Have You Ever Heard Of "Eminent Domain"?

Its really a terrible situation. Basically what it means is that the government can take your land or property. Here is a link to an article where business owners are facing this threat.

The power of eminent domain means that the government can acquire property from landowners whether they want to sell or not.

What is also interesting about this situation is that a proposed proposition was put on the ballot that would decrease the power of eminent domain but the proposition didn't pass - meaning that it didn't get enough votes (from the voters) to pass. Since the proposition to decrease the power of eminent domain wasn't passed then that means that the power of being able to take one's property by eminent domain is still there.

It also seems that a couple of the buildings are on the historic registry but can still be taken away by the eminent domain process.

There is an effort going on now to collect signatures for a ballot initiative that would prohibit governments from using eminent domain to buy property that would be turned over to private companies. Cities under the proposal still would be allowed to use condemnation powers to build hospitals, schools, roads and other public-use projects.

I believe that this is another reason why people have to get more involved in their community and use the power of their "vote". You may think that something like this won't affect you but indirectly it really does!


I do a lot of grant research work and unfortunately this is a darker side of the government and what it can do.

So far the situation is at a standstill. The eminent domain process takes some time to implement and in the meantime the government wants to be able to settle with the landowners but some of them do not want to move!

This is truly a "darker" side of the government - unfortunately!

Free Or Low Cost Dental Care

There are still a few places around that still provide free or low cost dental care. For instance in my area - Philadelphia - there is the:

Catholic Worker Clinic - free medical and dental care

1826 E Lehigh Ave

Philadelphia, PA, 19125

Phone 215-426-0364

It is best to call first to make sure that they will be able to help you.

Another Big Worker's Strike May Be Happening!

Here is a link to a blog post about a possible strike by GM Workers. What is interesting to note here is that if they do decide to go on strike they will receive $200 a week in "strike" salary!

This just goes to show that the "workforce" is not what it used to be! I remember that my father worked for the post office and that was the same job that he had until he retired. It's hard to be able to say the same thing today!

Mesothelioma

What is mesothelioma?

According to Wikipedia mesothelioma is a form of cancer that is almost always caused by previous exposure to asbestos.

If you have seen this term mentioned before it is because the name is very popular! And it is popular becaue there are lawsuits going on where people are suing because they have contracted mesothelioma. For example the W.R. Grace company is up on criminal charges that they released dangerous asbestos fibers throughout a mining town.

The first lawsuits against asbestos manufacturers were in 1929. Since then, many lawsuits have been filed against asbestos manufacturers and employers, for neglecting to implement safety measures after the links between asbestos, asbestosis, and mesothelioma became known (some reports seem to place this as early as 1898). The liability resulting from the sheer number of lawsuits and people affected has reached billions of dollars. The amounts and method of allocating compensation have been the source of many court cases, and government attempts at resolution of existing and future cases.

There have also been instances where the cause of contracting mesothelioma was found with people who worked at shipyards or those who were in the military service.

It may be even possible that you could have a legitimate legal case against a company if you think you contracted mesothelioma. The best thing for you to do would be to either search online for lawyers or law firms that are handling similar cases or check the law firms in your own local area to see if they are handling similar cases.

Unclaimed Money Blog!

I have started a new blog about "Unclaimed Money".

Even though there is some information about unclaimed money on my grants related page and my Grant Basics 101 Blog, this new blog will focus on unclaimed money and the related information about it.

"I Need A Car To Get To Work"

Now first off don't get me wrong - having a car is great! I have been through both experiences of having a car and not having a car - and having a car is the better of the two!

However with all the jobs that I have had I would say that a good 20% of them warrented me having a car. These jobs were mostly my radio jobs where the radio stations were located so far away!

The rest of the jobs that I have had I could get to on the bus using public transportation. (Now that I work from home my "commute" is even smaller).

I keep seeing people posting about how they need a car to get to work and I'm wondering if that is necessarily so. I do grant research so I know that there are some programs out there to help people get a car but in order to qualify to apply for these grant programs you have to meet certain requirements.

I also do know that there are some jobs whose location is so abnormal that having a car is a necessity.

But while having a car is a great thing do you REALLY need it to get to work? Can you use public transportation? And what about when your car breaks down - how are you going to get to work then?

Home Equity Line Of Credit - Definition

What exactly is a home equity line of credit? A home equity line of credit is a form of revolving credit in which your home serves as collateral.

You can also read Wikipedia's definition of what a home equity line of credit is by clicking here

Basically speaking you borrow money against the value of your home. Of course you have to pay that money back but a lot of people have been using this kind of tactic to get money quickly.

Have An Adjustable Rate Mortgage That You Are Having Trouble Paying?

Here is a link to an article that offers some helpful advice for those that are having trouble making the monthly payments on their adjustable-rate mortgages.

The number of homes that are going into foreclosure are increasing at an alarming rate and something just has to be done to help people from losing their homes!

Sneaky Tactics By Debt Collectors

Here is a very good article about some of the tactics that debt collectors may try on people that they are trying to collect from.

So many people are in debt nowadays and sometimes it seems as though the only solution to get out of debt is to get into more debt!

The article mentioned above talks about how some of the tactics that some debt collectors may try on on people are really not valid and they are just trying to scare people into paying their debt.

More News On The Ever-Increasing Foreclosure Front

Here is a current article about Prsident Bush and the current foreclosure problems that are plaguing homeowners who can't afford to meet their monthly mortgage payments.

While the President said that he didn't approve of giving homeowners out and out grants, he did favor programs that would help homeowners with good credit to be able to re-finance their mortgages. However I think that a big problem with this is that there are a lot of homeowners that have bad credit ratings who need help with meeting their monthly mortgage payments. There are a lot of homeowners who have taken mortgages with very high rates and more worse they have taken out adjustable rate mortgages as opposed to fixed-rate mortgages. With adjustable rate mortgages the monthly mortgage payments are not the same every month and will sometimes increase to a lot more than what was paid the previous month.

I was watching one of those infomercials about how there is a lot of money to be made with foreclosures but all I could really think about when I was watching this program was about the people and families that have lost their homes!

Phony AOL Email!

Here is a copy of a phone AOL email that I got:

Dear AOL Member,

This confirms that your AOL payment method has been updated to reflect the new information you provided. You can make payment method changes at AOL Keyword: My Account throughout your monthly billing cycle if you decide that a different payment method would better suit your needs. Please note however, that the billing method on record at 10:00 AM EST on your billing cycle date will be the one used to process your account charges.

You can access America Online`s secure, self-service Billing Center by going to AOL Keyword: My Account. Here you can review and modify your AOL account information online, anytime.

please use the following link--> AOL Billing Center

Please Remember: If your account information is not updated within 48 hours then your ability to use your AOL account will become restricted!

Sincerely,
Member Services
AOL, LLC.

First of all I can tell that this is a phony email from someplace claiming to be AOL because the link does not go to an official AOL website!

You have to be very careful about email nowadays because if you click on the link you could risk losing very important information. Some of these links will ask you for your log-in information including your password!

In some cases you might get phony email from your bank asking you to "verify" your information by providing important information about your account.

When you come upon an email that asks you to click on a link, put your cursor over the link to see where that link is. If it's not an official site then do not click on that link. If you have an association with the company it is best to call them first as opposed to being involved in some kind of scam email that could possibly ruin you!

Unclaimed Money - It's Looking Mighty Good To Others!

For more information about "Unclaimed Money", just click here

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Most of the unclaimed property is cash from dormant bank accounts, unclaimed utility deposits, insurance benefits, premium refunds, uncashed checks and trust accounts.

One state has returned $546 million to rightful owners over the past five years, but all that cash proved too tempting for Arthur Vincent Coppola, 39, of Kennelon, N.J.

Coppola was sentenced Tuesday in Tallahassee to 30 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $57,000 in restitution for faking the identities of two Floridians to collect more than $290,000 in unclaimed cash.

Is Your Mortgage In Trouble?

Is Your Mortgage In Trouble?

Here is a very interesting article about a loan company that went bankrupt. Unfortunately a lot of people that had mortgages with this company simply thought that since the company had gone bankrupt that they didn't have to pay on their mortgages anymore.

WRONG!

Have you ever considered donating your car?

At first glance, donating your car might seem like a worthy thing to do but that is only if you have the car to donate.

Now-a-days people need their cars more than ever!

Need Financial Help With Paying Your Utility Bill Before It Get Shut Off?

I just posted on my Grants Basic 101 Blog about how you can get help if your utility company is going to shut off your power.

If you have received a shut-off notice then that means that the situation has gone very bad because there are some things that can be done BEFORE you get to this point.

First of all you should call your utility company to see if there are any type of payment arrangement plans that you can make to pay your utility bill. A lot of these utility companies will give you an extension in order to help give you more time to pay your bill. If you are still having problems some of the utility companies will send you information about grant programs that may be able to help you financially with your bill.

There is also another option that will at least help delay your bill for about three months. You still are liable to pay the bill but at least you will have some time to get the money together. This is often an overlooked and not known tactic that can be done if you need more time to pay your utility bill.

Making Money Online

Make Money Online!

Making Money Online!

So many people are interested in making money online and they keep searching for information to help them make money online. Of course you have to know that a lot of these "make money online" things are just a scam but there are some legitimate ways to make money online.

One way is with Adsense. Adsense is a part of Google. Adsense is basically a program where you add ads to your website or blog and you get paid everytime a visitor to your site clicks on the ads. If you're curious about how much money some people are making using adsense then here is a link to an article about it:

Just How Much Money Can You Make With Adsense?

Now first of course you have to have a website or blog and you have to join Adsense but Adsense is free to join. You submit your site so that it can be reviewed and approved and once your site is approved then you can go through the process of adding the adsense ads to your site. Once your adsense earnings reach $100 for the month then you get paid either by check or bank transfer. If you don't make $100 during the month then your earnings will roll over into the next month until you reach the $100 and then you will get paid.

I want to stress that adsense is one of the legitimate ways to make money online. Although it will involve work with your website or blog there is still the basic thing that you are actually making money online! And some people have earned enough adsense money to make it their major source of income!

Adsense is about one of the only legitimate ways that I know of to make money online but there are others. Some people have managed to start very successful businesses online. They give lessons, the offer tutoring sessions and they sell things. Many people have managed to start businesses buying and selling on Ebay!

So there are some legitimate ways to make money online.

Avoiding Foreclosure - Help

As the number of foreclosures increases there may be more help available for you then you realize:

Here are some very good tips to follow to help you to try to avoid foreclosure

Do NOT ignore the lender.

Somehow getting behind on a mortgage comes with a built in belief that phoning your lender constitutes a sin or that a call to a lender will result in their ripping your head off right through the chord. In truth, most lenders appreciate knowing why you are having trouble and like updates on how things are going, especially when your problems have justified reasons like health issues or the loss of a job. Treat letters from your lender as wake up call from a concerned neighbor rather than a threat from a bully. Remember – banks want to help get you back on track, they want their payments not your house. If you do not think you can talk to them yourself about a plan there are professional foreclosure negotiators who can help if you have fallen behind.

And this tip I like the best!

Do NOT think you have no options, Do NOT fail to take advantage of
them.

You may believe, or your lender may lead you to believe, that you must pay them in full or lose your home to foreclosure. In fact, many options exist which will allow you to keep your house and stop the foreclosure proceeding without paying all of your arrearage at once. Some choices may even reduce what you owe on your property by tens of thousands of dollars. Almost everyone has some options and the sooner you act the more options you have. As the foreclosure date gets closer, options continue to become unavailable until by the foreclosure date only payment in full or a bankruptcy filing remain. Read more about what foreclosure prevention options you have and take action as fast as you can.