My Thoughts on the Grand Jury System in Indiana

The recent failure to indict the police officers involved in the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner got me thinking about the grand jury system in Indiana.  In Indiana, a prosecuting attorney can bring any criminal case through the filing of information (a criminal complaint) or through a grand jury indictment.  In Indiana, 5 out of 6 jurors must find probable cause to return an indictment.

Note, in Indiana, ANY criminal case can be initiated by the unilateral filing of information by the prosecutor, including capital murder.  No doubt this is one reason why the job of county prosecutor is an elected office. We want the discretion to wield the power of the state to be in the hands of someone who is accountable to the citizens.  Of course the electoral system doesn't always work like it's supposed to. None of our institutions do.

If you can bring any case by the filing of information, why would you ever want to impanel a grand jury?  There are numerous ways to answer that question, and I suspect that every prosecutor would answer that question differently; but I think the number one reason would be to get a sense of the community whether the case should go forward.  If you use this philosophy, it just makes sense to provide the grand jury with both sides of the case.  When a prosecutor slants the evidence presented to the grand jury, he is putting his thumb on the scales of justice, and the system doesn't work while it should.   In a controversial case, it might be better to use a grand jury to determine whether the case should go forward.  When a prosecutor chooses to do this he or she needs to be conscious of the duty of fairness to the defendant, the community and the system.  If a prosecutor fails to do this, we the voters need to vote the bum out.  That's our safeguard in the system.

What do you do if you are in a minority, and what you want isn't what the majority wants?  You can't vote the bum out.  That's a problem. In that case, I can't think of anything better than protest.  If you show the world the injustice you see, perhaps eventually enough people will come around to seeing it your way.  The right to protest is as important as any other element in the American system.  It should be honored and respected at least as much as our public officials.

News Reporter Wants Information on Unfair Collection Practices.

It has been passed along to me that a news reporter is looking to talk to consumers with the following stories:

1. Anyone who’s been harassed or mistreated by a debt collector (especially any cases that are particularly extreme or unusual.) 

2. Anyone who’s been collected on twice for the same debt, by different collection agencies.

3. Anyone whose debt became a lot bigger as second- or third-generation debt collectors charged extra fees and interest on the principal amount owed. 

4. Anyone who’s had their ability to dispute a creditor blocked by a “forced arbitration” clause. 

5. Anyone who’s landed in financial trouble because they used an online payday lender. 

6. Anyone who's paid for "debt settlement" services and found themselves actually worse off as a result.

Actually, I am aware of more than one reporter looking for cases like these. If any of these apply to you, even if you don't live in Indiana, feel free to contact me, and I will try to get you in touch with one or more of the reporters.  It is very important that your story be told. Right now the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is looking to strengthen regulations against debt collectors and also looking to abolish mandatory pre-dispute consumer arbitration.  We need to both build public awareness and help the CFPB as well as friendly legislators.  If it just so happens you have a good court case or a valid defense to a lawsuit, all the better.    You can contact me through my website or by calling me at 317-662-4LAW.    

Driver Solutions LLC and Marion County Small Claims Court

Back in 2011, the common practice of creditors forum shopping in Marion County Small Claims Court made national news in the Wall Street Journal.  We've made some headway thanks to the efforts of attorneys like Daniel Edelman (who successfully got a Court of Appeals ruling that debtors must be sued in the township where the debt was incurred or where they live), and Jeffrey Boulden, who fought against one of the biggest suitmongers, a trucking school called Driver Solutions, LLC.  When I was at UAW Legal Services Plans, I wasn't assigned the cases against Driver Solutions.  I just reached a settlement on behalf of a client in a Driver Solutions case.   If you have been sued by Driver Solutions, LLC, even if it has gone to judgment, especially if it has gone to judgment, no matter where you live, feel free to call me at 317-662-4529.  There may be something we can do for you.   Here's a link to the original Wall Street Journal Article.  Here's a link to an article about Jeff Boulden's work. 

Student Loans Got You Feeling Hopeless? 1. You're not alone. 2. The CFPB is paying attention

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is examining the problems people are having with student loans. The most pressing problem is that student loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy most of the time. This can leave desperate borrowers with no workable solutions.  The worst problems are with private student loans. Often the private student loans have higher interest than government-backed loans, and there may be no structured procedures for you to file in times of hardship. Private student loans don't necessarily have income-contingent repayment plans or any consolidation options. (Federal loans can only be consolidated one time.)

As a consumer lawyer, I regularly get called by people with student loan problems. I have a few suggestions that work sometimes but far from always.
1. When you are having a hardship WRITE to your lender and ask for relief.
2. If the lender does not provide a workable payment plan, be a squeaky wheel. Make formal written complaints to the lender, the CFPB, and your congressional representative. I have seen cases of private student loans (where the congressional complaint shouldn't make a difference) get special consideration after a call from a congressperson's constituent services office.  Congressional complaints also let your representative know how important it is to get statutory relief in the form of lower interest rates and bankruptcy dischargeability.

If you get sued on a student loan, you should at least talk to a consumer lawyer and possibly a bankruptcy lawyer.  Sometimes the party that sues you is an assignee who can't prove the assignment or is claiming the wrong amount.  Sometimes the loan actually can be discharged in bankruptcy through a showing of substantial hardship.  Even if the student loan can't be discharged, you may get enough relief on your other bills to keep up your student loan payments.

Does Your Credit Card Insurance REALLY Cover Damage to Your Rental Car?

I actually read the rental car coverage provided with my business American Express Card, and I was somewhat surprised by the exclusions. I wasn't surprised that off-road use wasn't covered, but I was surprised that any rental vehicle with an MSRP over $50,000 was excluded. All "exotic" cars were excluded including Toyota Supra.  (How many years has it been since Toyota made the Supra?) All full-sized SUVs are excluded. All trucks are excluded. All cargo vans and passenger vans larger than minivans are excluded.

What that tells me is that you should be careful relying on your credit card coverage to cover damage to your rental car. You should make sure that your regular car insurance has rental coverage, hopefully with fewer exclusions. You should be careful accepting upgrades. If you are offered a free upgrade to a Cadillac, a full-sized SUV or a sporty car, you should be aware that your credit card coverage might not cover it.

CONSUMER LAW OFFICE OF STEVE HOFER OFFERS FREE ATTORNEY CONSULTATIONS FOR WAL-MART WORKERS

If you read the post below, you will see that I'm really angry at Wal-Mart for effectively cutting the pay and worsening the working conditions of already put-upon workers.  I thought about it, and the best think I can do is offer my time to Wal-Mart workers for free.  If you are a Wal-Mart worker or immediate family member, from now until the end of the year, I will give you a free one-hour attorney office conference at no charge.  What you use it for is largely up to you.  I'm hoping you use it to keep debt collectors at bay or to work through another consumer problem like a bad used car deal.  Just call my office at 317-662-4529 and mention that you are a Wal-Mart worker and I will schedule you in.  Because I only have a finite amount of time, I reserve to cap the offer to 30 callers.  I hope to schedule people through the end of the 2014.   I challenge other NACA attorneys to do the same or something similar.  In truth, I know that NACA attorneys already spend most of their time dealing with the problems of low-income individuals. Still, I think we can do more in the way of outreach to specific groups, and this is as good a place to start as any.

SCUMBAG WAL-MART STRIKES AGAIN! Eliminates insurance for 30,000 employees, raises the cost on the rest

Just when you think Wal-Mart can't treat their workers any worse, they manage to find a way.  Yesterday, Wal-Mart announced that it was eliminating the health insurance option for workers who worked less than 30 hours per week.  About 30,000 workers are afffected. That's roughly 2 NBA arenas worth.  Wal-Mart says it is taking this position because its healthcare costs have increased $500 million in the past year, $130 million more than they projected.  Wal-Mart didn't say so directly, but indirectly it suggested that Obamacare was to blame.  Let me raise another possible cause: greed. Half a billion dollars is a lot of money, but that's not the cost of the insurance of the 30,000 dropped workers, that's the total marginal increase for its 1.2 million workforce.  If you look at the big picture though, last year, Wal-Mart had $473 Billion in revenue and $16 Billion in profit after taxes.  Wal-Mart returned $13 Billion of that profit to shareholders in the form of dividends. Walmart's largest shareholders include members of the Walton family with a combined net worth of over $150 Billion. (I always capitalize Billion because any time you are talking about a thousand times a million dollars, I think it's worth an upper-case letter.)

In other words, Wal-Mart is cutting the insurance of 30,000 workers (and more family members) because Wal-Mart billionaires weren't rich enough.  Now, Wal-Mart is getting all of the benefit of cutting the insurance completely right. What are they doing for the affected workers?  They are hiring a consultant to help them find "affordable" health insurance.  You know what would make health insurance affordable?  A RAISE.  No sign of that.   Those who aren't having their insurance eliminated are having their premiums increased. You know what would make that affordable? A RAISE.  Again - silence.   

If Wal-Mart admits that 30,000 workers are affected, you can bet in the real world the number is much higher, because there is even more incentive now to keep workers' hours under 30 per week.  If you work at Wal-Mart, you need all the hours you can get because even 40 hours a week doesn't necessarily mean you can provide for your family.  If you have been getting 33-34 hours per week, you can bet that a week after this policy goes into effect you will be getting 29.  That means you will lose your insurance and have your pay cut 10% or more.  You will still be working too many hours to fill in with another job that provides benefits.  In states like Indiana (that refused to expand Medicaid under Obamacare) there may be no subsidized health insurance that you qualify for.  

The arrogance of Wal-Mart never ceases to amaze me.   A highly profitable company, already under presssure for low wages, poor working conditions and open hostility to unionization going out and CUTTING the wages of its most vulnerable employees.  I would boycott Wal-Mart if I wasn't doing so already.  I thought about what I can do to show compassion and solidarity to these workers, and I decided to give a FREE ONE HOUR ATTORNEY CONSULTATION TO WAL-MART WORKERS.  For the rest of 2014, I am going to give a free 1-hour attorney consultation to the first 30 (maybe more) Wal-Mart workers and their dependents who contact me, with no obligation or expectation that they will pay any more.  Although I usually talk to people on the phone the first time for free, I usually charge for office consultations. So this is a significant perk for Wal-Mart workers.  I hope quite a few take advantage of it.  I'm sure I'll be able to be of significant help with debt collection matters in particular.