Atricle Dump - Finance

Made in Our 53rd State
A few months ago, I was given a bar of soap from a very well know high-end chain store. The person who gave me the soap knew I worked with this type of product and wanted to give something she thought I’d like.I looked at product, liked color and fragrance, put it on a shelf, and honestly forgot about it. The other day, needing a new bar of soap, I found the bar and decided to use it.Reading the back, it gave the name of the company with their motto, “From the Heartland of America.” The very next line read, “made in Guatemala.”So when, may I ask, did Guatemala become a “State?”And, on top of that, once I took the clear wrap off, I was disappointed in the soap itself.To anyone who has used M&P, you will understand. To all others M&P means Melt & Pour. You go to your local craft store, buy a base, heat it up and pour into molds of choice. Nice way to have decorative soap without the hassle and having lye around the house.So, this soap looked like someone had used M&P, added color and fragrance. Because it came from this well know chain, I was curious about what the cost was and decided to go to my local mall to check out the price for myself. $8.00 a bar, only one word for that, RIP-Off! OK, so that’s two, but who’s counting.Now, please don’t get me wrong, I’m all for fair trade, but to say the product is from the heartland of America, than have the very next line read “Made in…….,” sounds a little false advertising to me.

t, write in to the Court Manager with details. The Court will hold a hearing and can cancel the bailiff’s certificate, order compensation and order return of the goods. A bailiff can be fined for collecting without a certificate.

* You can complain to the Magistrates Court, and there have been cases recently where the debt has, in effect, been written off when it has been proved that bailiffs have acted illegally. This is done by making a complaint and asking for a hearing. The court can order return of the goods or compensation.

* You should complain to the council as the bailiffs are acting as their agent. They can ask the bailiffs to look at your complaint and change their procedures. If the council won’t help you could talk to your local councillor who may be prepared to take your complaint up with the council.

* You can ask the local Government Ombudsman to look at your complaint if the Council refuse to help you.

BAILIFFS CHARGES

You may be able to complain about bailiffs charges. The amounts they are allowed to charge for council tax and poll tax are set out in the schedule on page 5. The amounts they are allowed to charge for council tax are set out on the next page in the schedule. There are lower fees for poll tax collection. These are shown in italics. If you feel you have been charged too much you can complain in writing to the Council and the bailiffs. You may be able to ask the County Court to look at the charges for you see below. Phone us for advice.

You can find out what is ‘reasonable’ by making enquiries on a local basis. For example, if you have been charged ?80 for attendance with a van, and local enquires indicate you could hire a van for a morning for ?40 this is clearly unreasonable, especially as it is likely that bailiffs will be visiting several properties at once, and many companies own their own vans.

In the first instance, complain to the bailiffs themselves. You can tell them you know their charges are excessive and that you will be t

Compensating for Your Entrepreneurial Style-or Lack of Style
I recently took an entrepreneurial quiz which evaluated my answers and informed me I would do best as a hired hand! So why am I a successful home business owner? Because I've learned to fill the holes in my entrepreneurial style, and compensate for my deficiencies. Let's start with a list of qualities that might benefit someone working for him/herself: 1. Ability to see the big picture and plan accordingly;. 2. Self-discipline; 3. Ability to use time wisely; 4. At minimum, a moderate drive to achieve; 5. Adaptability; 6. Autonomy; 7. Decisiveness; 8. A feeling of control over your own destiny; 9. Having (energy) drive and enterprise; 10. Motivation to grow; 11. Sense of intuition; 12. Ability to spot opportunities; 13. Perseverance; 14. Problem-solving abilities; 15. Risk-tolerance; 16. Self-confidence; 17. Social skills. As an example, let's look at John Doe. John has an excellent nose for a good opportunity; he drives his wife crazy with always turning everything into a new business idea. He's not afraid to make a decision and take the risk. He has a huge drive to achieve; he wants to be rich! John is confident that he can accomplish everything he sets out to do. Then the reality of the rest of John sets in. He's not real good in the follow-through; as a matter of fact, he starts one business only to come up with another,

This article is about bailiffs who may call trying to collect Council Tax or Community Charge (Poll Tax) arrears. If a bailiff has contacted you to collect another sort of debt the law might be different.

Council Tax and Poll Tax are usually collected by private firms of bailiffs on behalf of your local council. They try to take your goods away and sell them, usually at auction, to raise money to pay the debt. The process they have to follow to say they want your goods is called ‘distraining’ or ‘levying’.

From October 1998 bailiffs who call must be "certificated". This means they must have a certificate from the County Court allowing them to act as bailiffs. You can complain to the County Court about a certificated bailiff.

From April 1998 you should get a letter from the Council telling you how much you owe and warning you that a bailiff will call if you do not pay the debt within 14 days. It will also tell you who to contact at the council if you have a query. Contact the council and try to make an arrangement to pay what you can afford immediately. If the council agrees then they can stop bailiffs calling out and save you extra fees.

DO I HAVE TO LET THE BAILIFFS IN?

IF THE BAILIFFS HAVE NOT BEEN INTO YOUR HOME BEFORE TO COLLECT THIS DEBT, THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO COME IN. THEY CANNOT BREAK IN. YOU CAN CHOOSE NOT TO LET THEM IN.

* DON’T open the door to them as they may try to push past you. If they get inside, they have a right to enter again and may break in to take your goods.

* DON’T leave windows open or doors unlocked - bailiffs can legally get in through these. Bailiffs CANNOT get the police to help them break in.

* BEWARE! Some bailiffs may leave you a phone number, and arrange to come round to ‘have a chat’. Don’t let them in, even if they say it’s only to use the toilet or make a phone call.

* Bailiffs MAY try to break into sheds, garages, greenhouses etc., even though this is illegal. KEEP VALUABLES SAFE! They may be able to take cars, motor-bikes and other vehicles parked near your home.

* Politely but firmly refuse to let the bailiffs in. Offer what you can afford to pay. If the bailiffs accept your offer, ask them to return to their car, and go out and pay them. Make sure you get a receipt.

DON’T SIGN ANYTHING! If the bailiff leaves papers for you to sign and return, you do not have to do this. You don’t have to sign agreements posted through your door either.

THE BAILIFFS HAVE ALREADY BEEN INSIDE MY HOME

THIS IS MORE SERIOUS. If you have let them in before, then bailiffs have the right to return to you home and if you don’t let them in, they are allowed to break in.

* Contact the bailiffs straight away and make an offer to pay the debt in instalments. Show them a copy of your personal budget so they can see you are offering as much as you can afford. You will need to treat this as a priority debt as bailiffs could come back and take any goods they have listed if you don’t pay. Get a receipt for any payments you make.

* Contact you council and ask them to take the debt back. Ask your local Councillor for help.

WHAT THINGS ARE THE BAILIFFS ALLOWED TO TAKE?

There are some things that the bailiffs are not allowed to take at all; such as goods that are rented or hired. The regulations also say that the following items are exempt and can’t be taken:

* "Such tools, books, vehicles and other items of equipment as are necessary for use personally in employment, business or vocation"

* "Such clothing, bedding, furniture, household equipment and provisions as are necessary for satisfying basic domestic needs of the person and family".

* This list is not very specific so you may find that bailiffs have a different idea of what items are necessary for you to keep and what can be taken. You can complain about what the bailiffs take if you feel the items should have been exempt.

CAN THE BAILIFFS TAKE THINGS WHICH ARE NOT MINE?

The bailiffs can only take things which belong to you and/or goods which are jointly owned by you and your partner. If they want to take goods that belong to someone else (your children, partner, lodgers etc.) explain that the goods do not belong to you. If you can, show a receipt or note as proof. The owner of the goods may have to provide a sworn statement in the form of a "statutory declaration" to say this is the case. They cannot take goods which are rented or hired. This includes goods on hire purchase agreements. Show them a copy of your credit agreement if you can.

WHAT IF I HIDE THINGS OR GIVE THEM AWAY?

If the bailiffs haven’t yet been in, you can hide things or take them somewhere else. If the bailiffs have already been in, you are committing an offence if you remove goods that they have said they will take. You can hide them on your premises but the bailiffs can search for them.

BAILIFFS PROCEDURES

If the bailiffs are distraining for Poll Tax or Council Tax, there are certain procedures that they have to follow. They must have with them:-

* written authorisation from the council for them to call. They should show you this if you ask.

They must leave you a copy of:-

* the law setting out their powers and what they can and cannot do. These are the "Enforcement Regulations".

* the charges the bailiffs are allowed to make for each visit. You should check they have not added too much on to your debt. See the schedule at the end of this fact sheet.

* any agreement you have actually signed. This will be called a "Walking Possession" agreement and includes a list of goods the bailiffs have warned you they may take.

HOW DO I STOP THE BAILIFFS?

* You can try to make an arrangement to pay the debt back at a rate that you can afford. You can offer the money directly to the bailiffs, although it is easier to get them to accept your offer if they have never been into your home. Always get a receipt for any money you pay.

* Bailiffs cannot send you to prison. If the bailiffs have never been into your home and they will not accept your offer, all they can do is to pass your debt back to the council. It is important to make an arrangement to pay the council, or they may try other ways of recovering the money, such as taking money out of your wages or your benefit.

* If the bailiffs refuse your offer it is important to put the money you have offered aside so you can pay it to the council as soon as the debt is passed back to them. Write to the bailiffs and the council telling them you are saving the money up as the bailiffs have refused to take your payments.

* If you are on Income Support, Pension Credit or Job Seekers Allowance, some councils’ have a policy for not using bailiffs and will accept an offer from you or agree to accept direct payments from your benefits. Ask your council if they are willing to take the debt back from the bailiffs so you can pay them directly.

* If the council won’t help then contact your local councillor and ask them to take it up with the council for you. Explain what hardship you will be in if the bailiffs come to your home and take your belongings.

HOW DO I COMPLAIN?

The Lord Chancellors Department has issued National Standards for Enforcement Agents. These good practice guidelines set out general rules for how bailiffs should behave and what procedures they should follow. You can mention these standards in your complaint but the standards are not enforceable by law. We can give you details of the standards or they may be found at the Department for Constitutional Affairs website www.dca. gov.uk/enforcement/agents02.htm

GET ADVICE FIRST. Bailiffs law is very complex, and even if you think that what they have done is unfair, they may still be acting within the law.

* From October 1998 bailiffs have to have a certificate granted by a court to collect Council Tax. A complaint from you can help get the certificate withdrawn. Ask your local County court if they have a form for making a complaint. If not, write in to the Court Manager with details. The Court will hold a hearing and can cancel the bailiff’s certificate, order compensation and order return of the goods. A bailiff can be fined for collecting without a certificate.

* You can ask the local Government Ombudsman to look at your complaint if the Council refuse to help you.

BAILIFFS CHARGES

In the first instance, complain to the bailiffs themselves. You can tell them you know their charges are excessive and that you will be ta

1 Sigma Decisions in a Six Sigma World
Six Sigma has become the standard for product quality in our highly competitive world, but we are still wrestling with decision-making that is running at a less than one sigma success rate. Paul C. Nutt in his book, “Why Decisions Fail” reports, “For more than twenty years I have been studying how decisions are made, writing about what works, what doesn’t and why. The key finding is startling – decisions fail half of the time.”In this world of “Continuous Improvement” it seems incomprehensible that we are still working with a decision-making process that results in a 50% success rate. Why worry about competition from off shore when decision-making with a 60%, 70% or even higher success rate would really give organizations a huge competitive advantage. The amount of time and money spent on bad decisions is incalculable and it boggles my mind to think about the cost of covering up bad decisions not to mention the blot a bad decision can be on a reputation or the personal friction it might cause.Historically, most decision-making has been based on the “rational model.” This involves: define the problem; state objectives; outline alternatives, estimate consequences; evaluate tradeoffs; recognize uncertainty; estimate risk tolerance; remove emotion and choose the best option. Somehow this whole process sounds negative to me. There is nothing positive about problems or estimating consequences. Evaluating tradeoffs signifies settling for something less than the optimum. Estimat

bikes and other vehicles parked near your home.

DON’T SIGN ANYTHING! If the bailiff leaves papers for you to sign and return, you do not have to do this. You don’t have to sign agreements posted through your door either.

THE BAILIFFS HAVE ALREADY BEEN INSIDE MY HOME

THIS IS MORE SERIOUS. If you have let them in before, then bailiffs have the right to return to you home and if you don’t let them in, they are allowed to break in.

* Contact you council and ask them to take the debt back. Ask your local Councillor for help.

WHAT THINGS ARE THE BAILIFFS ALLOWED TO TAKE?

There are some things that the bailiffs are not allowed to take at all; such as goods that are rented or hired. The regulations also say that the following items are exempt and can’t be taken:

* "Such tools, books, vehicles and other items of equipment as are necessary for use personally in employment, business or vocation"

* "Such clothing, bedding, furniture, household equipment and provisions as are necessary for satisfying basic domestic needs of the person and family".

CAN THE BAILIFFS TAKE THINGS WHICH ARE NOT MINE?

WHAT IF I HIDE THINGS OR GIVE THEM AWAY?

BAILIFFS PROCEDURES

If the bailiffs are distraining for Poll Tax or Council Tax, there are certain procedures that they have to follow. They must have with them:-

* written authorisation from the council for them to call. They should show you this if you ask.

They must leave you a copy of:-

* the law setting out their powers and what they can and cannot do. These are the "Enforcement Regulations".

* the charges the bailiffs are allowed to make for each visit. You should check they have not added too much on to your debt. See the schedule at the end of this fact sheet.

* any agreement you have actually signed. This will be called a "Walking Possession" agreement and includes a list of goods the bailiffs have warned you they may take.

HOW DO I STOP THE BAILIFFS?

HOW DO I COMPLAIN?

GET ADVICE FIRST. Bailiffs law is very complex, and even if you think that what they have done is unfair, they may still be acting within the law.

* You can ask the local Government Ombudsman to look at your complaint if the Council refuse to help you.

BAILIFFS CHARGES

In the first instance, complain to the bailiffs themselves. You can tell them you know their charges are excessive and that you will be t

Soap Box And Rants From Lance From Days Gone By, Part I
Okay so I do a lot of research; have traveled afar and obviously I have something to say. Ah; “Rants from Lance” indeed. Yes in fact it is over do but it is time; It is Soap Box time; I Read an interesting article today about the fact that 80% of all penalties for employment withholding costs were fined to small businesses with under ten employees. Probably because when the large companies were small they were fined and learned along the way, as they got bigger to outsource employment tasks or hire attorneys to slow down the investigating agencies. I say this fact has made a market niche for employment agencies and taken another fee from the laborers.For instance many of our franchisees have hired employees through temporary or employment agencies because of the time involved in accounting and penalties from an anti-small business group of regulators and a huge employment government agency in many states. Which attack businesses to justify their own existence. Interestingly enough these government agencies burn up half of all monies collected in administration. Those unemployment agencies need to charge more fines to stay in business, now they have more output and accusations amongst laid off workers fly and these agencies investigate even though most claims are false and lies from disgruntled, low out put employees who want something for nothing.For instance I can call up the unemployment board of nearly any state and without any proof can make up a charge and they

ng to you and/or goods which are jointly owned by you and your partner. If they want to take goods that belong to someone else (your children, partner, lodgers etc.) explain that the goods do not belong to you. If you can, show a receipt or note as proof. The owner of the goods may have to provide a sworn statement in the form of a "statutory declaration" to say this is the case. They cannot take goods which are rented or hired. This includes goods on hire purchase agreements. Show them a copy of your credit agreement if you can.

WHAT IF I HIDE THINGS OR GIVE THEM AWAY?

BAILIFFS PROCEDURES

If the bailiffs are distraining for Poll Tax or Council Tax, there are certain procedures that they have to follow. They must have with them:-

* written authorisation from the council for them to call. They should show you this if you ask.

They must leave you a copy of:-

* the law setting out their powers and what they can and cannot do. These are the "Enforcement Regulations".

* the charges the bailiffs are allowed to make for each visit. You should check they have not added too much on to your debt. See the schedule at the end of this fact sheet.

* any agreement you have actually signed. This will be called a "Walking Possession" agreement and includes a list of goods the bailiffs have warned you they may take.

HOW DO I STOP THE BAILIFFS?

HOW DO I COMPLAIN?

GET ADVICE FIRST. Bailiffs law is very complex, and even if you think that what they have done is unfair, they may still be acting within the law.

* You can ask the local Government Ombudsman to look at your complaint if the Council refuse to help you.

BAILIFFS CHARGES

In the first instance, complain to the bailiffs themselves. You can tell them you know their charges are excessive and that you will be t

Your Business Logo and Color Scheme
My business logo and color scheme started one lovely spring day in my office, after two years of working with words and images. I purchased some rubber stamps and played with them. A logo emerged: simple, elegant, with the right feeling for my business. I took the ideas from the stamps and played with Photoshop on the computer until I had created an original business logo that felt totally right.Luckily for me, in my day job I worked among some of the top designers in the world at the Department of Architecture at MIT. An elegant Italian Ph.D. student named Maria was doing me the favor of giving me feedback on my business logo. She loved it! That was reassuring, but what really helped was what she said next.“And this can be your color scheme, too! You can get green boxes, or white bags or boxes with green ribbons, and make all your packaging match up with this. Oh, it will be so pretty!”This started the wheels turning for me. Until then, I had gone with a rich, sparkly look. My display had used deep colors: black velvet, sheer purple fabric with silver snowflakes, and black velvet displays. Using this logo, and getting the advice from Maria, meant that I would need to go in a different direction.I decided that the color scheme for everything in my business would be the colors of my logo: lime green, white and grey. First I designed business cards that were professionally printed on white glossy cardstock. Then I designed my website in

ffs have never been into your home and they will not accept your offer, all they can do is to pass your debt back to the council. It is important to make an arrangement to pay the council, or they may try other ways of recovering the money, such as taking money out of your wages or your benefit.

HOW DO I COMPLAIN?

GET ADVICE FIRST. Bailiffs law is very complex, and even if you think that what they have done is unfair, they may still be acting within the law.

* You can ask the local Government Ombudsman to look at your complaint if the Council refuse to help you.

BAILIFFS CHARGES

In the first instance, complain to the bailiffs themselves. You can tell them you know their charges are excessive and that you will be t

The Introduction - It's An Issue Of Confidence
There are two factors at work in a prospect's subconscious mind when he's considering doing business with you: confidence and risk. Your job in advertising is to raise confidence and lower risk. If you successfully do that, you'll sew up all the business. So let's talk first about confidence. The problem is that in today's marketplace, people are more jaded, skeptical, and weary. Weary of getting ripped off. Jaded from bad service. Skeptical of offers that sound too good to be true. In short, people are generally in a defensive buying position. As a result, the tendency is to either do nothing (remember your third kind of competitor, the dreaded inertia?) or to stick with their current supplier even if the relationship isn't all that great. People figure it's safer to stay in a so-so relationship than test the waters of finding a new company to do business with.You can probably mentally validate this in your own personal buying habits. Have you ever gotten fed up with a company you do business with, gone to the yellow pages and called around looking for someone better, then frustrated and exhausted, meekly returned to the original culprit because of a perceived lack of better options? Of course you have. We all have. You know by now the reason for this is the confidence gap. The customer doesn't have any ability to make any distinction whether any of the options are any better or worse or different than any of the others. There are a lot of different reasons for this probably t

* You can ask the local Government Ombudsman to look at your complaint if the Council refuse to help you.

BAILIFFS CHARGES

In the first instance, complain to the bailiffs themselves. You can tell them you know their charges are excessive and that you will be taking further action if the charges are not reduced to the levels shown in the schedule.

* You can then complain to the council as the bailiffs are acting as agents of the Council. There have been recent cases that have been taken back in front of the Magistrates Court over these issues, with the result that the councils have been forbidden to take any further recovery action, or in other words, the debt has been written off. So it IS worth complaining.

* You can apply to the County Court for the costs to be checked. This is called "Taxation". The court can look at a complaint within 12 months. They will decide if the charges are excessive or not. There is a fee to pay to the court for this application. If the court decides not reduce the bill at least 20% you can be liable for the bailiffs firm’s court costs. You need legal advice first.

USEFUL LINKS

The Secretary
Association of Civil Enforcement Agencies
Kensington House
33 Imperial Square
Cheltenam
Glos
Tel: 01242 241456
Website: www.acea.org.uk

The Secretary
Enforcement Services Association (ENSAS)
(formally The Certificated Bailiffs Association) Ridgefield House
14 John Dalton Street Manchester M2 6JR Tel: 0161 839 7225
Website: www.bailiffs.org.uk

Local Government Ombudsman (England)
Millbank Tower
Milbank
London SW1P 4QP
Advice Line: 0845 602 1983
Monday to Friday 9.00 am – 4.30 pm. Website: www.lgo.org.uk

There are 3 Local Government Ombudsman offices for England. Please contact the advice line to check where to send any complaint.

Local Government Ombudsman (Wales)
Derwen House Court Road Bridgend
CF31 1BN
Tel: 01656 661 325
Website: www.ombudsman-wales.org

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The world has shrunk, thanks to an invention called the Internet. Communication is now made easier. Barely two decades ago, a person in Thailand has to wait for weeks for a letter from the United States. Now, a letter can be sent in a matter of seconds, through e-mail or electronic mail. A few years ago, talking to a person halfway across the world is guaranteed to cost hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. Now, with the advent of VoIP telephony, it costs nothing more than a local phone call to your neighbour. Sometimes, it’s even for free!

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