Covering the week’s most noteworthy business news impacting the Filipino-American and Global Filipino community.
(Part 2) LAST week, we talked about the tower of Babel which is located 30 miles from the modern city of Baghdad in Iraq. We destroyed the tower with cruise missiles when we attacked Iraq because we thought that the tower contained Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction. Now, we know that chemical weapons, at least,…
SOME business establishments pay cash wages “under the table.” Why? Is it worth it? What are the risks? What does paying cash wages ‘under the table’ mean? This common phrase means the payment of wages to employees by cash. It also includes payments of wages by checks that are disguised to look like other types…
Finding other sources of payment for the seriously injured LINDA and David Kubert were riding on their motorcycle when eighteen-year-old Kyle Best, who was driving and texting, crossed the center-line of the road, and collided with them. The Kuberts each lost a leg as a result of the accident. They sued Best. They also sued…
“I can’t believe this is happening to me. Life’s not fair. I haven’t done anything bad. Why do I feel like I’m being punished for something I didn’t do?” These are words I often hear from clients who come to me for bankruptcy advice. Some people are quick to pass judgment on people who file…
PREVIOUSLY, we talked about Noah who was instructed by God, my God, the God of Moses and Israel, who sent His only and beloved Son Jesus Christ, to us and who willingly became man through the Blessed Virgin Mary, suffered and died on the cross to redeem us from the consequences of sin so that…
THE Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA, an agency that oversees the IRS) instructed the IRS to expand audits to prior and subsequent years. This means that if IRS audits your income tax return for 2011, they must expand the audit to your 2010 and 2012 as well. Ouch! The Treasury Department conducted its…
DISCRIMINATION based on disability, race, sex, or other protected characteristics are prohibited by law. The law prohibits not only intentional discrimination, but also practices that have the effect of discriminating against individuals because of their protected characteristics. The law also prohibits retaliating against employees who report about discrimination. Retaliation is illegal and may subject the…
THIS article is from bankrate.com. As I have been hoping with predicting is that lenders will continuously change guidelines to help homeowners that went thru the recent mortgage crisis due to the recessions. I also mention that the lenders will get looser towards the tail end of this mortgage crisis we just went thru. Please…
A client of mine said he never saw it coming. Everything he ever wanted in life, he always purchased on credit. The “pre-approved” credit cards just kept coming in the mail and he never said NO to any of them. Buy now and pay later, why not? As long as they allow you to pay…
3rd Case Report of California Certified PA (Public Insurance Adjuster) Jae Park On March 2012, a homeowner of two-story single-family home in the Los Angeles County community of Rowland Heights found water dripping from the ceiling over the kitchen on the first floor. He suspected that one side of the ceiling in the kitchen had…
YOUR father’s last will and testament gives you his IRA of $180,000. He died yesterday. Next week you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy relief because your credit card debt of $40,000 is too much for you to handle. You inform your lawyer of your inherited IRA. Your lawyer tells you, not to worry, because IRA’s…
THE News again is very confusing, one day you will hear market condition is getting better, the next time you tune into your news you will hear that all of a sudden housing market is becoming bearish. That is what makes Wall Street tingle with cash, if the market is uncertain a Wall Street investor…
EMPLOYEES may experience unfair practices at work such as the non-payment of overtime or missed breaks, wrongful termination, unlawful deductions, discrimination, or sexual harassment. How can employees protect themselves against an unfair or abusive employer? The following strategies are suggested: Gather the necessary documents that support your claim. These documents include all pay stubs, time…
IF YOU are searching for debt reduction solutions, no doubt you’ve been inundated with advertisements for various debt management programs, companies and solutions. The choices seem confusing to the average consumer. The truth is that every situation is different and what may work perfectly for others is not necessarily going to work the same way…
GOLIATH was a Philistine giant who was 9 feet tall. The Philistine army had gathered for war against Israel. The two armies faced each other. Israel’s army was led by King Saul who was Israel’s first king but his life turned to tragedy because he did not trust God, my God, the God of Moses…
LET’S discuss reasons why you should consider filing, even you are not required to: 1. You expect a refund. You have credits that can generate a refund – from taxes withheld from your paycheck, estimated tax payments, or a prior-year overpayments applied to this year. 2. You may qualify for Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)…
Q. I AM thinking of filing a wage claim against my former employer for unpaid overtime hours and breaks I was not provided. Some of my fellow employees, who suffered as I did, wanted to file with me but they are afraid. They think if they complain, they’ll be fired. I understand their fears and…
THE new rules to streamline the mortgage application process might come into effect after this summer. By the end of August, regulators will release a “softer” version of rules overseeing how banks finance mortgages. The Dodd-Frank financial reform bill tasked regulators with writing rules that would force Wall Street to keep some skin in the…
LIKE most people, you’ve probably heard a lot of negative things about bankruptcy and that how filing could be the worst mistake you’ll ever make in your life. And like most people, you’ve been misled! There is so much misinformation out there about bankruptcy that a lot of good, honest, hard-working people are missing out…
THE situation we envision in this discussion is where you have an offer in compromise which has been accepted by the IRS then you file for bankruptcy relief. Do you owe the original amount prior to the OIC or do you owe the compromised amount accepted by the IRS? For example, you owe the IRS…
IF your mortgage loan is forgiven, you end up with income from cancellation of debt. Here are 10 tips to exclude the forgiven debt from your income. • Cancellation of debt (COD) or debt forgiveness results in taxable income; however, you may be able to exclude the income (meaning you don’t have to pay tax…
LENDERS as I thought are more aggressively helping homeowners modify their mortgages. I have seen more loan balance forbearance lately. Another term for that is a loan modification with a Balloon payoff for the remaining balance. Lenders will structure this modification package with the homeowner paying a portion with full interest payment and another smaller…
Q: I WORK as a nurse in a hospital on a 12-hour shift, three days a week. Because of the realities of patient care, we often find ourselves working an extra 30 minutes to an hour per shift finishing up paperwork. We are not paid for the extra time. There are times when I am…
WHERE WOULD WE BE without our toothbrushes?! Today personal dental hygiene is easy with convenient tools like toothbrushes and floss. But have you ever wondered what people did before modern toothbrushes? Twigs and branches The earliest toothbrushes were actually “chewing sticks.” That may sound rudimentary, but they were surprisingly effective. In ancient Babylon people chewed on…
CHAPTER 13 is the section of the US Bankruptcy Code that allows individuals in the United States to reorganize their finances. If you are having difficulty paying your debts (credit cards, medical bills, personal loans, taxes, late mortgage payments and property taxes- all kinds of debts) due to insufficient income, don’t despair. Chapter 13 may…
(Part 3) We ended last week with God, my God, the God of Moses and Israel, who sent His only Son, Jesus Christ to this world, and through the Blessed Virgin Mary, He became man and willingly died on the cross for our sins, to redeem us from the consequences of sin, so that we…
A short sale occurs when you sell your property for a price that is short of the balance owed to avoid a foreclosure – with the consent of your lender. Let’s define recourse and non-recourse loans and discuss variations when the property is outside California or if you move into or out of California. Here…
FOR the past year or so there has been real signs of the inventory of houses for sale to be really low, in fact all time lows. Usually an average city hold about a three month inventory of homes for sale, that means, if within that three month period all of the existing houses were…
Pay stub case settles for $8.25 million We have previously written about the issue of confusing pay stubs and the employees’ remedies should they have trouble figuring out what they’re paid based on their pay stubs. How serious is the law regarding pay stubs? In the case of McKenzie v. FedEx, FedEx was sued for…
You need to be aware that if foreclosing proceedings have begun and your application has been denied, you may not have enough time to submit a new application andre-apply especially if a trustee sale date has been scheduled. According to a recent government report, nearly 50 percent of loan modifications approved under HAMP are back in…
