person would go to a funeral home, decide what type of funeral they want, and pay for it through a pre-needs trust. The trust can be funded through the purchase of an insurance policy. (Actually, I recommend to this all my clients. It does solve the problem of the family deciding the funeral arrangements at the time of death.)

Secondly, get a power of attorney. The power of attorney statute gives to the attorney-in-fact (the person to whom is given the power of attorney) the power to make funeral arrangements, and the disposition of the body. This article does a fair job of describing the myriad powers given to the attorney-in-fact via a power of attorney.

I would also point out that along with funeral arrangements, one needs to include the burial location. That will mean buying funeral plots and specifying those burial plots as the person's final destination.

Solo also has an article on taxes and same-sex couples. It is also worth reading. I would add that under Indiana's inheritance tax no exemption is available for unmarried couples. The need for planning cannot be understated in these circumstances.

Why Real Estate Titles are so Important

This report from the Noblesville Ledger shows the problems that can come from bad real estate deeds.

Regardless of who owned the land originally, county attorney Mike Howard said the trustee's lawyer had the wrong land description when the township's title was entered, so the commission's title was accepted last summer. He said the commission now has the right to the land, and asked Demaree if he wanted to evict the township.

When Demaree did not answer, Commissioner Steve Holt told Howard to void the township's title.

VOIP scam

That is Voice Over Internet Protocol. I am a bit sensitive to this as I use Vonage for my office telephone and I think more of us are going to VOIP telephone service. (Insight has jumped into this with a bevy of commercials touting their telephone service.) So should we be surprised that there are scams?

Vishing is really just a new take on an old scam -- phishing. You know the drill: you get an e-mail that claims to be from your bank or credit card company asking you to update your account information and passwords (perhaps, it says cleverly, because of fraudulent activity) by clicking on a link to what appears to be a legit Web site. Don't do it, of course. It's just a ruse, nothing more than an illegal identity theft collection system.

Vishing schemes are slightly different, with a couple of variations:

• In one version, you get the typical e-mail, like a traditional phishing scam. But instead of being directed to an Internet site, you're asked to provide the information over the phone and given a number to call. Those who call the "customer service" number (a VoIP account, not a real financial institution) are led through a series of voice-prompted menus that ask for account numbers, passwords, and other critical information.
• In another version you're contacted over the phone instead of by e-mail. The call could either be a "live" person or a recorded message directing you to take action to protect your account. Often, the criminal already has some personal information on you, including your account or credit card numbers. That can create a false sense of security. The call came from a VoIP account as well.

Vishing has some advantages over traditional phishing tricks. First, VoIP service is fairly inexpensive, especially for long distance, making it cheap to make fake calls. Second, because it's Web-based, criminals can use software programs to create phony automated customer service lines.

If you are using a VOIP telephone service, please read the rest of the article here.

Franchise owners - a follow up of sorts on Taco Bell in New York

Somewhat of a follow up to this post here. Seems that on top of E.coli outbreaks, a New York Taco Bell has rats.

Business succession planning article from Toronto Star

I find no one likes estate planning. I have nightmares about some of my business clients but we do muddle through. I think this will be the big issue coming up locally in the next few years as many of the local business owners get old.

Then I find this article in Toronto Star which seems so very familiar. The same problems between generations just a different country. Okay, there is some reassurance in that the resistance to estate planning meets the same obstacles as here.

I do suggest that anyone reading this blog and has a business take a look at the article With the exception of one small detail, there is good information there for us Hoosiers.

Links for 2-25-07: Businesses and taxes

From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette an article on the perils for business people doing their own taxes:

The expression “Don’t try this at home, kids” can easily apply to small-business owners who try to compile income tax returns without the help of a tax preparer or tax prep software.

The Kokomo Tribune published an article on Congressman Donnelly's work on the Small Business Tax Relief bill. This might be a bit of a puff piece for the freshman Congressman, bu still the bill does sound interesting:

The bill will increase the deduction small businesses can take from their taxes from $112,000 to $125,000 and increase the number of businesses that will be eligible.

Don't Get Cute With Bankruptcy Court

From the Washington Post:

The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a financially troubled businessman lost an important right under the federal bankruptcy code because he failed to disclose all of his assets as the law requires.

In a 5-to-4 decision in Marrama v. Citizens Bank of Massachusetts, the court said Robert Marrama of Gloucester, Mass., could not convert his bankruptcy case from one chapter of the code to another, as the law ordinarily allows.

The reason, the court said, stemmed from his failure to disclose a Maine vacation home placed in a trust. Marrama, who operated a flooring company, listed the value of his interest in the property as zero, according to papers in the case

Open Door Law news

From the Noblesville Ledger:

The Cicero Town Council violated Indiana's Open Door Law by interviewing engineering firms in closed-door sessions, according to town attorney John Culp.

Steve Key, legal counsel for the Hoosier State Press Association, agreed. "That should not have been done in an executive session. They were wrong."

The Open Door Law, he explained, was written so the public's business is conducted in the open, allowing anyone interested to see what decision is made and for what reasons it was made.

The five-member town council held closed-door sessions, also called executive sessions, on Jan. 24 and Feb. 6 to interview firms interested in handling engineer- ing projects on a contractual basis.

The Open Door Law does allow a governing body to receive information about and interview prospective employees in closed-door sessions. However, the attorney general said in 1997 that contractors are not employees so interviews and information-gathering sessions about them must be done at a public session.

A later report from the same paper shows the importance of legal research:

Town attorney John Culp is blaming himself for Cicero Town Council violating Indiana's Open Door Law by interviewing engineering firms in two closed-door sessions.

"I thought it was alright to go ahead and interview in executive sessions," Culp told the board at its meeting Tuesday night.

The five-member council held closed-door sessions, also called executive sessions, on Jan. 24 and Feb. 6 to interview firms interested in handling engineering projects on a contractual basis. Indiana's Open Door law allows executive sessions to interview prospective employees. Contractors, however, are not considered employees.

Culp said the council asked in advance if executive sessions would be legal, but when the attorney became ill he was unable to research the answer.

actually, i am quite impressed by this Steve Culp's willingness to take responsibility for Cicero's actions.

From the New York Small Business Law blog comes this information on a new Internet resource for small businesses, startupping:

Startupping is a one-of-a-kind community resource created for Internet entrepreneurs by Internet entrepreneurs. It is a place to share information, ask questions, and tap into the experience of others who have built and are building web businesses. Read blog posts about startup issues, participate in our discussion forums, and view our wiki resources, including sample term sheets and a glossary. For more information about the Startupping site, see our about page.

The site has a lot of information and I have not had time to plumb it fully. However, it does seem useful for a person starting a small online business.

If you are thinking of starting a small business would do well to take a look at other posts on the New York Small Business blog. She has several links to blogs and resources for the small business.

Bankruptcy and credit reports

I no longer practice consumer bankruptcy law but I still get questions on it. Some from former clients about why their discharged debts still appear on their credit reports. Today I found this post on the New York Bankruptcy Litigation Blog. The writer succinctly states the problem and the solution. I cannot write any better than this fellow and I suggest anyone having the problem of discharged debts appearing on credit reports read this post now.

Franchise owners - a New York Times article worth reading

Anyone owning a food franchise or thinking of buying one ought to read this article from the New York Times: Left Holding the Bag in the Land of Fast Food. Other franchise owners may still fidn the article helpful. The writer uses the outbreak of e. coli cases at fast food restaurants as the starting point for discussing the riskiness of a franchise business.

After such a crisis, being a franchise owner is both a blessing and a curse. While the franchise has the marketing clout and financial strength of the parent company to back it up, it is also largely dependent on the parent company’s public relations and advertising to lure customers back.

From this lawyer's viewpoint, the question is - to steal a phrase from Capital One - what is in your franchise agreement?

E-mail and trade secrets

I missed this post from The Trade Secrets Blog. I report my embarrassment at this because I recognize the behavior described in the post. Web-based e-mail includes Yahoo and G-Mail and Netscape Mail (if that still exists) and MSN (or whatever Microsoft calls MSN nowadays).

From the New York Times (registration req'd), a story about the heartburn employers feel when employees transfer their confidential company email to web-accessible free personal email accounts offered by companies such as Google and Yahoo.

As the Times puts it, "employers, who envision corporate secrets leaking through the back door of otherwise well-protected computer networks, are not pleased."

Rest easily (for now) though, "[s]o far, no major corporate disasters caused by this kind of e-mail forwarding have come to light."

But, for the paranoid among us: "Lawyers in particular wring their hands over employees using outside e-mail services. They encourage companies to keep messages for as long as necessary and then erase them to keep them out of the reach of legal foes. Companies have no control over the life span of e-mail messages in employees’ Web accounts."

The New York Times has a free subscription policy but in case you do not want to take the time, here are some excerpts directly from the article:

Hospitals have an added legal obligation to protect patient records. But when DeKalb Medical Center in Atlanta started monitoring its staff use of Web-based e-mail, it found that doctors and nurses routinely forwarded confidential medical records to their personal Web mail accounts — not for nefarious purposes, but so they could continue to work from home.

In the months after the hospital began monitoring traffic to Web e-mail services, it identified “a couple hundred incidents,” said Sharon Finney, DeKalb’s information security administrator. “I was surprised about the lack of literacy about the technology we depend on every day,” she said.

DeKalb now forbids the practice, and uses several software systems that monitor the hospital’s outbound e-mail and Web traffic. Ms Finney said she still catches four to five perpetrators a month trying to forward hospital e-mail.

The Web mail services may also be prone to glitches. Last month, Google fixed a bug that caused the disappearance of “some or all” of the stored mail of around 60 users. A week later, it acknowledged a security hole that could have exposed its users’ address books to Internet attackers.

***

Paul Kocher, president of the security firm Cryptography Research, said the real issue for companies was trust. “If you can’t trust employees enough to use services like Gmail, they probably shouldn’t be working for you,” he said.

Many companies apparently do not have that level of trust. In a survey conducted last year, the e-mail security firm Proofpoint found that 37 percent of companies in the United States used software to monitor office use of Web mail.

With trade secrets does it not always come down to trust? I do not see any means of a business with employee trust issues to protect itself other than installing monitoring software. Do read this earlier post which widens the focus beyond only e-mail.

A Dominatrix Contract? How lawyers think

From thee Tax & Business Law Commentary Blog comes this post about Dominatrix seeking a contract. Mr. Levine thinks:

Of course, the question that first occurred to me is: Is the "Dominatrix" an independent contractor or an employee? This has obvious income tax and FICA/SECA implications.

My first thought was this: might the contract be void as being for an illegal purpose? The commentator to Mr. Levin's blog answers the independent contractor/employee question correctly (well, correctly for Indiana). I had to some looking for my answer. The short answer is that it is not void for being a contract for an illegal act.

The longer answer requires looking at the prostitution statute (IC 35-45-4-2):

Prostitution
35-45-4-2 Sec. 2. A person who knowingly or intentionally:
(1) performs, or offers or agrees to perform, sexual intercourse or deviate sexual conduct; or
(2) fondles, or offers or agrees to fondle, the genitals of another person;
for money or other property commits prostitution, a Class A misdemeanor. However, the offense is a Class D felony if the person has two (2) prior convictions under this section.
As added by Acts 1976, P.L.148, SEC.5. Amended by Acts 1977, P.L.340, SEC.77; Acts 1979, P.L.301, SEC.1; P.L.310-1983, SEC.3.

Then just to be on the safe side checking the definition of "Deviate sexual conduct" at IC 35-41-1-9:

"Deviate sexual conduct" defined
35-41-1-9 Sec. 9. "Deviate sexual conduct" means an act involving:
(1) a sex organ of one person and the mouth or anus of another person; or
(2) the penetration of the sex organ or anus of a person by an object.
As added by P.L.311-1983, SEC.10. Amended by P.L.183-1984, SEC.1.

And, that is legal reasoning in 60 seconds. It does beg the question of why we lawyers think of such things when faced with has other more generally interesting features.

Why Intellectual Property is Important For Your Business - trademarks

From Wiggin & Dana's Franchise Law Blog:

IHOP tells investors “Oops”

IHOP recently disclosed that it inadvertently allowed certain of its federal trademark and service mark registrations to lapse, which will require it to revise its Uniform Franchise Offering Circular ("UFOC"). IHOP advised investors that it is taking corrective measures with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, that it has also temporarily stopped selling new franchises pending the approval of state regulators to its changes to the UFOC. IHOP predicted that it will fix the problem “very shortly” and that “any issues regarding the validity of its federal trademark and service mark registrations will not have a material impact” on the franchise system. See this article for more details.

Advanced Directives - Good Idea from Vermont?

From the Elder Law Prof Blog:

Vermont agency establishes advance directives registry

Vermonters can now file an advance directive that will ensure that a person's critical health care decisions will be honored during a time of incapacitating illness, coma, or end-of-life care. The advance directive will be maintained in a registry called the "Vermont Advance Directive Registry" established by the Vermont Department of Health. Locating the documents and finding the proper designated "agent" to make health decisions is often a stumbling block to following patient wishes when the patient is unconscious or unable to communicate. "This new registry marks a significant innovation and added protection for Vermonters," said John Campbell, executive director of the Vermont Ethics Network. "It provides the peace of mind and security of knowing that their wishes, exactly as expressed in the advance directive, can be available immediately in a medical emergency or critical care situation.Publish

Source: Emax Health News, http://www.emaxhealth.com/24/9447.html

If this registry allows for access by all healthcare providers and the ability to locate the attorney-in-fact, then I would say this is something Indiana ought to look into. I assume that it is digital. Doesn't make much sense if it is not.

Daughter tries to steal ring off of dead's mom's finger

From Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog:

Mrs. Svajada of Corpus Christi, Texas left instructions to be buried wearing her ring

As the ring was worth $7,000, her daughter and friend decided that it was a "waste" to bury the ring and thus attempted to pry the ring off the Mrs. Svajada's body during the funeral. The daughter was charged with felony theft.

See AP, Woman charged in theft from mom's coffin, Feb. 16, 2007.

Charming. Sounds like Springer Show material.

I moved the family law posts to a new blog

Following some very good advice, I started Sam Hasler's Indiana Family Law Blog. I have moved all my family law posts there. Take a look and let me know what you think.

A checklist for good collection cases

I give the following checklist to my business clients who need collections work. A good collections case means the client having this information before they send me the file. Too often a debtor is not just a debtor but a true deadbeat. A true deadbeat has no qualms about skipping out on a job or a residence to avoid paying their debts.

1. The person's full name.
2. Person's Social Security Number and driver's license number.
3. Person's address.
4. Person's birth date.
5. Where person was last employed.
6. Copies of contracts and/or invoices unpaid.

Quite a commonsensical list really and all information that every business should have on the people it deals with.

Indiana Landlord Tenant Law News

I would like to keep the purely political off of this blog. However, Matt Tully wrote a column in the February 7 Indianapolis Star where politics and landlord-tenant law meet. The occasion was a bill requiring landlord's to give notice before they enter the premises.

Indiana's landlord-tenant law starts with statutes. Thus, why the legislators had a hearing on this bill.

The bill reads as follows:

(e) A tenant may not unreasonably withhold consent to the tenant's landlord to enter the tenant's dwelling unit in order to:
(1) inspect the dwelling unit;
(2) make necessary or agreed to:
(A) repairs;
(B) decorations;
(C) alterations; or
(D) improvements;
(3) supply necessary or agreed to services; or
(4) exhibit the dwelling unit to prospective or actual:
(A) purchasers;
(B) mortgagees;
(C) tenants;
(D) workers; or
(E) contractors.
(f) A landlord may enter the dwelling unit:
(1) without notice to the tenant in the case of an emergency that threatens the safety of the occupants or the landlord's property; and
(2) without the consent of the tenant:
(A) under a court order;
(B) if the tenant has abandoned or surrendered the dwelling unit; or
(C) for the reasons listed in subsection (e).
(g) A landlord:
(1) shall not abuse the right of entry or use a right of entry to harass a tenant;
(2) shall give a tenant reasonable written or oral notice of the landlord's intent to enter the dwelling unit; and
(3) may enter a tenant's dwelling unit only at reasonable times.

I cannot see anything in this bill which any of my landlord or tenant clients would find objectionable.

I find more interesting what is not in the bill - any penalty for violating the statute. I think that the landlord's remedy would simply be eviction.

I think tenants would generally have only constructive eviction as a remedy. This bill does not include commercial tenants but only residential ones. I think the idea is a bit on the noble side but without a penalty provision not terribly useful for tenant. If this bill does pass into law, I think it would do well to examine closely any allegations of harassment. Therein might lie the way to enough damages to make a case profitable.

I suggest in the meantime that all parties - landlords and tenants - pay close attention to their leases. I have seen landlords who bought their leases at office supply stores find out that their lease was very good - for the tenant! The leases I draft allow for reasonable access. So any lease that does not allow reasonable access is not worth the purchase price for the landlord and not worth the trouble of signing for the tenant.

Health Care Powers of Attorney - Why You Need One

A recent case brought close to home the importance of having a power of attorney. An adult has a stroke and the wife cannot pay the bills because all of his income is in a bank account in his name only. Having had a stroke, I had to file for guardianship. I charge $150.00 for a power of attorney with a health care provision and a living will, but a guardianship starts at about eight times that much. So much money and stress could have been avoided if the husband had had the proper documents!

Why did he not have the proper documents? Because he never thought that he would need them. A power of attorney appoints a person to act for you as if they were you to take care of your business. A healthcare power of attorney appoints a person to act for you in taking care of your health issues. A living will tells a healthcare provider (your doctor and/or hospital) that you do or do not want to receive life support.

I have a Top Three Reasons of Why You Do Not Need a Power of Attorney. I can tell you that if you answer "NO" to any two of the following, you need a power of attorney and a living will:

3. You have a power of attorney and living will.
2. You will never be incapable of making decisions about your business or health care.
1. You want to receive medical treatment if you are incapacitated regardless of the costs.

Practice management stuff -The Opera Browser

Bob Ambrogi reviews the Opera Browser. Opera always intrigued and I almost tried it out when Netscape Communicator started to die. Right now I am content with Firefox but I am tempted by this part of Ambrogi's review:

Like the latest versions of IE and Firefox, Opera comes with a built-in RSS feed reader. Unlike the other two, it comes with a highly functional e-mail program and newsgroup reader that, once again, is simply more clever than others. Rather than organize messages in files, Opera's e-mail program organizes them in "views." These views can have familiar names such as "received" and "unread" or can be customized, but they are actually hyperlinks embedded in messages. This means that you can assign a single message to multiple views without having to move or copy the message.

I use Yahoo Mail and I really do not like it. I used Eudora from when I first went online till I left for Indianapolis. I miss Eudora. When I did not use Eudora, I used Netscape's integrated e-mail client. Firefox does not do e-mail but there is a sister product which is an e-mail client. That is Thunderbird. I downloaded Thunderbird but have not found the time to get it working properly with Yahoo Mail. When I get caught up with a few other things....

With so much of our practices dependent on the internet, we need to be smart about choosing our browsers.

Attention- some federal regulatory changes

Last month, President Bush ordered changes in how federal regulatory agencies are to give informal guidance. From The Washington Post:

President Bush issued an executive order curbing the power of agencies to regulate industry through "guidance" -- informal advice that falls short of official rules yet can still cost companies millions of dollars to comply with. The order, which also calls on agencies to project the cost of new rules, among other demands, gives the White House more power to review how they write standards to regulate corporatebehavior.

The fort Wayne Journal Gazette had a small blurb about this on February 2.

I do not see much in the way of direct federal regulation in my practice - only my funeral home clients are directly regulated federally - but I think the Washington Post article shows how this can affect local businesses.

I got to say - Colts win

I am completely surprised. That's all I got to say. Well, maybe not - I acquired a fondness for the Bears when I was in law school but the Colts looked beautiful tonight.

Landlord-Tenant matters: security deposits

Since I represent both tenants and landlords, this post may be a bit schizoid. Security deposits present problems for both inexperienced landlords and unsophisticated tenants. Indiana Code IC 32-31-3-12 sets out the law on security deposits.

Within 45 days after the end of the lease and taking possession of the rental property, the landlord must give a written itemized accounting of how the landlord spent the damage deposit unless the tenant has given the landlord written notice of the tenant's new address.

Both tenants and landlords need to pay attention to when the 45 days start. The 45 days start when the tenant moves out and gives the keys and a writing showing the tenant's new address to the landlord.

Both the tenant and the landlord need to keep track of the time after the tenant leaves, gives control of the property to the landlord and gives notice of the new address.

If the tenant moves out at the end of the lease, the tenant should get a receipt from the landlord showing the date that the tenant moved out, that the tenant delivered the keys and gave the landlord a writing showing the tenant's new address.

If the tenant cannot get teh landlord to sign the receipt I just described, then the tenant should send a certified letter giving the landlord the tenant's new address. The tenant needs to keep a copy of the letter and the green, certified mail card. The card shows when the landlord got the tenant's letter.

The landlord needs to be meticulous when itemizing the expenses applied against the security deposit. The landlord needs to be particularly meticulous when there was an eviction or the tenant claims the landlord broke the lease. The security deposit statute requires the landlord "to return to the tenant the security deposit minus any amount applied to: (1) the payment of accrued rent; (2) the amount of damages that the landlord has suffered or will reasonably suffer by reason of the tenant's noncompliance with law or the rental agreement; and (3) unpaid utility or sewer charges that the tenant is obligated to pay under the rental agreement...."

Tenants should photograph or videotape the rental property before moving out. The landlord will have its photographs and the tenant needs to have their evidence ready.

The statute provides for specific penalties if the landlord fails to comply with the statute. The tenant's penalty for not giving the landlord notice of the tenant's new address is the landlord can continue to hold the damage deposit. A landlord failing to comply with the statute may be liable for the entire deposit and for the tenant's attorney fees.

Why self-help is rarely a good idea

Tenant withholds rent to get the landlord's attention about a problem with the leased property. What can the landlord do?

Well, the landlord can evict the tenant. Which is probably what the landlord will do to the tenant with the landlord disregarding the tenant's outrage. Then the landlord will ask the court for the withheld rent as damages (damages being money that should be paid by the tenant/defendant to the landlord/plaintiff).

So much for self-help.

Of course, I am going to suggest getting an attorney. An ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure, an attorney can tell you if you are being an utter fool or if you have a good grievance against the landlord.

See, there is a situation called constructive eviction. The landlord did something (or did not do something the law required the landlord to do) which had the effect of making the property uninhabitable. Think about not fixing a furnace during sub-zero winter weather. Some cities passed local ordinances giving more protection to tenants. Also, your lease might provide its own protections.

An attorney can give you a better idea of what your rights are and what remedies are available to you.

How to change your name

Every once in a while someone wants to know how to change their name or their child's name. Adults can change their name with fair ease. Only incarcerated persons cannot change their names. (IC 34-28-2-1.5) The Indiana Judicial Center posted a self-service form for adults here. If you want to save a few dollars, then you might want to try this yourself. I know that I do not charge much for this type of case and I think you might be surprised at the cost.

However, changing a minor child's name is trickier. A minor child being any under child under eighteen (18 years) of age. Here is the statute - notice that it requires the consent of the other parent except in certain circumstance:

IC 34-28-2-2
Filing petition; procedure for change of name of minor
Sec. 2. (a) The petition described in section (1) of this chapter may be filed with the circuit court of the county in which the person resides.
(b) In the case of a parent or guardian who wishes to change the name of a minor child, the petition must be verified, and it must state in detail the reason the change is requested. In addition, except where a parent's consent is not required under IC 31-19-9, the written consent of a parent, or the written consent of the guardian if both parents are dead, must be filed with the petition.
(c) Before a minor child's name may be changed, the parents or guardian of the child must be served with a copy of the petition as required by the Indiana trial rules.
As added by P.L.1-1998, SEC.24.

I really do think an attorney needs to handle these type of cases.

Collections - Why not to do it yourself

I meant to write about this a week or more ago. While waiting in our County Court One, I watched as the judge dispatched the pro se collection cases. One plaintiff has been in business for many years and I was surprised to see him without an attorney. He proceeded to ask the judge some general questions about the procedures of collecting his judgment.

Too often I see people like this fellow or I get telephone calls from people like him. They have a judgment and the judgment has gone unpaid. Some people operate under the belief that people will automatically pay a judgment. Some people think that the court will insure that the judgment gets paid. They all share one trait - great annoyance at not getting paid. They find the small claims procedure so simple and cheap. Some burst with pride that they did not need to pay for an attorney. They burst with the exact opposite of pride when I explain that they have to work to get their money. That the courts exist to pass judgment but enforcing those judgments is the plaintiff's job.

Collections cases never involve the spectacular trial - generally these are the cases where liability is admitted by the defendant. The real work starts with getting the judgment. The plaintiff needs to find the defendant's assets and then get control of those assets to pay the judgment. All too often, the plaintiff must also find the defendant.

Not all of the defendant's assets are created equal. Exemptions protect the debtor from collections. Indiana law exempts assets from taking by a plaintiff by type of asset and amount of its worth. Indiana and federal law also exempts a certain amount of wages from garnishment.

Wage garnishment is easiest collection method. Easiest if the debtor has a job or does not skip from job to job or gets paid enough to garnish or is not paid in cash. Garnishment requires a lot of paperwork. Assume you know where the debtor works, you need to file a Motion Proceeding Supplemental to Execution naming both the debtor and the employer, a Summons to Garnishee Defendant, and enough copies for both the debtor and the employer. Some counties require an Order to Appear for the debtor. Then you have to show up for a hearing. Now everything could go right at this point - the employer still employs the debtor and the debtor has a garnishable wage. What if the debtor does not appear and is no longer employed? More paperwork, of course. An Order to Show Cause in most counties but not all. That means you need to get some idea of what is the local practice. Another hearing, too. If the debtor does not appear for the Show Cause hearing? More paperwork requesting a body attachment. A body attachment is an Order from the court to the local sheriff to have the debtor arrested for failing to appear as ordered by the court. However, do not think that the sheriff will go hunt down your debtor. They do not do this.

By this time, you have enriched your local Kinko's and spent more than you probably ever wanted to in your local small claims court without seeing a dime. You will need to figure out how much of a benefit this will be to you.

A collections attorney has a large enough practice to subsidize the slow paying cases. By that I mean, there are enough paying cases to justify the attorney to be in the courthouse to work the slow paying or no paying cases.

The fellow I mentioned at the beginning now must figure out the paperwork that he needs. He will have to do this on his own since the court cannot help him fill it out. Hopefully, the will tell him if he has done anything wrong. He needs to get the copies made and delivered to the court. If he does not have enough, he will have to go back and make more copies. Then he will need to make time to appear at more hearings. All this may detract from his current business.

If you are thinking of collecting your own debts, I suggest you think seriously about the true costs to you. I am going to describe what makes a good collections case in another post.

Anderson City permit information

This post is very narrow and specific. For those of us living and working in Anderson, the City of Anderson has a page on its website for Applications and Permits. I have not gone through all of them as they are in PDF format. However, any looking to do any building projects this year or want to do business with the City ought to take a look at them. Here is the list:

Municipal Development

* Fee Schedule
* Inspections Provided by Permit
* Required Inspections and Instructions
* Required Submittals for Class 1
* Required Submittals for Residential
* License to Encroach Application
* Trade Permit Fee Calculation
* Commercial and Multi-Family Permit Application
* Demolition and Relocation Permit Application
* Detached Garage, Deck, Accessory Permit Application
* Electrical Permit Application
* HVAC Permit Application
* One and Two Family Permit Application
* Plumbing Permit Application
* Sign Construction Permit Application
* Swimming Pool Permit Application
* Subdivision Control Ordinance
* Thoroughfare Plan
* Board of Zoning Appeals Special Exception
* Certificate of Appropriateness
* Secondary Plat
* Primary Plat
* Variance
* REPLAT
* Zone Map Change
* Improvement Location Permit (Instructions)
* Improvement Location Permit Application
* 2007 BZA Calendar
* 2007 BZA Calendar (pictorial)
* 2007 Plan Commission Calendar
* 2007 Plan Commission Calendar (pictorial)
* Plan Authentication Agreement
* Zoning Guide
* Street Name Packet
* Application for Transient Merchant License

Economic Development

* Application Designation Revitalization
* Commercial Tax Abatement
* New Equipment Tax Abatement
* Residential Tax Abatement
* Preliminary Application For Issuance Of Economic Development Bonds

City Engineering

* Application for Sewer Service
* Drainage Permit
* Driveway Permit

Miscellaneous

* Dumpster Permit
* Grant Application
* 2006 Recycling Calendar

Controller

* Amusement Location Machine Renewal Application
* Application for Massage Therapist License
* City of Anderson Sales Registration
* Master Vendor Application
* Permit Application

Purchasing Department

* W9 Form (For Print Only)
* Vendor Information Form