Category: Consumer Columnists

Why employees should look at their paystubs JULIE Gunther started working as a flight attendant for Alaska Airlines in 2015. In 2017, she sued her employer in a class action,…

AT 90 years old, this senior was my oldest client. Everything came crashing down on him during his golden years unfortunately. He had a business, which looked like it never…

THE coronavirus has put a lot of strain on people’s ability to pay their debts. With a lot of employees getting laid off in massive numbers, they are staying at…

“California law prohibits discrimination based on disability or medical condition. The employer has a duty to provide reasonable accommodation to disabled employees to enable them to work despite their disability.”…

“Now is the time for kindness and our humanity to shine forth, to help each other not get sick, by wearing face masks, gloves and self isolating and helping our…

A LOT of people who are burdened with credit card debt often don’t know where to turn for help. They see all the ads on TV, internet, etc. by so-called…

THE clients are a husband and wife in their sixties. They operate a retail business that provides a service. There is no corporation or LLC. In other words, clients are…

STANLEY Vincent worked as a Patrol Officer for the California Highway Patrol for seven years. The Daily Journal reports that Vincent was fired from his job when he took three…

Q: Because of the Stay-at-Home order in California, my employer has sent me home on a “work furlough” without pay. It has been more than a month and I still…

THE client is 50 and has two grandchildren living with her who are teenagers still in high school. She is married but separated. She is not divorced from her husband….

LAST week, CNN reported that 10 nurses from Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California were placed on administrative leave for demanding N95 masks while treating COVID-19 patients….

WHEN the virus makes your income disappear overnight, it can be very frightening to realize that you can’t go very long without it because your bills don’t stop just because…

FILING a bankruptcy case creates a “bankruptcy estate.” The estate becomes the legal owner of all of the debtor’s property while the bankruptcy is going on. What does the estate…

FIVE of the country’s largest banks announced recently that they have agreed to temporarily suspend mortgage payments for homeowners affected by the virus. California has indeed suffered an unexpected economic…

AS of this writing, the new coronavirus (COVID-19) has infected over two million people globally, and more than 145,000 have died. The outbreak has understandably created worldwide anxiety since the first…

UNEMPLOYMENT claims nationwide have significantly spiked due to the lockdown which has resulted in the shutdown of the U.S. economy. Millions of people have lost their jobs because small businesses…

THE dangerous coronavirus has brought the economy to a screeching halt. With no work and no paychecks, millions of homeowners are now wondering how they’re going to be able to…

INSTACART is one of the largest grocery delivery services in the United States. Instacart allows its customers to shop their local grocery using a mobile app or the website. The…

BOTH Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 trustees are now implementing the new procedure required by the U.S. Trustee for social distancing to avoid spreading the virus. The lockdown and social…

THESE are challenging times for California small businesses. Restaurants, retail stores, and other services sustained (and continue to sustain) coronavirus-related losses. Their damages resulted from severe business interruption, event cancellation,…

A LOT of people in debt often already know what they need to do once they realize that bankruptcy is their only way out. But they usually delay the decision…