Legal Blog

Urgent! Personal property statement deadlines have already passed, but make sure you didn't make a costly mistake!
If you have assessable commercial or industrial personal property you were probably required to file a 2012 Form L-4175 by February 1, 2012. Many taxpayers make the costly mistake of attaching tax asset detail sheets to the personal property statements. These sheets typically include acquisitions costs and dates and provide a basis for completing your personal property statement. However, the sheets often include information for income tax purposes that should not be disclosed to the assessor! Leasehold improvements that are already taxed as real property and are listed on the tax asset detail sheet only for income tax depreciation purposes can be caught by the assessor and entered into your personal property assessment, resulting in double taxation. Sometimes it is necessary to include support for Section M of the personal property statement, the leasehold improvements section. But you should limit the supporting documents to the items that you must disclose in Section M to support the return and not include the entire tax asset detail sheet. Avoiding this problem requires detailed analysis of your personal property statements and asset details. Contact me and I can help you avoid address this problem and avoid it in the future!

Many homeowners and property owners are currently being shocked by their assessments! Real estate markets have arguably stabilized in some areas. However, what many property owners did not expect is to see assessments increase! While values have remained stagnant or even have continued to fall in the majority of the State of Michigan, assessments are going up. Assessors have been using the highest priced sales to drive up assessments while ignoring the many typical lower priced sales that still saturate the market.
The best way to address this problem is to appeal your property taxes to the Board of Review and then the Tribunal. Boards typically do not give much property tax relief, but all residential property owners must appear before a Board before going to the Tribunal.
The Tribunal offers the opportunity to present appraisals and comparables to show your property's true worth. You get more than just a few minutes before a rubber stamp Board. You also get the opportunity to negotiate a settlement. I can assist you in this process. I have achieved significant tax savings for many homeowners and have the resources to present the best evidence possible.
Don't delay. Contact us here at 1-800-LAW-FIRM, PLLC for a free consultation.

Don't miss the 2012 March Board of Review! If you own residential property you must appeal your assessment to the 2012 March Board of Review prior to appealing to the Michigan You will be receiving or have already received a Notice of Assessment, Taxable Valuation (including Leasehold Improvements) and Property Classification. This notice states "THIS IS NOT A TAX BILL" in bold letters on the upper right hand corner. The lower half of this notice states the time and place for the Board of Review. Non-residents have the legal right to appeal property taxes by letter. Pay close attention to the notice because some jurisdictions require residents to appeal in person!
We appeal hundreds of properties to the March Board of Review in numerous jurisdictions every year. If you contact us with sufficient time before the scheduled meeting, we can handle the Board of Review protest for you and ensure that your rights don't vanish! Contact us today.

Are you crushed under the heavy burden of debt? Do you believe that you’re serving your creditors instead of God? If yes, you could take the help of a Christian debt consolidation loan to come out of your debt problems. These loans are almost similar to general debt relief programs that help debtors eliminate their debts. Debt consolidation companies function on the values of integrity, sincerity and truthfulness. This provides the debtors with a sharp sense of self-belief in their services.

Prevention

The best way to avoid the requirement of a debt consolidation loan is to handle your funds in accordance to the biblical principles. There are numerous verses in the Bible that discourage debt; Romans 13:8 and Proverbs 22:7 to mention only a few. While Romans 13:8 states that nobody should owe anything to one another except love, Proverbs 22:7 affirms that the rich rules over the underprivileged and the borrower is servant to the creditor. Try every possible means to avoid getting into debt. Once you are successful in doing this, you will have worked out your debt problem even before it initiates.

Purpose

The intention of a debt consolidation loan is to help you pay off your debts so that you can save cash and make a single monthly payment. These loans are normally given at a much lower rate of interest than credit cards and other loans. The debtor makes his payments to the debt consolidation company. The amount of these payments is generally small, and due to lower interest rates the debtor can pay off the debt more quickly and affordably than he would have had he possessed the other liabilities.

Expert insight

Obtaining a loan to pay off your existing debt is a fine idea if you have received a lesson on handling your money efficiently. According to Dave Ramsey, financial expert, a debt consolidation loan will only lead a person to further debt if he doesn’t amend his spending practices. He is of the view that a person must change his or her spending habits before considering debt consolidation loans.

Advantages

Obtaining a debt consolidation loan is a wonderful way to get your finances on track. Working with somebody can help you manage your finances in a much better way. Moreover, creditors are often interested to work with you when they discover that you are working with a debt-consolidation company. You might also receive a discount on your interest rate or monthly payment. 

The Michigan personal injury law firm of Buckfire & Buckfire, P.C. is proud to announce the addition of medical malpractice attorney Randall M. Blau to our team of already award winning, experienced Michigan medical malpractice lawyers!

Partner and attorney, Lawrence J. Buckfire stated, “We could not be more pleased to add such an extraordinary medical malpractice lawyer to our law firm. Randall Blau was a perfect fit for the law firm, meeting the highest standards and quality that not only we, but our clients, require and expect to be a part of our team. Randall is a respected and highly reputable attorney throughout the State of Michigan and we are proud to have Randy join our law firm as our Michigan medical malpractice lawyer.”

Mr. Blau has obtained millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for his injured clients. He specializes in medical malpractice, birth injuries, nursing home neglect, wrongful death, and automobile negligence cases. He is a member of the Michigan Association for Justice, the Oakland County Bar Association and the State Bar of Michigan. Randy has been an invited speaker at a variety of legal seminars, an invited member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and has been consistently listed in Who's Who in Law throughout his career.

Randall M. Blau earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Kalamazoo College in 1993 and his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Detroit School of Law in 1996. He is admitted to practice law in state and federal courts throughout Michigan and has handled cases in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Minnesota and Florida. He has obtained numerous settlements that have been listed in the Top Ten Settlements of the Year for the State of Michigan multiple times during the last decade.

Prior to joining Buckfire & Buckfire, Randall was a partner with Neuman Anderson, P.C. and senior litigation attorney with Southfield-based Maddin, Hauser, Wartell, Roth & Heller, P.C. He is an active member of a number of charitable and nonprofit organizations, and currently resides in West Bloomfield with his wife and two sons.

Buckfire & Buckfire, P.C. handles all accident and injury cases, including auto accidents, motorcycle accidents, wrongful death cases, medical malpractice lawsuits, nursing home neglect cases, slip and fall cases, dog bite attack cases, and all other personal injury matters throughout the State of Michigan. Our Michigan personal injury attorneys are known for their meticulous case preparation-an approach that results in major verdicts and settlements for their clients. For more information on our personal injury law firm, please feel free to call our office, toll free at (800) 606-1717.

In 1977, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act has been implemented to protect the consumer right from illegal collection practices. The Act has been amended by the Congress several times although it has been amended recently in 2006. The FDCPA has been imposed to put an end to the illegal collection practices, abuse and deception in order to retrieve the owed amount. Therefore, it is advisable to enroll in a debt consolidation programs in order to avoid threatening collection calls. So if you are not aware of this Act then you can read here to get complete information on it.

1. The FDCPA will cover the debt collection practices of the collection industry until debt has been collected. When the debt collector tries to find information regarding you then he cannot disclose your financial fact while finding details about you from other people. The debt collectors can send an enclosed letter to the debtor so that no one is aware of the financial situation of the debtor.
2. You can take legal action against the debt collectors if you receive collection calls after 9 p.m. and before 8 a.m. You should remember that the debt collector cannot contact you at work if your employer does not entertain such calls. The debt collectors are not allowed to disclose the financial details of the debtor to his relatives and friends. If you give a written notification to the debt collectors to cease communication then he will be forced to stop correspondence.
3. The debt collector cannot use offensive language or threaten you with violence while giving a collection call. Remember that the debt collector cannot publish your name in the list of the debtors and he can’t even harass you for collecting the debt. The debt collector cannot disguise himself as government officials in order to collect the debt. You can lodge complaint against the debt collector if you find he is misrepresenting information in order to collect the debt.

Therefore, if the creditors are found to be violating the FDCP Act then you can lodge complaint against them. The official body will take stern action against them so that the debt collectors abide by the law.