Do you have a defective Basement Watchdog Sump Pump? We want to hear from you

If you have a Basement Watchdog system that has failed during its warranty period, please call me at 317-662-4529.  If possible, call me before you replace it.

Did You Assign Your Pension to Future Income Payments?

For about 4 years I have been working for consumers, protecting them from collectors relating to pension advance scams.  I just ran across an article from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette that said Future Income Payments laid off 100 employees when it closed an office near Detroit, Michigan last year.  That was the first information that I've seen that indicates the scope of the operations of these Pension Advance Scam companies. 

If you sold part of your pension to a pension advance company, there is a very good chance that you have the legal right to stop making payments, but you should talk to a lawyer before you take that step.  Feel free to call our office at 317-662-4529. 

People are curious about Home Title Lock -Their ex-FBI Agent is a Part-Owner - HMMMM

Last year I published a post "Is Home Title Lock Legitimate?" This post now has over 1400 hits, and as such it is more popular than all my other posts from last year.   I'm not going to restate what I wrote last year.  My opinion is the same, I think the company is using fearmongering tactics to sell its product.  If you give them money and end up unsatisfied, I suggest you file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.  I wouldn't be surprised if the complaint spurred a refund.

Since I posted on the topic, the San Diego Union Tribune posted an interview with Art Pfitzenmayer, the ex-FBI agent spokesperson for the company. In the interview he admits that he is a part owner of the company. He admits that home title fraud was not a major problem when he worked for the FBI, and he admits that there have been "very few" cases where HTL customers had their titles fraudulently changed.   

2017, 2018, 2019 Chrysler Pacifica - Is Chrysler Stalling as much as the Vehicle?

There was a large recall of  154,000 2017 Chrysler Pacificas a year ago over complaints that the vehicle would stall unexpectedly. It is a traumatic experience when your vehicle konks out in the middle of an intersection on a busy highway.  A scan of the web shows that Pacifica owners were given lots of explanations for the stalling, but the attempted fixes often did not solve the problem.  There are signs that the engine control software update that was the prescribed fix in the recall did not solve the problem as 2018 and perhaps 2019 model vehicles continue to experience unexplained stalling behavior.  I received a complaint today about a 2018 Pacifica that was leased in late 2018.

The main problem seems to be with the gas-only versions of the van. The hybrid electric version is the subject of a separate, smaller recall.

There is a class action suit relating to the 2017 Pacificas. I don't have anything to do with that suit, but I checked the status, the case survived a motion to dismiss. The title of the case is now Moran v. FCA USA LLC, 3:17CV-02594-GPC-MDD. The principal lawfirm representing the plaintiffs is Capstone Law APC.


 If your vehicle suddently stalls and creates a dangerous situation. I suggest that you immediately file a complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) .

Do online research on Google to find out what other owners of your vehicle are reporting. Take your vehicle to the dealer, and demand that the dealer address the problem. The dealer may take the vehicle in and say they can't "replicate the problem". Ask the dealer if they scanned the engine management computer for past fault codes.   Network with other owners through the Chrysler Pacifica Owners Forum.

The Chrysler Pacifica is a good vehicle overall, but if you are one of the minority of owners that gets a stalling vehicle, I can't blame you if you have shaken faith that your vehicle will be safe.

Note I am not involved in the current class action against Chyrsler, nor do I have any plans to initiate a class action against Chrysler.   If you are not a resident of Indiana, please don't call me concerning the stalling behavior of your Chysler, because I won't be in a position to help you.

The Return of "Blank Check" and "Blind Pool" Stock offerings - Uh oh

I just read a story that new "blank check" stock offerings hit a new 10 year high.  My first reaction was "uh oh".  That's not good.  My hunch is that this development is a reaction to tightening of small business credit, an environment of decreasing securities law enforcement or both. 

I lived in Miami, Florida during a heyday of blank check offerings (sometimes called "blind pool") in the late 1980s.  In those days, South Florida was the Mecca for over-the-counter, "penny" stock scam operations. There were so many scummy penny stock brockerage houses in Boca Raton, Florida in the late 1980s that a section of South Federal Highway in town was known as "Maggot Row" or the "Maggot Mile".  In those days, brokers would cold-call senior citizens to get them to buy stock in thinly traded companies. The stock price was often manipulated by insiders engaged in frauds such as the "pump and dump".  A fairly small, but low quality part of the over-the-counter stock trade involved blank check offerings.

What is a blank-check stock?  A blank check stock is a new company that is registered with the Securities and Exchange commission as a public company which has been incorporated for the purposes of acquiring other companies.  The way it was explained to me in business school was that an experienced company manager raises money based on his or her reputation for identifying opportunities. The investors bet on the acumen of the organizer by putting together a pool of money for the organizer to use to attract promising private companies that need money or want to go public. The blank check company is a public shell that can absorb the going-concern private company through a "reverse merger".  It's called a reverse merger because the smaller company absorbs the larger one. Typically, the management of the private company takes over the managment of the shell,. with the promoters and investors in the shell then becoming minority investers in the acquired company. The acquired company files a "Super 8K form"  with manadatory disclosure, and will have other requirements for registration on exchanges.   This disclosure is substantial, but is less than is ordinary required in a traditional public offering. 

Blank check offerings have been pitched as ways for private companies to get access to venture capital, and for companies wanting to go public to do so at a reduced cost. The catch is that traditionally, things didn't work out in the real world like they are described in corporate finance textbooks. In the past, money raised by the promoters has been looted by insiders, and insiders required under-the-table payments from the private companies to affect a merger. The stock of the resultant company was often so ummarketable as to be useless. Previously private companies found that they had all the regulations and burdens of a public company without a real working market for their stock. 

After the bad days of the 1980s some new regulations were put into place, and a new breed of "SPACS" or "Special Purpose Acquisition Companies" is apparently leading the way to a revival of blank-check companies.  Among the new requirements is for the proceeds raised for the acquisition to be placed in trust.  That's a good thing. 

In July 2017, there was announcement that the marijuana magazine "High Times" was acquired by a SPAC called Origo (OACQ). It appears though, that in August 2018, the parties called off the merger.  High Times had huge debt and comparatively small revenue, and the merger was apparently contigent on becoming valuable enough to list on NASDAQ.   This seems to track what I've seen before, the high profile "success stories" of blank check mergers aren't really as successful as their initial financial public relations press releases would lead one to believe.   High Times then turned to raising funds through a "Reg A+" in September 2018 which Seeking Alpha called "a mess to be avoided."


I don't have any ties to the financial industry. I don't work in the financial industry. I don't advise financial companies.  I have nothng to do with public offerings blank checks or companies that want to go public.  I don't want to have anything to do with the industry.  I do find it interesting how things go in cycles, and sometimes not for the better.