It’s been a rough few years for the American economy.  With all of the downsizing and layoffs, many people are turning to entrepreneurship.  Here are a few simple steps to help you get your business started:

1. Do Research – If you’re not an expert in your business, you’ll need to become one, or at least be able to talk like one.  Try finding people who have started similar businesses and learn from them.

2. Create a Business Plan – Writing a business plan is essential.  When you’re trying to find investors or get approval for a loan, people are going to need to see your business plan.  It will encompass the business’s information including financials, market analysis, and descriptions of your products and services.  You can find examples of business plans on the internet, or you can go to www.sba.gov for more information.

3. Register Your Business – Businesses can take many forms.  Sole proprietorships do not require registering with the state.  You can just file an assumed name certificate with the county in which you’re doing business.  While this is the cheapest and easiest way to set up a business, you will be personally liable for anything associated with the business.  Alternately, many people choose to register with the Secretary of State’s office.  Decide on the type of entity, pay your fee, and follow the instructions to register online.  It’s more expensive than a sole proprietorship, but many of the structures provide people with limited liability.  This means you’ll only be liable up to the amount that you’ve put into your business.

4. Get a tax ID number – You’ll need a federal tax id number.  Do this at www.irs.gov for free.

5. Set up your bank accounts – Visit your bank and set up an account in your business name.  This account will allow you to cash or deposit checks made payable to your business.

6. Get Help – Depending on the type of business you start, there could be many more steps that the city, county, or state will require.  If there are things you don’t understand, get help.  Having a good lawyer, accountant, or other business professional to advise you is invaluable.  It’s always cheaper and easier to do things right the first time than it is to get yourself out of trouble later on.

Conway Law Firm, PLLC is a full service law firm that specializes in Business, Tax and Entertainment Law. We also provide a full range of services in the fields of Family Law, Credit Card Litigation, Wills, and all other types of civil cases. If you have legal questions, we have answers.

1. Inspection – The resident, before move-in or within 48 hours after moving in has the responsibility of inspecting the premises for bed bugs.

What this means: So, basically, you’re going to be responsible for spotting a tiny bug that is hiding in the carpet or in cracks or crevices found in the walls or wooden floors. Since you can’t see them with the naked eye, if you really want to inspect, you may have to hire an extermination service to come out and look for you. Agreeing to the addendum means you have inspected the premises and that no bed bugs are there making you responsible if some show up in the future.

2.  Responsibility for Infestation – The landlord as the right to require a resident to pay for all reasonable costs of cleaning and pest control. The resident is also responsible for any lost rental income and any other relocation expenses that were necessary to move any other tenants that are affected by the infestation.

What this means: Believe it or not, the TAA is going to place the responsibility for getting rid of the bed bugs on the tenant. You signed something initially saying that you agree that you didn’t see any bed bugs when you moved in. Whether or not they were there in the first place, you are now responsible for getting rid of them when they show up. This means tenants will pay for all extermination costs for the apartment. That’s not cheap. On top of this, if the bed bugs are found in any adjacent apartment, the tenant of the unit where the bed bugs were initially found will be responsible for the costs of exterminating in other people’s apartments.

But wait, there’s more!

If the people in the other apartments have to move out for cleaning, the resident of the unit where the bed bugs were initially found is responsible for any costs the other tenants incur for moving their stuff out, and should the Landlord lose rental income because of the bed bug infestation, the resident will also be responsible for that.

3. Default – If any of the costs mentioned above are not paid, the tenant is in default of their rental agreement. The landlord then has the right to terminate the resident’s right to occupancy and may exercise any remedies that the lease allows.

What this means: If you get bed bugs and you can’t afford to pay for the extermination and moving costs and rent of the other tenants affected by the problem, you can be evicted. Even if you don’t have x-ray vision and didn’t see the bed bugs that were hiding in the carpet during your inspection, you are going to be tossed out for not paying. You’ll get an eviction on your record, which will lower the chances of you being able to rent another place.

THINGS YOU CAN DO

So, I’ve told you all of the terrible things that the TAA has planned for tenants that sign their bed bug addendum, but what can you do if you’re a tenant?

If you must sign the addendum so you can rent an apartment, it might be wise to have an exterminator inspect the premises and sign off that there are no bed bugs there before you move into your apartment. I know this is an added expense that you don’t really need when you’re moving to a new place, but considering the alternative, it’s going to be totally worth it if bed bugs show up in your apartment.

Another option is to talk to your state or city representatives. These are the people that make the laws. If they hear from enough people who are troubled by the prospect of having to pay a ton of money for bed bugs, they could be persuaded to pass a law that would override the TAA and give us a much more reasonable solution to the bed bug problem.

Placing the burden on those who can least afford it is, in my book, never the right way to do things.

Until next time,

Brad

Let me start out by saying this: “Credit repair companies are a scam.”

Yes, I know it’s something that seems like a good idea. Yes, I know some people are desperate to repair their credit. That’s exactly what they’re counting on. The truth is that no company can help you with this. The only solution is time.

Let’s go over some of the things you can do to help yourself.

1. Get a copy your credit reports. Don’t fall for the trick sites like Free Credit Report.com. It’s not really free. You’re required to sign up for a service that they charge you for every month. Instead go to www.annualcreditreport.com. This is the site the government sponsors so you can get each of your credit reports for free once every 12 months.

2. Check the reports for fraudulent activity. Take a look at everything on each report. Make sure all of the things listed are yours. If there’s something fishy, go to the credit bureau’s site and find out where to send a letter so you can dispute the fraudulent items. Just write a letter stating that you’re disputing the following items and list the items that don’t belong to you. They are then required to remove the item, at least temporarily, and the company that owns the debt will have 30 days to validate the debt. If they can’t, or there are signs of fraud, it may be permanently removed from the report. Make sure you do this with all three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion).

3. The statute of limitations. After checking for fraudulent activity on your account, move on to the items that are actually yours. If you have some delinquent accounts, try and figure out when the last time you made a payment was. If you have any accounts that were last paid on over 4 years ago, you can note that the statute of limitations has run and that company can no longer take any legal actions against you on that debt. If a company tries to sue you on one of these, go to an attorney immediately. They can get this easily thrown out and there are major penalties for anyone suing on a debt that has been delinquent for more than 4 years. If you have anything that has been negatively affecting your credit report for more than 7 years, you can write the credit bureau and have them remove it. These items may only remain on your credit report for 7 years, after which, they must legally be removed.

4. Don’t make any agreements to pay old debts. If your debt has passed the statute of limitations, you can tell the company trying to collect to not ever contact you again. There is nothing they can do unless you agree to revive the debt, then you’ll have to start over again. I don’t care how much of a good Samaritan you are, don’t promise to give them any money. You’ve paid your debt by having them affect your credit. Just be happy you’re free.

5. Don’t ignore a lawsuit. If you do happen to get sued by someone who has a debt that has been delinquent for less than four years, do not ignore it. You should respond to the suit or find a lawyer to do it for you. If you never show up or answer the suit, the creditor can get a default judgment. If they get a judgment, it will stay on your credit report for 10 years. It can also be renewed in 10 year intervals and may never go away. It’s best to at least try fighting it.

I hope this helps. Please remember that CREDIT REPAIR COMPANIES ARE A MYTH. They are formed to take your money, nothing more.

Question: What do you do if you get sued?

Answer: Get a lawyer.

Question: What if you can’t afford to get a lawyer?

Answer: Well, while I don’t really recommend representing yourself in most situations, I can give you some pointers on how to at least answer the lawsuit and respond to discovery, which will give you some time to figure out what you want to do.

First, don’t panic. If you’re being sued for some amount of money that someone says you owe, don’t worry, if you live in Texas, they can’t garnish your wages for a credit card debt.

Second, DON’T IGNORE IT! If you don’t respond, then you’ve just given them a judgment against you without putting up any sort of fight. At least make them work for it.

Third, file an answer. The court you’re in will determine how much time you have to respond to the suit. It will tell you this on the citation, which should be the first page in the packet of stuff you got from whoever served you. It will say something like you have to file an answer or appear by 10am on the Monday following 10 days. Just count out the days starting with the day after you were served, then go to the next Monday. Easy. I think I would just try to file it as soon as possible. You can find examples of Answers on the Internet. Just find an example that’s called a General Denial.

Lastly, look through the documents you were served and see if there is anything that’s requesting discovery. Sometimes it’s in the petition; sometimes it’s a separate document. If you do have something that says Request for Admissions, Request for Disclosure, Request for Interrogatories, or Request for Production, you have another deadline. If these documents were served on you with the lawsuit, you have 50 days to send the opposing attorney a response. Just count again starting with the day after you were served, once you hit 50, that’s your deadline.

I don’t really recommend responding to discovery yourself, but if you need some responses or objections, and you don’t want to pay a lawyer, I’m sure Google will help you out. One more point, if you receive any of these requests after the service of the petition, you only have 30 days to respond. Just FYI.

So, I now realize that there is a whole bunch of stuff that I can’t spend all day typing into a blog, but if you have any questions, please come see me or another legal professional who knows how to handle these matters. At least, this blog gives you an idea of how long you have to decide whether to seek counsel or go it alone. Enjoy.