Self Help - When you can't afford a lawyer

The Maryland Crime Victim's Resource Center (MCVRC) has developed some new tools for people faced with identity theft.  You can find some good material about identity theft on the People's Law Library, written by MCVRC staff, at http://www.peoples-law.org/node/3338.

In addition, MCVRC has created an online interactive interview for clients to help them prepare the documents needed to try to correct problems arising from identity theft, as described in the article on the People's Law Library above.

The directions from the article above specifically for using the interviews:

To use the interactive interview for responding to someone collecting a bill that is in your name, but a bill you did not authorize, you will need a copy of the bill in hand when you start the interview. 

You will also need to provide a copy of your proof of your identity. 

Click below to use the interactive interview for a Letter to a Creditor, directly collecting their own bill.  This might be a credit card statement you received that contains charges you didn’t make or authorize.  It can be any situation where your credit or identity was used without your permission.

Letter to Creditor

To use the interactive interview for responding to a company or law firm that is a Debt Collector, or collecting a bill that is in your name but you did not authorize, you will need a copy of their letter in hand when you start the interview. 

You will also need to provide a copy of your police report and proof of your identity, by copying these and putting them in the letter.  Click below to use the interactive interview for a Letter to Debt Collector.

Letter to Debt Collector

To use the interactive interview to create a letter to a Credit Bureau, seeking investigation and removal from your credit report of items that are the result of identity theft, you will need a copy of your credit report in hand when you start the interview. 

You can obtain a free copy of your credit report from each credit bureau here. You do not have to pay for a copy of your credit report.  One credit report from each company is available to you free each year.  You can get a copy of your credit report from Annual Credit Report.

You will mail the letter and attachment, a copy of your credit report with the incorrect items circled, a copy of the police report you made of the identity theft and proof of your identity with the letter. 

Click below to use the interactive interview for a Letter to a Credit Bureau.

Letter to Credit Bureau

The People's Law Library has long been a valuable tool for Maryland residents trying to learn more about how Maryland law affects their lives.  If you are not familiar with the People's Law library, find it at http://www.peoples-law.org/.  The website is maintained by the Maryland State Law Library, but content is contributed by lawyers across the state. 

The website has recently been updated with 36 of the most used of 700 pages translated into Spanish for Maryland residents.  The website already had a Spanish portal to some content in Spanish, and to other websites with legal help translated into Spanish.  You can find that portal at http://www.peoples-law.org/node/959. 

A new Spanish portal is being developed which will link users to the newly translated pages.  In the meantime, I am attaching a list of the pages for your reference.

When you land on a page of content on the website, look for this:

In the picture above, "How Do I" is the name of the page, and Espanol (where did my tilde go?) is an active link on the real page that will take you to that same page translated into Spanish.

I may update this page with links to the Spanish pages, but that's not going to happen today.  I will, however, attach a copy of the list of pages with the names in English.  Unfortunately, it is a pdf, so there's no way to link the page names to the actual pages on PLL at this time. 

Besides, PLL will have the Spanish portal up and running very soon.

Why you really do not want pay day loans: http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2012/04/30/federal-regulators-scrutinize-banks-advance-direct-deposit-loans/

This is an exerpt from the article, click on the link above to read the entire article.  The exerpt is about how the loans work:

Say you need $100 to pay your rent or cover some other expense, but don't have the money in the bank. You've been receiving $500 monthly via electronic deposit. The bank agrees to a loan on the assumption that it will be able to automatically draw the full amount plus a fee from your next $500 deposit. There's no check of the borrower's credit history. The loans are popular partly because consumers can gain access to money quickly. The fee usually ranges from $7.50 to $10 per $100 borrowed. Guaranty Bank charges a flat $30 each time a customer applies for the loan. Repayment is required within 35 days. (See chart.)

Consumer groups say that people who use these loans are usually the most needy but least able to repay them on time. The bank repays itself regardless of whether borrowers have sufficient deposits in their bank accounts. This can create an overdraft in the account.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304356604577337743171120240.html?mod=WSJ_PersonalFinance_PF14

The following is just an exerpt, click the link above for more details:

It's a sad but true fact of marriage: Troubled couples often try to hide money from each other, whether to spend it on extramarital mischief or keep from sharing it in a divorce. They might do anything from stashing wads of money in a safe-deposit box to setting up a secret online brokerage account to build up funds on the sly.

But however they do it, let the hiders be warned: Electronic discovery is making it a lot easier to uncover all that covert activity.

Suspicious spouses might dig around in their partners' Web-surfing history and social networks to find traces of hidden bank accounts and business deals. They might install software on home computers that records every keystroke their spouses make—whether it's secret stock trades or cash transfers to paramours—and use smartphone and GPS tools to show when they've been making sneaky withdrawals from ATMs.

As you well know, the economic downturn has had and will continue to have a significant impact on the residents of Baltimore City and beyond, particularly those in low-income communities.  The dramatic increase in the demand for legal assistance from civil legal services organizations statewide is a telling indicator of just how serious the situation has become for many individuals and families.  Unfortunately, the demand for these services far outweighs the resources available. 

In response to this need, the Bar Association of Baltimore City (BABC), in partnership with Maryland Legal Aid, Legal Services for the Elderly, the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service, and the Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland, is hosting its sixth Pro Bono Day on Saturday, May 12, 2012 from 10 am to 2 pm at Maryland Legal Aid’s downtown Baltimore office, 500 East Lexington Street.  The last three Pro Bono Days events each served well over 300 people with legal issues.  Organizers of this event expect and encourage more people to take advantage of the free legal assistance.

Participants can discuss their legal issues one-on-one with volunteer lawyers in a variety of areas, including landlord-tenant, government benefits, veterans issues, bankruptcy and consumer debt, wills, advance directives and elder law, record expungements, foreclosure prevention, criminal issues, and divorce/custody/child support.   

The event is free and open to the public.  Your assistance in getting the word out to your constituency/members, via the attached flyer, would be greatly appreciated.  Registration is not required.  For more information, contact the BABC at 410-539-5936 ext. 102, or by email at probono@baltimorebar.org. You may also contact Yoanna Moisides at 443-451-2810.

The District Court Self-Help Center in Glen Burnie  (operated by Maryland Legal Aid) will receive the Maryland Access to Justice Commission’s Outstanding Program of the Year Award for 2012. “Congratulations to you and your colleagues at [the center] and Maryland Legal Aid for this well deserved recognition,” wrote Irma S. Raker, the commission’s chair, in a letter to Self-Help Center supervising attorney Sarah Frush.” The center will be honored at an event on May 11 in Annapolis.

In addition to helping walk-in customers in Glen Burnie, the center assists pro se (self-help) litigants by utilizing the Internet and a call-in service. People with civil legal needs throughout Maryland can now access basic legal information by “chatting” online with one of four Legal Aid lawyers. The lawyers also can provide web links with useful information.

The Bar Association of Baltimore City’s Legal Services to the Elderly Program is holding its 21st Annual Law Day for Seniors on Saturday, April 21, at the Edward F. Borgerding District Court Building, 5800 Wabash Avenue in Baltimore, from 8 a.m to 2 p.m.

The goal of Law Day 2012 is to educate seniors, their families, and caregivers about available community resources and legal issues affecting them. Maryland Legal Aid attorneys will attend, distribute information and answer questions. About 200 to 300 people attend each year. Parking is free.