MrsZ

Well, apparently NJ also has its own form of FMLA. So there are more laws I need to look into.

Yes, that is exactly what my concern is! And for those who asked, I will need to be off work for about 4 months.

Thank you Lynn37 for taking the time lend me your advice.

I am employed as a temp and have been working for a client for 18 months and I HATE IT. I want out of this assignment desperately, but the company keeps extending my assigment. The client company is in defiance of their own HR policy which limits the time a temp can work to 1,000 hours (which is about six months). Obviously I have overstayed my welcome and it is only a matter of time before HR comes knocking on their door. But neither the client nor my agency is saying anything except that they want me to keep on working and plan to fight HR when they bring it up. Obviously nobody is being upfront with me because the client is getting good work without having to pay payroll taxes or benefits and the agency is making a good profit. There is a term for what is I am going through its called being a permatemp and it is an exploitive situation which has led to lawsuits. Now, my husband thinks I should quit. I told him it is not a good idea, because I will lose elibility for unemployment. To make matters more complicated I will be having major reconstructive ankle surgery in August and I will be eligible for state disability because I work in one of the few states that has mandatory temporary disability insurance. So, I think to protect myself I should just keep my mouth shut and grin and bear it. But, when should I notify everyone that I need to have surgery. I want to be careful so that I don't get screwed. Any thoughts or advice?

I just want to make sure I am being clear here. 1. Contacting a tax advocate is not the same as calling an IRS agent/rep/bureaucrat at 1-800-IRS. 2. The tax advocate program has nothing to do with the Offer in Compromise program. 3. A tax advocate is someone who represents the tax payer. Tax advocates help tax payers who have tried to resolve a tax issue with the IRS directly and were given the run around. 4. Each state has at least one tax advocate. Therefore some states have several, some only have one. 5. Your case has to be eligible for the tax advocate program (see the link below). In my case, I chose to write my tax advocate since the nearest ones were several hours aways. Depending on where your tax advocate is located, it might not be an option for you to meet with one in person. But, I do not advise going into a tax advocates office ready to test their intergrity and directness by looking them in the eye as if they were some lazy, dismissive bureaucrat. They are not, in fact I think they are volunteers. As with most situations, you should heavily research IRS eligibility requirements, and have a well-thought out and logically stated case to present to the tax advocate that aligns with IRS policy. All the information you need can be found here: Tax Advocate Program

I did that five years ago. Yes, they removed the liens within two months of my request. The tax advocate called me with updates during the whole process. It was a very positive experience.

Well, my experience with a tax advocate went very well. Basically, I had my argument prepared well in advance. I asked to have two tax liens removed. My reasoning was that I was unemployed, and capable of being employed in a highly professional position which would allow me the funds to pay my IRS debt. However, such positions usually required credit checks and two tax liens on a credit report would most likely deny me a job. Job denial = no money = IRS cannot get paid off. No liens on credit report = job obtained = IRS gets paid. The tax advocate saw the logic in that. And in the end, the IRS just wants to get paid. The tax advocate I worked with was very professional, and was very much an advocate for me and my case. Which brings me to a point I forget to mention earlier. The IRS is not concerned about you ability to pay now, but rather your potential to pay them. In other words, is the tax debt collectable or uncollectable. If someone is poor and unemployed now, but was once an employed union worker - that they have the potential to do that again in the future. Now, if the person had never held a good job, had no skills, had a disability that would prohibit them from working in the future, the IRS would reason that the taxes would probably uncollectable.

What you are talking about is an Offer In Compromise. The ads you see on TV for settling for pennies on the dollar are generally bs, all those people have you meet with an impressive lawyer, then take your money and have a $7 an hour clerk fill out the paperwork for an Offer in Compromise (which is about the same as having a Walmart employee deal with the IRS on your behalf). In my experience (which includes being on an installment plan for 20K in tax debt, getting two liens removed, working with a respectable tax attorney and getting shafted by JK Harris a tax settlement specialist) the IRS is only interested in Offers in Compromise if you can pay them a good portion of the taxes right then and there. They are not interested in lowerimg the amount you owe and then letting you pay it off $25 a month. They also don't get care if you become unemployed while you are on an installment plan. When I became unemployed, I called the IRS and they told me that I was allowed to miss one payment, afterwhich I would be considered to be in default. Regarding the Offer in Compromise, Congress did a study on it, which proved that it was run poorly and that very few people receive one. The study is published on the internet, so google it - I read it - and I thought it was dead on true (I was denied an Offer in Compromise when I was unemployed). The only option you may have is to find your local tax advocate and explain your situation and see what they can recommend. Tax advocates and what they do is listed on the Federal IRS website, the work for and with the IRS, but they represent the tax payer's interests not the IRS'. I used a Tax Advocate to get my liens removed, which was nothing short of a miracle that I was able to that. I know that in this poor economy the IRS is willing to lower monthly payments on installment plans (but you will have to pay $100 to have the amount lowered), but as far as I know they have not changed one bit when it comes to compromise or tax forgiveness.

Hmmm...this is what it says on my Citibank account: Late Payment Warning If we do not receive your minimum payment by May 1, 2010, you may have to pay up to a $39.00 late fee, and your APRs may be increased up to the variable Penalty APR of 28.99%. This warning message is part of the CARD Act of 2009 and the revised Truth in Lending Act, intended to make customers more aware of payment due dates and of the implications of paying late. This message will appear each month and will not change during the billing cycle, regardless of payments made. Doesn't sound like 60 days. So, what is the loophole. I know there is a loophole for special and introductory rates from Citibank - but that is not the case with this card. It is a very old card.

The marketing recruiter was definately in the wrong. They are given scripts to follow for each study and these scripts are very specific about what to say, when to end the call and how to end the call.

The hospital wouldn't turn over medical records to a research group. The hospital probably created a list based on specific critieria such as age, sex, date of service, type of service. So inherently, a research group would know that about you and I can understand why that would make someone uncomfortable. But they wouldn't see your medical records.

Sounds like a qualitative marketing research study/focus group recruiter. I worked in that field for several years as a focus group moderator. Companies of all sorts hire qualitative marketing firms and it is not uncommon for companies to turn over a list of their "customers" to recruiters who in turn recruit people for focus groups. These studies can get very specific and can range from a list of parents who send their kids to specific private high schools, people who have been treated for specific diseases, or subscribe to specific newspapers. Usually during the recruiting process there are a few people who get enraged that they were contacted and turn around and call the company who sold their name. There are also those who jump at the chance to get $40 to $250 to voice their opinion. It is actually a quick way to make some money and usually they feed you as well. But, recruiters are under huge pressure to fill focus groups with participants so they will say anything.

Ahhhh... ChexSystems acts as a CRA? They keep info for -5- years at Chex... Do you know if the info "Automatically falls off" after the 5 years, as it does after 7 )or 7 years 6 months) with the "Big 3" CRAs? ChexSystems is a consumer reporting agency and is GOVERNED by the FCRA. Info does fall off of Chexsystems in 5 years. BTW everyone - there is a whole subforum on Creditboards devoted to Chexsystems.

You can dispute it with Chexsystems, just as you would dispute with Experian, TU and Equifax. They fall under FCRA laws. However, take into account that if they correct it to show as "paid", that can still be grounds for a bank account to be denied to you. What your goal should be is to have the entire account deleted.

Am I missing something here - or did the OP fail to do the 1-2 punch? In otherwords: I see the OP wrote the CA - but did the OP dispute it with the CRA's around the same time? If the OP didn't do that, than - yes the OP should go back and read the newbie section. If the OP did, than I apologize for the newbie comment. OP did you check to see if the CA is licensed to practice/collect in your state of residence? You should always check that first. If they cannot, than it is a simple CYA letter and there is no need for validation requests etc.