Tuesday, September 8, 2009

90#

The 9-0-# scam has been around for years and is directed at businesses, hospitals, government agencies and other organizations that use telephone switching equipment called private branch exchanges (PBXs) to handle their calls.

This type of fraud involves a perpetrator who calls an office and cons an unsuspecting worker into transferring him or her to an outside line. The perpetrator then starts dialing calls that are charged to the owner of the PBX. In this latest version, the caller claims to be an AT&T service technician "repairing" the phone lines and convinces the recipient of the call to help out by transferring him to an outside line and then hanging up.

Below are some points about this scam worth remembering:

This scam doesn't affect residential customers; its target is businesses.

An AT&T service technician would never call customers and ask them to help check phone lines.

The scam is generating a lot of interest in the media and over the Internet, but our network fraud experts report no increase in the number of fraud cases as a result of this notoriety.

The best prevention against this type of fraud is for business managers to make their office staffs aware of it and to review what to do if it happens.

If someone receives such a call, he or she should ask the "technician" for a call-back number or for the name and number of the caller's supervisor. Then hang up.

To report this or any other phone scams AT&T business customers should call their account representatives. You also can call the AT&T Business Customer Care Center at 1-800-222-0400, or report the scam to your local law enforcement agency.

NEWS WANTED SEND TO lakeashtontalk @yahoo.com

FLORIDA IS THE SCAM CAPITAL OF THE WORLD!

By creating the Office of the Condominium Ombudsman in 2004, a very successful step had been taken in the right direction. Finally, condo-owners have a place to ask for help when confronted with abusive situations within their associations. Within a short period of time and with limited resources, the Ombudsman Office has made a big impact on helping Florida ’s condo-owners. But it clearly showed as well that the Office of the Condominium Ombudsman needs the necessary power to enforce its demands to come to the table and to negotiate. Currently, unwilling boards encouraged by their attorneys just laugh at the Ombudsman, being told that the Ombudsman has “no power” whatsoever.

This has to change! We already have a toothless tiger – the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Not because of lack of power, but because the DBPR executives refuse to enforce the statutes and refuse to go after the violators. In fact, the DBPR actually protects the violators!

CCFJ, Inc. -- a Consumer Alliance -- has gained immense support during the last few years. We increased our direct membership to more than 450 paying members – meaning citizens who actually decided to join our cause and pay their annual fees out of their own pockets. Our e-mail alert list has now more than 5000 subscribed members.

Our Alliance Members have more than 7000 paying members, not considering LULAC (League Of United Latin American Citizens), who strongly support our cause!

We are the largest state-wide property owners' advocacy organization in Florida that is not run by a law firm but by homeowners. Why do so many owners/board members think that these law-firm organizations are willing to lobby for owner-friendly bills? Why do these board members financially support the lobbyists of these groups with owners' money? Owners have to understand: Those folks want your money -- not a happy, well-run community!

IMAGINE A PEACEFUL COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION WITH HAPPY OWNERS?

The Ultimate Nightmare For The Wallet Of Every Association Attorney!

We are looking forward to working with you on association reforms that will improve the lives of millions of citizens living in mandated properties in Florida.

Fairness In Associations Is The Goal

Please help us achieve our goals! Your support is important for many Florida citizens.

Please contact me by phone at (386) 740-1503 or by e-mail at jan@ccfj.net

I will gladly answer all of your questions and furnish whatever information may be helpful to you in understanding our issues.

Warm Regards,

Jan Bergemann, President
Cyber Citizens For Justice, Inc.

Wake-up

Dear Florida Homeowners and Condo-owners,

There is a long way to go to achieve the final goal of creating the protection homeowners and condo-owners in Florida need and deserve. Even more so since the Florida legislature in the 2009 legislative session failed to pass one single bill to solve the many problems owners are facing in community associations. This is unbelievable -- considering the daily headlines in the media.

The economy and the bad real estate market finally delivered the proof for what we had claimed all along: Community associations are NOT protecting property values!

This claim was just a sales gimmick to lure families into buying into these communities. So was the so-called safety claim that gated communities provide more security! That was just another fairy tale.

Developers go bankrupt, dragging families into a financial chaos, making them lose their life savings. The mistake of the homeowners? They bought a home at the wrong place at the wrong time. And despite paying all their bills on time, they end up bankrupt and without a home due to the fact that our government officials would rather protect the guilty parties!

Associations go bankrupt, dragging down owners who always paid their dues. This is caused by many homes and units in foreclosure, owners not paying their dues or homes that are just plain empty. In many associations the financially responsible owners can't make up for the budget deficits and lose their homes as well when association bills are not paid and utility companies cut off services.

Lured to Florida with the false advertising claim of "Carefree Living in the Sunshine," retired folks can't keep up with the steady increase of association dues – not to mention all the special assessments levied -- and lose their homes to foreclosure!

OUR SOCIETY SHOULD BE ASHAMED!

During the 2009 legislative session Florida 's legislators were more interested in protecting the banking industry than their constituents. Obviously, it doesn't matter to the legislators that many families lose their homes and life savings, as long as special interest is protected. Don't forget, it was the banks and the mortgage industry that got us all in the mess in the first place. In one word: GREED! But the guilty parties get stimulus packages from our government, while homeowners' financial problems are being ignored!

In the 2010 legislative session (or even earlier!) we will be asking our Florida legislators to enact the following changes to the laws that govern properties in mandatory deed-restricted communities:

Hold Banks And Mortgage Holders Liable For Unpaid Association Fees
Stop Abusive Liens & Foreclosures In Associations
Hold Renters Liable For Unpaid Association Fees
Create One Government Agency With Strict Enforcement Power For ALL Associations
Create Ombudsman Office For Homeowners’ Associations
Give Ombudsman Office More Power To Enforce Demands
Enforce Fair Elections In Associations
Reduce Costly Litigation -- Create Easy Arbitration Provision
Stop Frivolous Litigation
Strengthen Disclosure Provisions In FS 190 – Community Development Districts
Protect The Vested Rights of Florida’s Mandated Property Owners
We have complete bill proposals for legislation for all the above issues.

And not to forget two important issues that bankrupt Florida's homeowners and condo-owners:

Property Insurance Reform
Property Tax Reform
All over Florida, citizens are suffering from abuses because of LACK OF ENFORCEMENT of existing laws. The Florida Statutes specify certain rules, but enforcement is totally lacking

Jan Bergemann, President
Cyber Citizens For Justice, Inc.

90# on your telephone

Subject: more safety

I dialed '0', to check this out, asked the operator, who confirmed that this was correct so please pass it on .. ... . (l also checked out Snopes.com. This is true, and also applies to cell phones!)

PASS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW

I received a telephone call last evening from an individual identifying himself as an AT&T Service Technician (could also be Telus) who was conducting a test on the telephone lines. He stated that to complete the test I should touch nine(9), zero(0), the pound sign (#), and then hang up. Luckily, I was suspicious and refused.

Upon contacting the telephone company, I was informed that by pushing 90#, you give the requesting individual full access to your telephone line, which enables them to place long distance=2 0calls billed to your home phone number.

I was further informed that this scam has been originating from many local jails/prisons DO NOT press 90# for ANYONE.

The GTE Security Department requested that I share this information with EVERYONE I KNOW.

After checking with Verizon they also said it was true, so do not dial 90# for anyone!!!!!

PLEASE HIT THAT FORWARD BUTTON AND PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!!!

Monday, September 7, 2009

Teen fatally hurt in golf cart accident

Brooklyn, Ia. — Police said a Marion teenager died Saturday in a golf cart accident at Holiday Lake.

Scott McCarthy, 14, lost control of a cart about 5:30 p.m. near 3198 Barbara Drive in Brooklyn, a Poweshiek County sheriff's report said. McCarthy and three juvenile passengers were thrown from the cart; one suffered minor injuries.

Banker killed in golf cart accident

WILLINGBORO -- A TD Bank executive was killed after falling out of a golf cart Friday evening, police said.

Frank Papotto, 44, Moorestown reportedly fell out of a moving golf cart shortly after 6 p.m. on Friday while at the Rancocas Country Club Golf Course, according to police.

Papotto was airlifted to the Cooper Trauma Center at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, where he later died from injuries sustained during the fall.

Police did not disclose how Papotto fell out of the golf court, but said the incident is under investigation.

TD Bank spokesperson Rebecca Acevedo said Papotto was a senior vice president in charge of call center operations at TD Bank, formerly Commerce Bank.

A bank employee for more than 28 years, Papotto worked out of the company's Mt. Laurel offices, she said.

"We're saddened by the turn of events and our thoughts are with his family," Acevedo said. "He was an icon of the bank and he'll be sorely missed."

Consumer Complaints numbers

Condo Ombudsman
Danille Caroll

Jon Peet -- Department of Business and Professional Regulation

OTHER RESOURCES:

Violation of Condominium Laws Dept. of Business and Professional Regulation 1-800-226-9101 ext 2
Discrimination/

Harassment
Florida Commission on Human Relations 850-488-7082
Emergency assistance FEMA -- Florida Emergency Information 800-621-3362
Veterans Florida Department

of Veterans Affairs
US Department of Veterans Affairs
800-342-3557
727-319-7408

Insurance Department of Financial Services 800-227-8676
Emergencies

Community Service
Broward Community Service
Miami-Dade Community Service
Florida Emergency Information 954-831-4000

305-468-5900

800-342-3557

Consumer Complaints 800-435-7352
Contractor complaints Department of Business

and Professional
Regulation (DBPR)
850-487-1395
Elder assistance Department of Elder Affairs 800-963-5337

Additionally, the Condominium Ombudsman may be able to provide assistance with a broad range of topics. The Ombudsman may be contacted at 954-202-3234.


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Woman dead in a collision between a golf cart and a car.

Woman killed when minivan strikes golf cart

ALBANY - A Massachusetts woman was killed and another man seriously injured when a minivan collided with a golf cart on Route 16 early yesterday morning. A preliminary investigation shows that alcohol was a contributing factor

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Latest trouble at Pasco County's Bella Verde: foreclosure suit

Article Courtesy of
By LISA BUIE
Published August 18, 2009

SAN ANTONIO — On its Web site, Bella Verde promises lush living with an 18-hole golf course, homes by nine builders ranging from $200,000 to $2 million, a theater, a spa, swimming pools, tennis and volleyball courts. All opening in 2005.

"Here you will find the luxury, comfort, convenience and amenities you want — all together in one beautiful place," it says.

Four years later, the only evidence of the development has been a sign poked into the dirt of the area once known as Cannon Ranch.

And the only activity of late has been a foreclosure lawsuit filed by one of the three community development districts in the project.

Bella Verde Golf Community Development District Board of Supervisors said in a lawsuit filed this month that four developers — New Cities Land Co., Dad Properties, Bates Properties and Professional Land Development — have failed to pay back $10.4 million plus interest on bonds it issued to pay for infrastructure. It asks the court to sell the property to repay the debt.

The lawsuit did not specify the size of the property involved or how many homes or other amenities were planned in that portion of Bella Verde.

Community development districts, commonly known as CDDs, are created to help pay for infrastructure such as roads, drainage and parks within neighborhoods. The districts issue bonds to finance the projects and then charge homeowners through assessments to pay off the bond debts.

"They're like governments," said Russ Weyer, a senior executive at Fishkind & Associates, an Orlando-based economics firm.

With the housing market collapse, some developments haven't sold houses to generate money to pay the bonds. So that leaves the district on the hook.

Weyer said about 10 percent of the state's 500 districts are in some form of default on bonds.

"Most of them, especially the established ones," are doing fine, he said.

Other districts that defaulted on bonds include Heritage Isles in New Tampa and Riverwood Estates near Zephyrhills.

The Bella Verde lawsuit also listed two banks and nine other contractors, engineering firms or other companies with interests in the property.

Weyer said that's to ensure "the CDD is first in line" as a creditor.

Bella Verde land use attorney Keith Bricklemyer did not return calls for comment. Representatives for New Cities, the main developer, would not discuss the lawsuit.

A manager for the district also did not return messages.

Scott Clark, an attorney for the district, said it was a standard foreclosure case.

It has been a tough several years for Bella Verde. In August 2008, New Cities got Pasco County to extend its build-out date from 2010 to 2017. As part of the deal, developers agreed to decrease the number of homes planned from 6,700 to 4,373.

The development had also agreed to pay $78 million toward road improvements, including a share of an interchange cloverleaf-loop ramp at Interstate 75 that state planners are requiring.

"We're like the guy who finished fourth in the marathon," Bricklemyer told county commissioners last year.

"We're staggering over the line, but we made it."

Wake up Lake Ashton

Words like "neighborly" and "community spirit" have been replaced with "fining committee" and "enforcement." While in former times neighbors brought chicken soup to neighbors in need, they now serve lawsuits, liens and foreclosures. All under the pretense of "protecting property values" -- one of the biggest fairy tales ever told to homeowners. Truthfully, the only thing that these associations really protect is the income of service providers, such as attorneys and community association managers.

This website is an attempt to help owners living in Florida's mandatory associations to find their way through the maze of rules, regulations and statutes that are often so complicated that even specialized attorneys have a hard time finding the "right" interpretation.

This is an attempt to help owners understand what they are really facing and that the excuse "I don't want to get involved" is plainly ridiculous. All owners got involved the minute they bought their homes or condos, even if they may not have realized it at that time.

Owners desperately need more owner-friendly laws with enforcement and accountability of the people in charge to protect our financial welfare against financial mismanagement, uncontrolled spending, and even clear embezzlement!

The AARP introduced a model statute that would definitely create big steps in the right direction. Please see: AARP BILL of RIGHTS for HOMEOWNERS in ASSOCIATIONS
But as long as our legislators wear blinders and would rather protect the welfare of special interests than that of their constituents, we have to help each other with education and information.

This website is an attempt to provide much-needed information, but it only works if we help each other. Join our efforts and help us to help each other.

UNITED WE STAND!


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