New Hampshire Real Estate & Consumer Resources

I must admit that being on the national “Do Not Call” list has done wonders to reduce telemarketing here in my home. For the past few years, telemarketing calls have been very rare here in my home. A true blessing.

There are however, loopholes in the “Do Not Call” laws that allow for telemarketing calls in some circumstances. The circumstance I want to talk about is the dreaded “business relationship” loophole.

If you have a “relationship” with a company, they are allowed to call you for telemarketing purposes unless you tell them not to. Apparently, a “relationship” means doing business with them, like buying something from them or whatever.

Not all companies that I have “relationships” with are obnoxious enough to make telemarketing calls to my home, but some certainly are.

Yesterday our phone rang and the number that showed up in the Caller ID was 866-266-9317. I was not near the phone at the time and my wife picked it up after looking at the Caller ID since she thought that it might be a call for my son who had applied for a job at a local company recently.

Now these 866 or 877 or 800 numbers always set of my internal telemarketing warning alarm because they are obviously from a business of some kind. In my experience, calls from these kinds of numbers are usually calls that I don’t want.

When my wife answered the phone, there was nobody there to talk to her. She said “hello” and waited a few seconds for a response that never came. She then hung up the phone.

Calls where there is nobody there to talk to you are also a good giveaway to a telemarketing call and it is very likely that you will be getting a call from that same caller again soon. And there may be nobody there to talk to you the next time they call either. More on that later.

After my wife explained the details of the call I went immediately to my PC to enter the phone number into one of the search engines. This can be a great way to identify the owner of a number that shows up on your Caller ID unit.

Sure enough, I was linked to a forum about telemarketing calls that identified the calls as coming from one of CitiMortgages “partners.” In many cases, this is corporate speak for other companies that some of these big greedy corporations own.

Apparently, CitiMortgage — part of the CitiBank “family” of companies, if you have not figured that out — is not making quite enough money in the mortgage business and has branched out and is offering other wonderful services for consumers. Oh, how filled with joy I am!

According to the information I found on the Internet, this particular call is a sales pitch for some lame appliance warranty plan that they are offering with the payments being conveniently added to your monthly mortgage payment. Oh heavens, my prayers have been answered!

I knew that more calls would be coming from these pesky idiots, so I went to the CitiMortgage website last night and logged into my account and sent them a message asking them how I can be put on their “Do Not Call” list so that I do not receive any telemarketing calls from them or from any of their wonderful “partners.”

I received a response via e-mail from CitiMortgage this morning advising me that they had gone ahead and placed me on their “Do Not Call” list. Finally, some genuine good news.

So I’m outside on my ladder today installing a vent for the air conditioner I was installing in my son’s room. My wife and son had gone shopping and my other son was playing on his computer with headphones on.

Yes, you guessed it — the phone rings. Knowing my son probably would not hear it and considering the possibility that it could be my wife on her cell phone, I hurry down off the ladder and into the garage where the nearest phone was. A phone, as you might imagine, with no Caller ID unit.

When some guy asks for me by name, I know it is trouble. When I tell him that he is talking to the person he asked for, he launches into his sales pitch by telling me he is calling “on behalf” of CitiMortgage. I guess that is supposed to make me feel at ease or something.

Sure, I am just thrilled beyond reason to hear from the gigantic mortgage company that is making a fortune from me by ultimately collecting a hell of a lot more money from me than the sale price that was listed on my house.

Before the jackass on the phone gets too far into his pitch, I tell him I don’t accept telemarketing calls. At that point, he pauses a moment and then says something like “I have not even explained the offer to you yet.”

Well, obnoxious telemarketers who get me down off a ladder don’t deserve the chance to present their offer to me so I told him “No thanks,” said “Goodbye” and hung up the phone before the idiot could utter another word.

What’s interesting is that when I looked at my Caller ID a while later, I saw that the call was listed as “Out of Area” (on some units it will say “Unavailable”) and was not the 866-266-9317 number I had expected.

A while later the phone rang again and this time 866-266-9317 did show up on the Caller ID. I was outside this time so I did not get a chance to answer it, but my wife, seeing that number, did not bother to answer it.

Now I am left to wonder, was the call I answered today from the same outfit that had called from 866-266-9317 or was that call a different CitiMortgage “partner,” which would mean I have two of these outfits calling me around the same time.

By the way, if you call 866-266-9317, you will get some kind of automated system with a friendly female voice telling you that if you want to be excluded from any further telemarketing calls, you can just leave them a message and they will gladly add you to their “Do Not Call” list and you will not hear from them.

This message is quickly followed by a voice that tells you the “mailbox is full” and you will not be able to leave a message, just as other people had reported on the Internet forum I found. Pretty sleazy, eh?

As I mentioned a while back, we re-financed our home back around the beginning of the year. We did the refinance through Lending Tree, who I was actually pretty happy with, but they then sold the mortgage to CitiMortgage and the junk mail has been coming steadily ever since. And now the telemarketing has started.

CitiBank was an outfit that has been on my list of companies to avoid doing business with for years. Back when I was in my teens or twenties, I had screwed up some of my bills and a payment to a CitiBank credit card ended up being a bit late. CitiBank was the only credit card company that had ever called me to badger my about a late payment and to this day remains the only one that has ever called me regarding that subject.

I was pretty determined to never do business with them again, but there is little you can do when your mortgage is sold to those weasels.

I guess the next time I get a mortgage, I will have to take whatever steps are required to see that there is no possibility that my mortgage will end up with CitiMortgage. Since we probably will be moving in a few years, I will probably get the chance to follow through on that before very long.

I’ve known for years that CitiBank and their “partners” suck and now these telemarketing calls have proven it once again.

Listen up CitiMortgage or CitiBank or whatever name you want to be known by. I’m on the national “Do Not Call” list for a reason, and that reason is that I do not like getting telemarketing calls. Period. Ever. Not from you, not from anyone.

I would think that a big company like yours would have someone, somewhere within your organization with the smarts to figure that out. Obnoxious telemarketing calls only make people like me more determined to avoid dealing with you ever again. Do you understand that?

By the way, see my previous message about my conversation with a telephone company employee that revealed to me a little bit about the mechanics of how these telemarketing calls are made.

The increased rate of foreclosures does not seem to be showing any significant signs that it is slowing down.

Foreclosure rates are still high in many areas of the country amid reports that mortgage giants like Countrywide are feeling the effects of the trend in their bottom line which has resulted in the company tapping a $11.5 Billion credit line and facing the possibility of laying off employees.

Around the country, the numbers are not terribly encouraging:

In San Diego County, California, foreclosures were up to 2,896 for the first half of 2007, compared to 445 for the same period last year — a 551% increase!

Find Foreclosure Listings Online

In Osceola County, Florida, foreclosures are up 100% from May 2006 to May 2007. Not as bad as San Diego County, California, but still quite an increase.

In Fremont County, Colorado, there have been 200 foreclosures so far this year. It took until November of 2006 to reach that number.

Personally, I’m not surprised to see this dramatic rise in foreclosures. In recent years, some lenders have pushed adjustable mortgages pretty hard and some homeowners found themselves in over their heads when rates started increasing and their mortgage payments increased with them.

Apparently, cell phone companies are acting like a bunch of toddlers in a sand box who just cannot get along with each other.

I say this because not every cell phone company will allow cell phones from other companies have access to their cell phone network. Heck, I don’t know if there is a single cell phone company that allows access a cell phone from any other cell phone company to access their network.

I bought a cell phone because I want to be able to use it to make a call. And I want that call to work no matter where I am.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that I am having problems making calls simply because there is no cell phone coverage in some areas. Hardly! I’m very well aware of the fact that there are areas that just don’t have coverage due to lack of towers or the terrain. We have that problem in quite a few locations around where I live. But that’s not what I am talking about at all.

What I am talking about is being in a location with very good cell phone coverage and still not being able to make or receive a call because my phone is not allowed to access the cell phone network in that area.

This, as far as I know, is because the company that I get my phone service from does not have an agreement with the company that owns the network in the area where I am trying to use my phone.

Like I said before, I have a cell phone because I want to be able to use it! No matter where I happen to be — as long as there is cell phone coverage there. Is that asking too much?

Apparently so. Recently we drove from Southern New Hampshire into Vermont and then north on Route 91. As soon as we were west of Keene, NH, my cell phone was completely useless.

All the way up Route 91 I was not able to make or receive calls on my cell phone until we reached White River Junction, where it seemed to work OK and then once we were past that area, it was useless again all the way up to Route 89 and right up to our destination not far from Montpelier.

All that time I could tell that we were in areas that had good cell phone coverage because the signal meter on my phone indicated that. It would show me that a good cell phone signal was present, but the signal meter was blinking on and off, which in my experience means that there is coverage in the area, but my phone is not allowed to access it.

This is the year 2007 isn’t it? If I take my cell phone on a trip with me, I expect to be able to use it no matter where I am in the country as long as there is sufficient cell phone coverage there. All this greed-driven nonsense needs to stop and it needs to stop soon.

I don’t know if this is a problem in other parts of the world, or if the U.S. is embarrassingly behind the times as we are with broadband Internet access. As usual, we end up behind the times because of corporate greed. The driving force behind just about everything that happens in this country — including our politics by the way!

I don’t care if I have to pay $1 a minute or whatever if I want to use my cell phone in the far distant Kingdom of Vermont, or in any other location in the U.S. I’d be willing to pay extra for that important call I want to make. And in those cases, all I want to do is deliver a brief, important message to someone, like “I’ll meet you at exit 26,” so it really isn’t going cost me a fortune to do it.

I’m not one of those people you see out and about with a cell phone plastered to my ear most of the time. I make very few calls on my cell phone and when I do make a call, it is usually for a good reason and not just to call someone and say “What’s up?”

Although I have not actually tried it, I trust that my cell phone would be able to make a call to 911 even in an area where my phone is not allowed to access the service. I believe that is mandated by law, and that’s a good thing, but these cell phone companies should stop acting like children and make sure that every cell phone in the country can access the service anywhere in the country that it happens to be.

We Americans do travel from time to time and being unable to use our cell phones just because I am in another state is completely ridiculous. Get your act together and grow up, cell phone companies!

At first glance, I thought the latest sleazy-looking item that showed up in my mailbox was from good old Pat Haines at N.M.E. This time, I was wrong.

It appears that AARP, otherwise known as the American Association of Retired Persons, has taken a page from the N.M.E. playbook. Go ahead and compare this recent mailing (pictured here) that we received at our house to an N.M.E. mailing that we received over a year ago.

Since this is a tactic that is being used by more than one organization in an effort to get these letters opened, that suggests to me that this technique works.

An organization like AARP, with millions to spend on effective marketing campaigns probably knows what they are doing.

I a bit disappointed to see an organization like AARP stoop to using tactics like this, which I consider sleazy.

As you can see, they use the same “OFFICAL NOTICE” language on the front of the envelope, which is just a total crock. There’s absolutely nothing “official” about this bit of junk mail. The idea, of course, is to make recipients believe it actually is some kind of official letter from their auto insurance company or some regulatory agency.

Then there’s the “Auto Insurance Premium Adjustment” crap across the top that suggests to the recipient that perhaps their auto insurance rates have changed or something. Another total crock.

Notice how they do not include the return address on the front of the envelope? Naturally, when someone sees something like this from AARP, they will know it is just another one of the endless promotional pieces that this organization bombards people with as they are getting close to, or have just turned 50 years old. That, if I am not mistaken, is the age of eligibility to become an AARP member.

The return address is on the back of the envelope, of course. Since I never open an envelope without checking the return address, I knew pretty much what to expect when I opened it and probably would have just shredded it without opening it had I not wanted to talk about it here.

So what is really in this important-looking envelope? As you might suspect, it is just a sales pitch for an auto insurance policy that is being offered by “The Hartford” insurance company in association with AARP. Real “official,” wouldn’t you say?

It must be harder and harder for junk mail senders to get people to open up the envelopes they send out these days. I can think of no other reason for AARP to use tactics like this.

Although neither my wife or I plan to join their organization, their reputation (which I did not regard highly to begin with) just took a nose dive as a result of this sleazy stunt.

Maybe I’m not like most other consumers, but I don’t like it when I think someone is trying to trick me.

I sure hate to think about anyone losing their home to foreclosure, but like so many other things in life, one person’s misfortune is another’s opportunity. This is certainly the case in Massachusetts these days as the business of foreclosure has never been better.

 The Boston Herald reports that a record 23,600 foreclosures have occurred in the past year and Massachusetts newspapers have seen a 143% increase in advertising for foreclosure auctions.

Publishers are also getting in on the action with new books about investing in foreclosure properties. There is even a new one in the “Dummies” series for novice real estate investors.

There are numerous web sites offering foreclosure listings online for investors looking for foreclosure properties. Some sites, including those run by government agencies, offer foreclosure listings for free.

For a comprehensive listing of web sites offering foreclosure listings, you can check out this directory of foreclosure sites.

Reports are coming in for all around the country: Foreclosure rates are hitting record numbers these days.

In some areas, like Sacramento, California, ordinances are being revised due to the large number of houses that are becoming vacant due to foreclosures.

The idea is to reduce the time the city has to wait before taking action on a vacant house before it becomes a ‘nuisance; property.

A few months ago I saw a news report on this very subject. According to the report, many foreclosures are due to homeowners that opted for adjustable rate mortgages and when the rates rise, the homeowners are no longer able to make their mortgage payments.

In some areas of California, foreclosures are up as much as 799% over the same period just last year.

Lending giant Countrywide Financial Corporation has reported a sharp increase in delinquent mortgages. As the nations’s largest mortgage lender, it is likely a indicator of a trend that is plaguing the entire country.

In Illinois, foreclosures were up 55% last year and are on track to eclipse that number this year. 

It’s certainly not often that I am able to praise the actions of the government in my former home state of Massachusetts, so I will seize this rare opportunity to report passage on what appears to be a good bill aimed at preventing identity theft.

You may recall the well-known data breach a while back where retail giant TJX managed to facilitate the loss of personal information belonging to millions of customers when hackers somehow penetrated their systems.

Well, this new legislation does exactly what was needed to help prevent this type of thing and at the very least, force companies to promptly report incidents like this in the future. Unlike TJX, who kept the news of the breach to themselves while they probably figured out how to minimize the damage to their reputation.

Companies will now face fines for violating the new rules. I’m hopeful this will convince companies to stay in compliance since facing monetary loss is really the only thing many of these big companies pay attention to.

There are also new rules about destroying personal information that is being disposed of, which may make “dumpster diving” in the Bay State a bit less productive for identity thieves in the future.

The legislation now moves on to the governor for his signature and I expect it will meet with his approval.

For more details, check out this article.

There are reports that some New Hampshire residents are receiving letters that are intended to convince the recipient to send personal information.

These letters are often started by addressing the recipient as “Dear Cardmember,” a greeting that has been used by credit card companies in communications with customers.

At least on variation of this scam involves a letter informing the recipient that a recent payment they have made was not able to be processed and that a new payment needs to be made and instructs the recipient to write their account number on the check.

This type of scam may also find it’s way to consumers by way of e-mail or through a telephone call. The goal appears to be collect account numbers that can be used to make fraudulent purchases or to use for other identity theft crimes.

Always be suspicious of anyone who is asking for an account number or other personal information and be sure you verify that a request is valid before providing any kind of personal information to anyone.

According to this report, AOL or America Online as they are otherwise known, has agreed to pay $3 Million to settle with 48 states and Washington, D.C. to avoid lawsuits.

The once-mighty Internet giant has been accused of somewhat-less-than-satisfactory customer service when dealing with customers who wished to cancel their AOL service.

You may recall a recording a while back that enjoyed wide circulation and was created by a former AOL customer who called the company to cancel his service. The customer service representative was so obnoxious that it defied the imagination and was instrumental in showing the company’s true colors.

Well, now some information is coming out that reveals why some of those AOL customer service reps were trying to hold on to customers as if their lives depended on it. In some cases, they were being offered as much as $3,000 as a bonus for convincing a customer to remain as a customer that called the company to cancel their service.

These shenanigans resulted in a massive flood of complaints about AOL to consumer agencies that led to the threat of lawsuits which forced AOL to see the light and offer a settlement and hopefully bring an end to the aggressive tactics that had been used in an attempt to retain fleeing customers.

I’ve talked about AOL here before and they have long been on my list of most-hated companies. As a result, I am just thrilled to see them being forced into shelling out big money to pay for their sins.

AOL found itself in trouble back in 2005 for similar transgressions and had to pay out $1.25 Million in penalties and at the time had agreed to improve the way they handled customer cancellations. So much for that promise. Maybe this latest big payout will convince them to follow through on their promises this time.

I’ve talked here about pump-and-dump stock scams as well as “bot nets” in the past, and this story combines these two subjects nicely and shows how computer hacking has evolved from an activity that was once practiced mostly by teenagers to impress their peers into a huge criminal enterprise where serious money is being made by serious crooks.

Two Texas men stand accused of using a computer bot net to pump out spam e-mail messages that were used to artificially inflate the price of certain stocks that they had purchased.

In a nutshell, a bot net is a collection of computers that have been infected with a program that allows someone else to control them from across the Internet without the computer owner’s knowledge. Many of these are typical home computers like those you probably have on your desk.

The collective power of thousands of computers under the control of one “bot master” is quite impressive and it is quite common for the computers in the bot net to be used for sending spam e-mail messages.

Like any typical pump-and-dump scam, the price of the stocks in question was driven higher with the help of the spam e-mail message and the guys behind the scam sold off their shares for a nice profit.

Since the scammers usually hold a massive amount of shares, the sell-off that results when they take their profits most often caused the prices of the stock to plummet, which leaves naive investors holding the bag.

Since it is illegal to send spam, you can be quite certain than any spam e-mail messages you receive that are promoting stocks are coming from people who are trying to sucker you into a pump-and-dump scam. You are better off just deleting them.