Update of Libraries and Learning About Debt…

The role of public libraries in upholding the health of any local community is indisputable.  Too many people are pulled into debt by the wide variety of offers, products, and scams out there.  Then, many do not know how to escape.  That is what, in part, the public library system can help with, by facilitating public education on consumer protection, Statutes of Limitations,  and state laws surrounding debt collections.   We can all help by sharing information freely with our neighbors.

Let’s Do Better.

Shira

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil

SoL Saturdays Update: Ir en Metro, o en Deuda? Take the Metro, or Take the Debt?

Click here for the English version of this post on the confluence of public transportation needs and public consumer finance education needs on  this Statutes of Limitation Saturday (dedicated to sharing information on Public Financial Knowledge Infrastructure) … 

“ -Fuera lo espera un chófer con un coche oficial.

-Gracias.
Prefiero ir en metro. ”

Como el subsecretario Salvador Martí del Ministerio del Tiempo, ojala que habîan màs funcionarios que nos darîan el buen ejemplo de usar los transportes publicos. A menudo, la falta de transporte publico llega hasta faltar las citas medicas y legales, con consequencia de perder los procesos judiciales que no han de perder, si la persona endeudada hubiera podido llegar a la corte para defender sus derechos.

A corto plazo, otros estados de los EEUU podrîan seguir el ejemplo del estado de Maryland, que ha prohibido las acciónes civiles por parte de colectores de deudas ya pasado la fecha limite segûn el tipo de deuda. Mientras tanto, a largo plazo, reconstruimos nuestra estructura economica para crear la igualdad en vez de crear la pobreza. Los dos puntos de vista, corto y largo plazo, nos urge.

“ -An official car and choffeur are waiting for you outside
-Thank you.
I prefer to take the Metro.”

This set of quotes comes from a favorite show of mine, originally aired starting in 2015, on Spanish Public Television:  El Ministerio del Tiempo.  Many of the themes taken up in the show deal with (and act as a critique of ) the austerity policies implemented by the Spanish government at the behest of the European Central Bank, as the comment by Julian to Alonso, early in the first episode of the series, shows.     This particular episode (the one quoted in this current post) continues that tradition of the series, with the head of the Ministry, Salvador, whose name is very telling, refusing a ride in a limousine in order to set an example not only of supporting public infrastructure, but also of refusing corruption.

It would be very helpful, obviously, if more of our real life public officials behaved like sub-secretary Salvador Marti of The Ministry of Time, setting an actual (not just for show) example of using and supporting public transportation.   Lack of transportation, as the NY Times and others often point out,  often leads to default judgement on an expired debt which could have been avoided, had the debtor been able to defend in court.

Over the short-term, states could follow the example of Maryland, and prohibit lawsuits on all expired debts, while also rebuilding our economic structures to create equity rather than poverty, over the long-term. Both short-term and long-term approaches are needed, urgently.
–
Let’s start to #EndPoverty by improving these four parts of our Public Domain Social Infrastructure, the #PublicDomainInfrastructure 4:

(1. #libraries, 2. #ProBono legal aid and Education, 3. #UniversalHealthCare , and 4. good #publictransport )

Shira
parts of this post originally published here on May 7th, 12018 HE

Updated Predatory Landlords, Debt, and Repairing the World

Dr. King said that,

“True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. ”

     The question is how does such “restructuring” happen?

     Following up on my earlier post regarding debt as a problem of financial self-defense, particularly in the case of apartment renters who are forced to live in a lemon or face Breach of Lease, Biblical Law may have something to say about the long term consequences of artificially pushing people into debt (talking about otherwise frugal folks who do not spend profligately).

     I respectfully submit that we have had one possible tool in our hands for several thousand years, and it may need to be examined in the context of our present debt crisis -the release of debts, both short term and long term, at different times.  Below is a handout from one of several talks I gave on the relationship between debt and community building, this one from the book of Deuteronomy: DCBM20August_Reeh_Class.   

     AfterNote: while debts do “expire” at different times in each state and DC according to the type of debt, only two states actually “extinguish” expired debts, and only Maryland prohibits lawsuits being brought against debtors for already expired debts!              Lawmakers in every country need to act to prevent this sort of financial and emotional bullying (in the case of landlords, offering apartments which do not suit, and then reneging on promises to fix issues, while in other cases, offering credit knowing that those who accept are at a relative disadvantage).

       In the USA, each state regulates how long one can be sued for a debt, but even then, if the debtor does not know to defend, or is unable for some reason to go to court even if h/she knows, oftentimes creditors sue illegally and win. Now this cannot happen in MD, but of course debtors are still free to harass up to and beyond the Statute of Limitation (‘expiration’) of the debt.

     May we look to our collective good, as one Human Race, and to the potential of each and every Human Being.

Read, Write, Dream, Walk !
ShiraDest

originally posted on June 26th, 12017 HE

French Friday Update: Connâitre ses Droits et éviter les Proces… Free Legal Education and Pre-Trial Diversion…

Click here for English…

“ -C’est quoi ça?
-Votre côte sur le marché de l’art: 11.000 euros”

Mais si Driss n’avait-t-il pas d’argent ? Et s’ils lui avaient arrêtaient dans la misère ? Aux États-Unis il y à une moyen d’éviter les procès mais qui coute cher, selon l’état dans on aura le procès. C’est mon espoir qu’on peut avoir des changements de cette politique, avec l’aide des citoyens Américains, et aussi ce de nos amis.

“ -What’s this?
-That’s what you’re worth on the art market: 11,000 Euros.”

But what about before Driss had that money? What if he’d been arrested utterly poor?

In many states, programs exist to help first time offenders avoid trial and charges. But, Pre-trial Diversion or Intervention programs, as they are known, are often unfair to the poor, as in MD and many other states: perpetrating the cruelty of charging money that some people simply do not have in order to avoid jail. My emphatic immediate-term policy recommendation is that all States emulate “Cook County … in Chicago, where defendants are not charged a fee ” for Pre-Trial service programs. And my long-term policy recommendation is that we strengthen our freely available legal services and Pro-Bono Legal Aide availability drastically, perhaps requiring ALL lawyers and law firms to offer 20% of their time or services free to lower income people, and that states and counties offer free continuing education in financial and consumer education, including the all too rarely taught rights in each state regarding debt, housing, health care and also criminal law. Both short-term and long-term approaches are needed, immediately.

Toward “…justice for all.”

Read, Write, Dream, and Do Better! 

#PublicDomainInfrastructure
ShiraDest
originally published on 11 April, 12018 HE

Ministry Mondays: Bibliotecas y la Deuda… Libraries Debt…

Click here for English…

“ -¿Adónde vas?
-A la biblioteca.
-Hija, la vida es más que leer libros.
-Ya lo sé, madre.
-Lo aprendí leyendo”

¿Cuantos hemos sufrido la pena de ser facturado injustamente por una deuda?
Muchos.
¿Cuantos tenemos la suerte de conocer nuestros derechos y que hay que defenderlos?
No tantos.
¿Cuantos sabemos donde encontrar los detalles de estos derechos y como defenderlos?
No suficientamente.
¿Y cuantos tenemos acceso a un abogado, o biblioteca de derecho, y transporte, sin decir la buena salud para irse?
No la mayoria de nosotros.
Por eso nos urge las buenas bibliotecas publicas y transporte publico, para ayudar a todos en defender sus derechos. En un epoca de escasos recursos para las escuelas y bibliotecas publicas, los que necesitan màs tienen menos.
Hay soluciones para ello: Primero, dar màs dinero a los transportes y bibliotecas publicos, y a las escuelas. Segundo, quitar de encima de la gente las deudas a cada rato. Así podemos cambiar la desigalidad que nos limita a todos.

Salud Para Todos! #PublicDomainInfrastructure
ShiraDest

“ -Where are you going?
-To the Library.
-Daughter, there is more to life than reading books.
-I know, mother. I learned it by reading.”

How many of us have experienced the pain of being wrongly billed by a debt collector?
Many.
How many of us are lucky enough to know that we have rights that we must defend, which cannot be transgressed by those debt collectors?
Not as many.
How many of us know where to find the details of those rights and how to go about defending ourselves legally?
Not nearly enough of us.
And how many of us have access to good legal counsel, or a law library, and the transportation, not to mention the good health, to get there, and then to court if necessary?
Not most of us.
This is where public libraries, and public transportation, become crucial as places to help all citizens research and learn about their rights and how to defend them. In an era of shrinking library and school budgets for the 99%, separate is still not equal: fewer libraries and fewer legal and research librarians are available to guide residents searching for current Statute of Limitations, debt collection laws, etc. The result is that those who need the most help get the least, and inequality continues to grow, harming all of us.

One short term solution to these problems is clearly to fully fund Public Libraries, Pro-Bono legal and consumer Education, Public Transportation, and Universal Health Care (4 major components of our Public Domain Social Infrastructure #PublicDomainInfrastructure ).
One possible long term solution could be an old solution, advocated by several major religions over the millennia: the forgiveness of debt after a certain period of time. Modern student loans, for example, in the UK are rumored to be forgiven after 15 years, while Ancient Near Eastern societies mandated forgiving all sorts of debts periodically. These policies, modern and ancient, were meant to prevent what we are seeing today, particularly in the USA: an entrenched cycle of inequality that prevents the vast majority of people from achieving liberty, let alone pursuing happiness.

Actions:

1.) Share for two different sources giving statutes of limitations in your state (or District).

2.) Share your thoughts on how a periodic debt forgiveness might help, or hinder, justice and help build more inclusive thinking, and

3.) Write a book, blog post or story using them, and, once published, please consider donating to your local public library.

B5, Hakan:Muhafiz/The Protector, Lupin, or La Casa De Papel/Money Heist Reviews,

Holistic High School Lessons,

           or Long Range Plans, & Historical Fiction Serial Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading about #ProjectDoBetter.

Ministry Mondays: Take the Metro, or Take the Debt? Ir en Metro, o en Deuda?

Click here for English & Action Items (below Spanish)…

“ -Fuera lo espera un chófer con un coche oficial.

-Gracias.
Prefiero ir en metro. ”

Como el subsecretario Salvador Martí del Ministerio del Tiempo, ojala que habîan màs funcionarios que nos darîan el buen ejemplo de usar los transportes publicos. A menudo, la falta de transporte publico llega hasta faltar las citas medicas y legales, con consequencia de perder los procesos judiciales que no han de perder, si la persona endeudada hubiera podido llegar a la corte para defender sus derechos.

A corto plazo, otros estados de los EEUU podrîan seguir el ejemplo del estado de Maryland, que ha prohibido las acciónes civiles por parte de colectores de deudas ya pasado la fecha limite segûn el tipo de deuda. Mientras tanto, a largo plazo, reconstruimos nuestra estructura economica para crear la igualdad en vez de crear la pobreza. Los dos puntos de vista, corto y largo plazo, nos urge.

—

“ -An official car and choffeur are waiting for you outside
-Thank you.
I prefer to take the Metro.”

Would that more of our public officials, like subsecretary Salvador Marti of The Ministry of Time, set the example of using public transportation in our modern day real life.  Mass transit is a crucial part of society’s infrastructure, allowing equal access to transport, and also moving people more efficiently on the roads or rails, while keeping down pollution, two key ways of reducing the background stressors that make it harder for citizens to take active part in the governing process of our democracies.  Lack of transportation also often leads, directly or indirectly, to default judgement on an expired debt which could have been avoided, had the debtor been able to defend in court.  After all, we no longer have debtor’s prisons, as they did in the time of my Work In Progress (or do we?).

Over the short-term, states could follow the example of Maryland, and prohibit lawsuits on all expired debts, while also rebuilding our economic structures to create equity rather than poverty, over the long-term. Both short-term and long-term approaches are needed, urgently.

Action Items:

1.)    Just look up the public transportation options available in your area.

2.)     Try riding them, if you can.

3.)      Look up times and locations for your local Transit Board meetings.

4.)       Ask your local law-makers to put in Light Rail stops to your local airport(s).
–

Quotes for an earlier important debt-related post came from a recent ProPublica article co-published with The New Yorker.

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

Science Fiction/Fantasy Shows,  Lupin, or Money Heist(soon…)

Holistic High School Lessons,

           or Long Range Nonfiction, or Historical Fiction

Thoughtful Readers,  please consider    #ProjectDoBetter.

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Public Financial Knowledge Infrastructure: Expired vs. Extinguished Debts

This is a topic I’ve written about before, but not in detail, as part of Project Do Better’s Phase I piece, Public Financial Knowledge Infrastructure.

In most states, expired is merely ‘unenforceable’ except that you have to defend by showing the court that the debt is expired. That is why so many suits (around 90%) win by default, as people rarely show up in court to defend, and so that expired debt then gets a loss by default, followed by a money judgement, often on expired, and thus Time-Barred, or, unenforceable or even

unvalidated debts, , past the SoL.

Unfair and injust, but frequent.

Two states do ‘extinguish’ the debts after some years (13 yrs, if I recall correctly, in the case of MS), but an expired debt is not extinguished, just legally unenforceable. The problem with that is the need to defend on the unenforceability. (Note that this should not be confused with the 7-year limit on credit reporting by CRAs…)

I find it incredibly obviously stacking the deck to require a defendant to appear in court just to say that the debt is expired, and so cannot be enforced! That is something that constituents can write to their state legislators about changing, and so I wrote a sample letter a few years ago, which should still be reasonably useful, I hope.

Some states now allow the fact that a debt is expired to be stated in ‘The Reply’ to the summons, btw, so that the case can be dismissed, due to clogged courts, but even in those jurisdictions, people have to know to do this, and most folks don’t know, which is addressed in Phase I’s Public Financial Knowledge Infrastructure section of Project Do Better:

“The Honorable Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher
California House of Representatives
1350 Front Street
Suite 6022
San Diego, CA 92101
Tel: 619-338-8090
Fax: 619-338-8099

your name
address,
city, state zip
email
your phone

Dear Assemblywoman Gonzalez Fletcher,

I would like to request a bill which would benefit California residents. The state of Maryland has recently passed a law prohibiting lawsuits on any debts which have passed the Statute of Limitation (https://www.dllr.state.md.us/finance/advisories/advisory-debtcol.pdf ). While California requires notification if a debt is expired, many debtors are not able to use that information. And while debt buyers are prohibited from suing on expired debts in California, original creditors are not. Many creditors, like exploitative landlords and lenders, never sell their debts, waiting years to sue, until details of the situation are less clear. Most lawsuits are won by default, even on invalid debts. The key injustice is that proportionately more poor debtors are sued than well-off debtors (due to the fact that the Statute of Limitation must be explicitly raised as a defense by the debtor in CA). Hence, growing numbers of illegitimate judgments against those who do not have either the time or the ability (due to illness, etc) to defend themselves. Debt, credit reporting, and court action can have a direct bearing on citizens’ abilities to access employment and housing. Disallowing suits on all expired debts could help correct this injustice.

Respectfully,
sig “

Shira

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan: Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem, Lupin, or La Casa de Papel/Money Heist Reviews

Holistic College Algebra & GED/High School Lesson Plans,

           or Long Range Nonfiction, or Historical Fiction Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading about #ProjectDoBetter.

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil, MAT, BSCS

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Public Financial Knowledge Infrastructure: Is Your Debt Time-barred?

   This basic post is meant to be useful for anyone wishing to give a 5-minute seminar at the Metro/Trolley/Bus stop.

Please share widely.

Now that we know what a Statute of Limitations

is,  and how to get the  information  on your debt, if it is Valid, you have the information that a legal expert needs to figure out if your debt is still enforceable in your state (or DC).

You should also look at your credit report, since debts are often listed by type there, as well.

1.  revolving  or open, is credit card;

2.  written contract is an apartment lease, for example;

3.  verbal contract;

4.  promissory notes.

        Again, many web sites list the various SoLs by state, but be sure to compare the SoL in your state with the online legal code of your state, and be sure that it is up to date (ask a law student if you are not sure, at a free legal clinic).

    Now that you have all of the dates from your last payment, check your state law to see how soon after that the SoL for that type of debt kicks in, and count the years.  If it is too old, then the debt is not enforceable, but you need to tell them that.  In writing.  There is a lot of advice online about this, but you probably want to get a Pro-Bono lawyer or law school student to help you, just to be sure.

   Remember to always respond to a letter about debt, after checking with a legal person.

Don’t wait 

      More on getting our state legislators to change this situation in a couple of weeks.

Shira

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan:Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem, Lupin, or La Casa De Papel/Money Heist Reviews,

Holistic College Algebra & GED/HiSET Night School Lesson Plans,

           or My Nonfiction  & Historical Fiction Serial Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading and sharing about #ProjectDoBetter.

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Public Financial Knowledge Infrastructure: What is Validating a Debt?

    Here is another very basic post, meant to be useful for anyone wishing to give a 5-minute seminar at the Metro/Trolley/Bus stop.  Please feel free to print, handout, repost, and share widely.

   Last week, we defined the phrase Statute of Limitations for four types of debt.

    We mentioned that a crucial point to remember is that in most states, the clock can restart on an old debt if you promise to pay, or make even a token payment on an old or expired debt, which is why it is very important to be careful in dealing with debt collectors of any type, even if the debt has  been validated.

   Validated?

     Validating a debt is the process of sending you certain required information that proves you to be the person owing a certain debt.

    Federal law requires certain information, so be careful to get all of the details:  this site, for instance (unless I missed it in the fine print), neglects to mention the ‘tear-off’ that collectors must send you, right?

      Details matter.

     So, if you know someone being called by debt collectors, let that person know that they should ask, preferably in writing,  that the collector Validate the Alleged Debt.  Lots of sample debt validation letters are available online.

   Please share widely, and we’d love links here to some great sample letters you find or write!

      Using this information now, if your debt is valid, you can get help finding out if it is Time-barred, yet. 

      More, after that, on how to help change this by mailing your state legislators in another week or so.

Shira

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan:Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem, Lupin, or La Casa De Papel/Money Heist Reviews,

Holistic College Algebra & GED/HiSET Night School Lesson Plans,

           or My Nonfiction  & Historical Fiction Serial Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading and sharing about #ProjectDoBetter.

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Public Financial Knowledge Infrastructure: What is an SoL?

    Since no one seems to be jumping up and down to get this part of the Project started, I am beginning with a very basic post, meant to be useful for anyone wishing to give a 5-minute seminar at the Metro/Trolley/Bus stop.

   SoL  ==  Statute of Limitations

   Statutes of Limitations are time limits on the enforcement of laws, basically.  The kinds of SoLs that Project Do Better focuses on, in Phase I, are those related to debt.  Every state has a different set of SoLs for each of the 4 kinds of debts:

1.   revolving  or open, is credit card;
2.   written contract;
3.   verbal contract;
4.   promissory notes

        Many web sites list the various SoLs by state, but be sure to compare the SoL in your state with the online legal code of your state.

 

    Another crucial point to remember is that in most states, the clock can restart on an old debt if you promise to pay, or make even a token payment on an old or expired debt.  That is why it is very important to be careful in dealing with debt collectors of any type, even if the debt has  been validated.

 

      More on Validating a Debt in a couple of weeks.

 And

a week or so after that…

 

  And then, you can determine whether that debt, if valid, is time-barred.

Shira

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan:Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem, Lupin, or La Casa De Papel/Money Heist Reviews,

Holistic College Algebra & GED/HiSET Night School Lesson Plans,

           or My Nonfiction  & Historical Fiction Serial Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading and sharing about #ProjectDoBetter.

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.