Find Money! Protect Yourself!

YOUR UNCLAIMED MONEY OR PROPERTY

Yes that's right! You may be entitled to money without knowing about it. In California when a financial institution looses track of you, or in other circumstances, the balance goes to the State where it is held until you claim it. It only takes a few minutes to see if California has money that belongs to you, so check it out! Here is the link, and it is a government website (if you have lived in other states, you may want to see if they offer a similar service):

California State Controllers Website:
http://scoweb.sco.ca.gov/UCP/

PROTECT YOUR IDENTITY

If you have not heard that identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world, you have not been paying much attention to the news, or the hundreds of commercials advertising services to protect your identity.

While I cannot say much about these identity theft protection services, I can tell you that for a LOT less money you can do just about everything they do. If you are a California resident start by following the instructions on this government website, it is GREAT advice (even if you are not from California):

California Office of Privacy Protection
http://www.oispp.ca.gov/consumer_privacy/default.asp

Loan Modification Tips

TIP 1 - Preparation
Get your financial records together, including tax returns, pay stubs, and information on your monthly expenses. It is best to enter your check book into a program like Quicken or MS Money, that way you can run a “report” with a summary and details of your expenses and income. It will make family budgeting and doing your taxes easier too!

TIP 2 - Get the Facts
Do your research on the internet, talking to your bank and reading articles on the subject. There are PLENTY of them right now! HUD (U.S. Dept of Housing and Urban Development) is an agency that partially regulates the home mortgage industry. This is NOT the only way to modify your mortgage, but it does give you the facts about the government loan modification programs. Here are a couple of links from their website that deal with loan modification that might be helpful to you (copy and paste into your browser):

Loan Modification - Frequently Asked Questions
http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/nsc/faqlm.cfm

Loan Modification Option
http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/nsc/rep/lmfact.pdf

TIP 3 - Attitude
Be Patient, the process takes a long time.
Be Firm. Your initial contacts at the bank, in customer service, are unlikely to be of much help. Be Persistent. Focus on finding your way to the decision-makers, either customer service supervisors or the bank's "loss mitigation" department.
Be Aggressive (in a nice way). Remember, the fault for America’s financial crisis in part is the fault of the greedy bankers that loaned money they should not have. While you may or may not have made your own mistakes, they certainly share part of the blame (along with STUPID government officials). So don’t be afraid to be insistent.

TIP 4 - Get Help
There are many attorneys and brokers offering loan modification services right now. Many are offering help with the government programs such as HUD’s, however some attorneys are taking a much more aggressive approach and reviewing your original loan documents looking for mistakes and holes that can be exploited to force the lender to lower your interest, extend payments and even reduce principal. While I do NOT offer this type of service, I would encourage you to be careful when selecting an attorney to represent you in this approach. Here are some guidelines you might want to use to compare attorneys:

1. How many years does the attorney have practicing contract law?
2. Does the attorney want an up-front retainer or is the attorney paid on a contingency (if they don’t win, they don’t get paid)?
3. Do you have to pay for the attorney’s costs? Or are costs included in the contingency?
4. Does the attorney have references from other clients for whom attorney successfully renegotiated their loans?
5. Check for a discipline record for that attorney on the California State Bar website: www.calbar.org.
6. Check out the attorney on AVVO.com. Not a perfect source, but it might be instructive.

PLEASE DON'T BE FOOLED

Recently I have had at least 3 clients call me with questions about a document they received in the mail or email. They LOOK official, they look and sound like you had better do something about this NOW, or else! PLEASE DO NOT BE FOOLED. Here are some that I have seen or clients have told me about recently:

CORPORATE (MINUTES) REMINDER. This phony mailing is designed to look like an official document from the CA Secretary of State, however it is a TRICK! If you actually read it, the document admits that it is a solicitation and not an official document. The sender is counting on you NOT to actually read it, but just sen them a check. REMEMBER if you have a corporation you DO have to do minutes and file certain forms each year, BUT don't be fooled by these trick mailings. Call your attorney - Get it done right!

AUTOMOBILE WARRANTY - I have gotten these in the mail and have been BOMBARDED by telephone solicitations. The official looking document or so-called courtesy phone call claims, "Your automobile warranty is about to expire, take action now or loose your coverage." Again, don't be fooled. I have NO warranty left on my cars and still get these fakes calling me. Call your dealer or bank if you want to know the status of your warranty and if renewal is available, but be smart, don't over pay.

EMAIL SCAMS - I am sure everyone has received an email from someone claiming to have the right to millions of dollars that they will be happy to share with you, if you will just help them to get the money from some government or bank or insurance company. The end result is always the same... they get your bank information and then you find out that your bank account has been stripped clean. Don't be fooled, almost all of these guys are sending emails from little internet cafe's in Nigeria by unemployed men. The FBI has a special website to explain more about this scam.

Trust Administration Help

I have just developed a NEW Trust Administration Notebook for surviving trustees and successor trustees when one or both trustees have passed away or have become unable to handle their own finances. This resource manual has specific information about the trust you are administering, checklists, investment guidelines, duty chart, "how to" guide for accountings, samples, forms, etc. IF you are administering a trust that has become irrevocable, this guide will be of great value to you to help keep you out of "trouble" by giving you the specific information and assistance you need to administer your trust successfully. Call me at 760-930-9668 for more information.

IRAs - Who should be the Beneficiary?

IRA Beneficiaries: The IRS is at it again making things difficult for people who want to name their trust as a beneficiary. Although it is ALLOWED to name a trust as a beneficiary, using the language that I have supplied to you in the past, the IRS seems to be taking the position in recent letter rulings, that if you do, the Minimum Required Distributions will be based upon the age of the OLDEST beneficiary. If you have a large sum in IRAs, you should review this with your tax adviser before naming or keeping the Trust as the beneficiary.