My scratcher ticket won! Then, I threw it away.

     Sometimes, Theresa and I get a good laugh by opening junk mail, so, I have tended to open it on occasions.  For example, if there is an envelope that clearly looks like junk mail and also appears to have a check inside, I like to open it and say to her, "Look, Honey, we've got a check for $5,000.00 in the mail.  Wow, that is great!!"  Then, I flip it over to read the fine print and announce the oppressive interest rate that I agree to by cashing the check.  Then we laugh, rip it up, and toss it. 
     I came home on Thursday to a mailer with the Presidential Seal on it saying, over the colors of the American Flag, that I would receive top dollar for my current vehicle and that "Kelley Blue Book Official Guide will be honored."   I was intrigued, so I opened it.  After considering what "honored" meant in the ad, my eyes were drawn lower to a much more important pronouncement.  There, below the fold of the mailer, was the following: "ATTENTION, enclosed is a scratcher ticket with a value of up to $10,000 CASH."  My colorful scratcher ticket was enclosed.  Winning was simple.  If you scratched off three matching symbols, you won.  As the advertisement stated, "to win: the winning boxes below must be the same."  It also guaranteed that the winning $10,000 scratcher had been mailed.  Somehow, I assumed my boxes would match (by golly, I like to think I'm a winner!!!), and they did!  Then, I read the finest fine print, and discovered the odds of winning.  There were six prizes, five of which were bona fide big time prizes.  The six, well, I don't know, but the odds of winning one of the 5 big prizes were 1 in 12,500.  The odds of winning the six prize.....12495:12,500..........  Yes, your statistical calculation is correct!  Everyone wins!  Be it a pen, a credit towards the purchase of a new vehicle, or whatever.  My  scratcher ticket was a winner.  I might be one of the lucky 5, but, probably won't go in to check.  I do, however, wonder how many folks that got the mailer thought they really had won one of the big prizes.....
    Let me be clear here, they are giving away prizes to everyone who got the mailer, so this really is a nice way for them to entice people to their store, and I kind of feel like this is a fairly harmless bit of playful deception.
     But, there are other more dangerous junk mailers.  If you get the check in the mail that Theresa and I laugh about, just throw it away.  I see so many people who get into bad situations with high interest rate loans, or get into a cycle of payday to payday loans, that it just makes me sick.  There are folks out there who, to keep from bouncing a check they wrote to a payday loan place, have to go back to that payday loan place, or another one, and write another check to get cash which they can deposit to keep the first check from bouncing--then do it again, then again, then again and again, always paying the ridiculous fees for the privilege of the up-front cash.  That cycle can be broken, and people caught in it know it needs to be broken, they just feel like there is no way out.  People who, from the outside, see things like this happen are truly informed in their perspective.  From an ivory tower, those who don't see it might feel like money problems come from being lazy.  It is truly not so.  People work hard, but everyone can't be as successful as those in the ivory tower, and everyone does not start from the same place in the race towards the American Dream.  Illnesses, job loss, divorces, and poverty happen to good people, and once the problem begins, the attempts to solve the problem can make bigger problems.  If you are in the cycle, please consider seeking help from an attorney.
     Next time you get that flyer in the mail, read the fine print, laugh about it, and throw it away.  Unless, that is, you are looking for a new car.  In which case, maybe you might win $10,000 (payable in monthly installments of $208.33 per month for 48 months).
  http://www.jacksonlawiowa.com/

Trust Issues; Snowblowers and Debt relief agencies

I admit it.  I have some trust issues.  There are some things with which I have just not been able to become comfortable.  The first is the snowblower.  Especially this morning, I am dreading this lack of trust.  My driveway is covered in snowpack, and it means that I will be spending hours clearing it with the shovel and ice chipper.  There are ways to define my resistance to snowblowers in a positive light.  Growing up on an Iowan family farm, I was no stranger to hard work.  Some Saturdays were entirely spent scooping...and not snow.  Some weeks were spent throwing hay bales.  Although I may not have felt it at the time, I now look back fondly on those days.  When your muscles are sore and your body is tired, you know you've had an honest day's work.  There may be a little stubborness in that distrust as well.  In any event, this afternoon, around 3:00 or so, I am going to tackle the snow and try to clear the driveway.  And really, though I may sound like a glutton for punishment, I do look forward to it.

     On a more serious note, however, I have a severe lack of trust for debt relief and tax relief agencies.  Having spoken with numerous folks that have used credit relief agencies,  the generalized facts seem to be this: person contacts debt relief agency, begins paying substantial amounts of money to the company, and is surprised to learn after several months that the agency has done nothing for them but take their money.  Some of those folks are then surprised to learn that they cannot get their money back without a fight, and, because it is an out-of-state entity, trying to get back their money may seem too hard and too expensive.  If you are my client, I will strongly urge you away from consulting those agencies with one exception: Consumer Credit of Des Moines.  As I tell my clients, and those considering filing bankruptcy, if you want to try something else first or it makes sense to do so, you could have me try to help you negotiate with creditors.  Another cost effective option may be to go to Consumer Credit of Des Moines....but don't go to any other debt relief agency.  I have no business relationship with Consumer Credit of Des Moines and receive nothing for making that recommendation.  I say this because it is a business in Iowa, and I have never heard the stories about them that I have heard about others.  So if you want to try debt relief agencies, please do not call the toll free number on the TV unless it is Tom Coates in one of his zany commercials. Here is the website:   http://www.consumercredit-dm.com/  If you have tax problems, pay a local accountant to help you.  Their fees may likely be no more than the tax relief agencies' fees, and even if they are, they are local and thus more easily accountable for their actions and accessible to you.  I hope you can share my distrust of these agencies.  If you have had an experience with one of these agencies that is positive, I would be interested to hear it.  

Please enjoy your Saturday while I work on my trust issues by chipping the driveway.
http://www.jacksonlawiowa.com/

The start of a new journey

     I am starting a blog!  I hope to cover all facets of my life, being honest to what I want to talk about at the moment.  Hopefully the blog will provide some understanding of the legal world and will help to show my legal philosophy while also giving some insight into my personal life and interests.  We'll see.
Saturday mornings for me are usually times to reflect on the week, plan for the weekend, and plot out the next week's schedule.   I am reflecting this week on helping a client this week save several thousand dollars that the client owed to creditors.  Having grown up in areas that may not have had the best economic outlooks, I know and have known some really great people who have problems making ends meat.  Just because you can't buy that fancy house, car, or go on the fancy trip doesn't make you less of a person.  To the contrary as we all know, material distractions can simply clutter up a person's life.  I am always sensitive to budgets and know that legal services are expensive.  So, it always makes me feel great when I can say that not only did I help that person out of the problem they were facing, but I also saved them money, essentially "paying for myself" through the savings.  Obviously, it does not always happen that way, but when it does, like it did this week, I do get a great feeling!

STOP LIGHT CAMERAS SEE DOLLAR SIGNS

     Also in my head this week: stoplight cameras.  Brad Zaun was on the news talking about how he did not support them and that he got a ticket when his son ran a red light because the vehicle was in Brad Zaun's name...thereby punishing Brad Zaun for breaking a law that he did not break with no need to prove that he did.  The Democratic response was that the cameras save lives, make sure laws are followed, but, as an added benefit, also add revenue.  Sorry, let's be honest about this issue.  There would be no cameras if they did not generate revenue and pay for themselves.  Sure, they may make it safer and sure they may cause people to follow the law.  But, think about it: we could put cameras in people's homes and on every street corner and that too would make things safer and insure laws were followed.  Also, if you are punishing the person that did not break the law (i.e. the vehicle owner as opposed to the driver), what crime control are we getting?  Whose behavior are we controlling?  We could lower the speed limit to 20 mph on the interstates and that would make it safer too.  So, let's be honest.  This is a cash cow for the city.  They need not patrol the intersections...saving what would be employment costs, and they still get the money.  I don't consider myself a big Brad Zaun fan, but he is right about this one.  Democrats, get on the right side of this issue, or at least admit that it is about revenue and not about saving lives.  Our laws measure risk with personal freedom and privacy.  These cameras need to go.