Kirby on Finance

AOL Abuses Paid Subscribers

I canceled my AOL service a long time ago, but I certainly do not mind being reminded of what I good decision that was. A recent class action lawsuit against AOL claims that the service inserted ads at the end of e-mail messages sent by members who paid for the service. Essentially, the plaintiffs argue that unlike members who use AOL’s service for free or similar services from AOL’s competitors such as Yahoo and Hotmail, they pay for the service and therefore shouldn’t have their e-mails used as ad delivery vehicles.

AOL Sued on Ads Put in Emails [Courthouse News Service]

Scam Alert: National Deed Service, Inc.

Very few forms of property are as valuable to us as our homes - consequently, they’re great sources of potential scams and rip-offs. Jim from Blueprint for Financial Prosperity brought to my attention a business practice that at worst this has become an increasing opportunistic “scam” of taking advantage of the ignorance of consumers, but at best, it’s a rip-off for something that you can do quite easily!

Anyway, recently I received a noticed from an official sounding National Deed Service, Inc. in Washington D.C. offering to get me a certified copy of my deed for the low low price of $59.50. They cite official sounding sources in their recommendation, saying the U.S. Government Federal Citizen Information Center recommends that I have an official or certified copy of my deed; and they implore me to get one because it’s very important. And it is important! Except I and every other homeowner already has a copy, you got it at closing or soon after.

He’s absolutely right! Many jurisdictions require that you be given one, but if not you should request and be given one as a matter of right upon closing. He also very correctly points out (i’ve done this for friends client’s during the summer’s) that if you’ve lost your certified copy of your home deed, you can goto your County Clerk and have them pull one for you. The fee is awfully low - when I’ve done it in the past it was about $10 dollars and after a while they quit charging me for them. So, if you know someone who’s in frequent contact with your County Clerk, ask them if they can help out.

I can’t stress how important it is to have certified documents like these on file. A mere copy won’t suffice, and if your broker, agent, or attorney offers you a mere copy of a certified version, you have to stick up for yourself and require one. Also, if they try to avoid giving you one - this is a HUGE red flag for potential fraud. If you ever need to goto court for any reason where ownership of property may come into question, a certified copy of your deed will save you tremendous amounts of time and stress.

Don’t Pay For Your Certified Title or Deed [Blueprint for Financial Prosperity]