Guardianships: A legal process to help when someone close is impaired and unable to make decisions or communicate without assistance.

Arizona has a law, Arizona Revised Statute § 14-5101, that helps define when guardianship may be sought through the courts for an impaired adult, effectively “incapacitated.” An adult may be considered incapacitated due to mental or physical impairment caused by a disease or drug addiction. As a result, the person cannot communicate or understand to make decisions that affect them directly. It may be a short-term Read More

The Rooftop Solar Market: What can you do when you believe you have been ripped off.

So, you decided to make a large investment in solar panels, and the solar panel company doesn’t deliver what was promised. What can you do?  You can file a Complaint with the Arizona Registrar of Contractors (AROC).  You can file a complaint with AROC on their website, and an AROC representative will schedule a job site inspection to determine if the respondent (the company/contractor against whom the complaint Read More

How the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and the FTC Holder Rule Can Help You Enforce Your Warranty Rights.

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (“MMWA”) is a federal law that protects consumers by making those who make a written affirmation of fact or promise as part of a warranty and any state rights arising thereunder.15 U.S.C. § 2310(f). The MMWA regulates the enforcement of written warranties, implied warranties, and service contracts in consumer transactions. What does “any rights arising thereunder” mean? The “rights Read More

A Few Things to Know About Employment Background Checks and Other Consumer Reports

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a federal agency, requires most employers to provide a notice of "Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act" before conducting background checks. Model forms and disclosures in English and Spanish are available on the CFPB website under the “Compliance” section. Information in background checks is often used to determine a person’s eligibility for Read More

What’s My Business Worth?

There are several ways to determine the market value of your business. Here is a summary of methods that are used to assess the value of your business: Determine net asset value. Total everything owned by the business assets such as equipment (computers, machinery, tools) and operating supplies.  Some properties may be difficult to value: such as policies and procedures, client lists, skilled employees, you and Read More

Do I Need a Lawyer?

Almost everything we do—from making a big purchase of a vehicle or home to operating a vehicle and interacting with others personally and professionally—can implicate a legal concern. When do you need a lawyer? When might you handle a legal concern without one?  Some challenges may be assisted, at least in part, with the help of another professional, accountant, counselor, or perhaps clergy. Here are some frequent Read More

Your Medical Records: Do you have access and ownership?

Photo by Hush Naidoo Jade Photography on Unsplash “Access to computers and the Internet has become a basic need for education in our society.”  Kent Conrad Do you own your medical records? Henrietta Lacks unknowingly donated her medical information when as a young mother of five, she died from cervical cancer. Her cells, identified as "HeLa cells" (taken from her first and last name), were used in Read More

The Rooftop Solar Market: Considerations Before You Invest

Photo by Angie Warren on Unsplash “We are like tenant farmers chopping down the fence around our house for fuel when we should be using Nature’s inexhaustible source of energy – Sun, wind, and tide… I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.” -Thomas Edison Due to increasing energy costs and a growing solar Read More

Have you made an emergency plan yet?

Photo by Marissa Grootes on Unsplash "Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier." - Mother Teresa Do you have an emergency plan? I am prompted by a close call at our home several weeks ago when the palm trees in Agua Caliente Park caught fire with a lightning strike. In the middle of the afternoon, I looked out my office window and saw high flames in the air a short distance away. Read More

Student Loan Debt Relief: A Few Things You Should Know

Photo by Jaeyoung Geoffrey Kang on Unsplash "Debt is the slavery of the free." -Publilius Syru Many of us have student loans. Many Americans with education debt apply for discharge relief and a new income-driven payment plan. The US Department of Education proposes a new income-driven repayment plan that caps monthly payments for undergraduate loans at 5% of a borrower's discretionary income—that is half the Read More

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