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[godsofmonster]

Bangtan MC  ≽ III.

Reader x Bangtan- Motorcycle Club

Word Count- 8.2k

Warnings- sexual content, death, murder, guns, drugs, violence, betrayal,  mentions of suicide, mentions of rape, etc.

For as long as I can remember back, I always wanted to be in a motorcycle club. Since I was six years old, the only thing on my mind was getting my hands on a Harley and a cut. I was a wolf, a wild cur, cut from the pack with bloodstained on my fur. Every wrong has marked a debt because a beaten dog never forgets.

The remainder of my night was spent in a dirty, cheap motel across town. I couldn’t really afford anything better. I even dared to return to my father’s home to pick up some of my old clothes. There wasn’t much leftover either.

I was both, mentally and materially exhausted. Despite this, sleep hadn't seemed like a reasonable option for me. Instead, I laid on the stiff mattress and dreaded the morning light. 

Morning came all the same, through the broken blinds of the room. 

The moments between having my eyes closed, and opening them, were lost time. I had no sense of how long I had been laying there. Hours must have gone by.

That was until my phone rang at 10 am exactly. My limbs felt heavy at the first movement toward the phone. It was the phone call that I was waiting for. The one that would determine my next move. 

"Agent (Y/L/N), did you rest well?" 

I placed my cell on speakerphone and tossed it on the crummy bed. 

"As good as could be expected," I answered, swinging my legs over the bed edge. 

"I'm sorry to hear that," He didn't have to be so polite, I thought. I tested the strength of my legs and stood on them. "Do you need me to fill you in on the Camilo Cartel?" 

"I'm familiar, I helped the administration track their movements into California," I explained my prior knowledge while walking toward the bag I packed.  I scavenged through the outdated clothing I wore in my youth. "I had no idea his men moved so far North already."

"Miguel Camilo is an ambitious man." I settled on an old t-shirt. "He's been flooding his heroin and cocaine into almost all of the California prisons."  

"Except for Pelican Bay which is still controlled by the PB." The Pure Brotherhood was the largest gang of Neo-Nazis on the West coast. They controlled the drug trade until the Camilo Cartel began to expand out of Northern Mexico. "Three of them came to shoot up my father's house. They killed a boy and injured four other people." 

"That was just a warning. They aren't happy that Bangtan is dealing guns to both them and the cartel." 

My father started running guns for his Russian connections early on in the club's life. It was just supposed to be a short favor but the money spoke too loudly. At the time, the PB was heavily trafficking drugs through Blackburn from Pelican Bay. However, they made an agreement, that why would stop dealing in Blackburn, in exchange for Bangtan selling them guns.

"I'm sure you are aware, that since the settlement in 2018, Pelican Bay has become the service network for the drug distribution from California to its surrounding states." 

That was a sick understatement.

"The Pacific Northwest is drowning in methamphetamine because of the PB's connection at Pelican Bay," I responded, rather sorely. It was a combination of anger, knowing that the club had gotten themselves directly involved. Also, a rage drove from personal experience. 

I tossed the clothes I had collected on the bed, alongside my phone. Agent Romero was silent for a time, following the tone of my tongue. 

"I was informed you took part in the one-year investigation that saw the raid of 10 drug dens in Seattle last year." His voice became finer. It was almost as if he was being cautious with his information. "You made the connection between the dealers and the PB." 

 I took a seat on the foot of the bed and remained soundless. I didn't want to take the credit for that.

"Everyone already suspected it led back to them..." I refused to.

"But you knew that the firearms that were confiscated, during the raid, had come from Bangtan." 

I didn't expect him to understand why I wasn't proud of this. How could I be? When I had to see the consequences of the club's activities outside of Blackburn. The DEA confiscated 37 pounds of meth and 27 pounds of heroin that day. We really did only care for our own. The rest of the world could burn.  

"Agent (Y/L/N)?" He called. 

I hummed as a reply. 

"You are our best hope. I need to know that you can go through with this," He said sternly. But I understood, there could be no room for hesitation in an operation like this. "Not only because of your personal involvement with the club but because of your history of drug addiction."  

My life had taken many unexpected turns after I moved to Seattle. I fought against everything I knew and had an extreme appetite for destruction. If you had the money, then Seattle had your disease. Slipping into darkness had never been so easy.  

"I've been clean for five years, agent," I reminded him. 

I had a regularly scheduled drug test every 90 days through a hair sample. It was a rare exception to the DEA, but my personal experience was beneficial to them. "I also haven't been in contact with the club in over seven years." 

I stood back on my feet, taking a hold of the hem of my shirt and pulled it over my head. 

"I understand. For now, I need you to stay close to the club." I took the phone in one hand and my clothes in the other. "I'll be flying in from Virginia tomorrow, we will discuss further details, in person."

"Yes, sir."

He hung up the phone after that. I was left to unwind, once again.

This time I stepped toward the bathroom, leaving the stuff in my hands on the countersink. The bathroom was, at the very least, clean compared to the rest of the room. 

I turned on the water to the shower and gave it time to heat up. I continued to undress myself, anticipating the sweet relief of the hot water. With the remainder of my clothing scattered on the floor, I heard my phone vibrate behind me. 

I imagined that it was agent Romero. However, when I looked at the screen I found the message coming from an unsaved number. The same unsaved number that Namjoon called me from two days ago. 

I didn't expect to be starting work this soon. 

-

The second I turned off the engine on my bike, Namjoon was already waiting for me at the doorway of his home. I didn't see any other bikes in the driveway, except for Jaeeun's car. 

I was honestly hoping that she wouldn't be home. 

"You're late." Was the first thing out of his mouth.

"I came from across town- there was traffic," I explained, even though it couldn't have been more than ten minutes past three. 

He moved aside and let me step first into his house. The front door opened to his living room. There I was met with an unfortunate appearance by Jaeeun. There was only an everlasting smirk or frown on this woman's face. When it came to me, a frown was her default. 

"You said this was important?" I turned around to see Namjoon closing the door. 

"Yeah," Namjoon quietly remained, his fingers brushed their way through his hair. There was a stillness in the room that no one seemed to want to face. 

All I could do was stand there and watch as he calmly stepped further into the room. Before I could ask him to elaborate, there was another set of footsteps that came in from the hallway. 

"Ms.(Y/n)," 

I came face to face with my father's attorney. He received me with a friendly smile, extending his hand out to me in the process. 

"Richard," I was startled by his visit. 

"I'm sorry to meet again under these circumstances." His presence was eerily similar to when my mother passed away. Then his appearance began to make sense. 

"My father's will?" 

Richard gently nodded his head, the look of sympathy easily displayed on his features. He slowly gestured both Namjoon and me to join Jaeeun on the couch. 

Namjoon offered himself the seat between his mother and I. While Richard took the single armchair facing our direction. A round coffee table stood between us. Richard drew a leather briefcase from the floor and placed it on the glass surface. 

There was a feeling of dread emitting from my chest, making it feel heavy and stiff. My palms ran over the fabric of my jeans at the sound of the briefcase latches opened. 

He slipped out a single piece of paper, the delicate material folded like a letter. Richard cleared his throat, 

"The purpose of our meeting here today is the reading of the final testament of the deceased. Including, the distributions of assets and beneficiary claims." He took a moment to look at each of us. "With all of your permission, I will begin," 

We all gave our approval for him to begin. 

I didn't know what to expect. 

I, resident of the state of California, county of Blackburn, and being sound of mind and memory; do hereby make, publish, and declare this to be my last will and testament. 

At the time of executing this will, I have widowed and have remarried to Jaeeun Kim. Also at the time of this will, I recognize only two legitimate children. 

(Y/F/N). My biological daughter from my first marriage, now deceased. 

Namjoon Kim. My legal son from my current marriage to Jaeeun Kim. 

For my wife, I leave you with the remaining balance of our joint bank account, as well, as our matrimonial home. All titles and deeds will be changed under your name as the sole owner of the property. 

For my son, after being a long time employee and business partner, I leave you as the owner of The House Of Cards. 

Finally, for my daughter, I leave you with the remaining balance of my separate savings account, as well, as my 2003 Harley-Davidson Dyna Super Glide Sport and my 1990 Harley-Davidson Fatboy. 

When I turned 18, there was nothing more that I wanted than that old Fatboy. I never thought that finally getting it would feel so meaningless. 

-

I didn't plan to be out for long after being at Namjoon's house. We didn't say much to each other after Richard had left, I even left the house without any insults from Jaeeun. However, before leaving, Namjoon asked me to meet him at the bar to take a look at my father's bikes. 

When I arrived in the parking lot of the bar, Jimin, Taehyung, and Jungkook were in mid-conversation around their bikes. I parked my Harley right beside Jimin's. 

"Hey," I called out to them. My fingers clicked off the straps of my helmet and let it hang around the handlebar. 

When I stepped off my bike, I was instantly greeted by Jimin, who unexpectedly pulled me into a hug. I was somewhat taken back, his arm was hooked tightly around my waist. Of course, I returned the embrace, but at the same time, made awkward eye contact with Taehyung. 

"What's going on?" I asked a bit flustered as Jimin began to pull away. 

"Namjoon called us in," Jungkook replied. There was a smirk in his words as if he knew something that I didn't. I glanced at Taehyung, who remained silent by his side. I never did understand Jungkook's sense of humor. I brushed it off nevertheless. 

"He told us to bring your old man's Harley," Jimin also stated. He stepped with me, as I came closer into the semicircle that they were gathered in. I turned my head and looked at him rather confused.

"Bring it from where? The shop?" I questioned. 

I watched Jimin lean against his bike. "I thought it would be at the pound,"

He pushed strands of his hair away from his forehead, taking a moment to look away from me and waited to speak. I could see the gears begin to turn in his head and he glanced at the other boys for guidance. 

No one said anything.

"His Dyna got roughed up a few weeks ago- he left it in the shop for Taehyung and me to fix," He carefully explained. "He was riding his Fatboy the day of the accident." 

My life seemed to be a never-ending joke of irony. The sudden feeling of gloom overcame me prompting me to switch my gaze to the pavement. The bike that I had wanted was the bike that he had left me, but it was also the bike he had died in. I didn't say much after that. 

We stood in silence together for a few more minutes. That was until Taehyung's phone rang and notified us that Namjoon was waiting for us in the garage. 

When we got there, the garage was opened, to a truck parked in reverse. The white truck was branded with the name of Jimin's old man’s auto shop. The sound of the passenger door slamming was followed by Yoenjun coming around the corner. The young prospect moved quickly to unlatch the backdoors of the trailer. 

I advanced toward the truck, somewhat, anticipating to get a look at my father's Dyna. 

Jungkook came up to lend Yoenjun a hand with the ramp. The loud piece of metal came crashing down on the asphalt. If this had been anyone else's bike, Yoenjun would have just ridden it from the shop. But they were being extra cautious out of respect. 

Yoenjun came out of the dingy trailer with his hands guiding the bike down the ramp. The black beauty reflected shapes of the fluorescent lights. I stared at the beautiful wide front of the Dyna that reminded me why I got my Softail. 

"What do you think?" Yeonjun asked while he pushed down the kickstand, allowing the bike to stand on its own. 

"It looks brand new," I said, running my hand over the cold black metal of the fuel tank. "What was wrong with it?"

I asked, peering over to Jimin and Taehyung. 

"The headlight was broken," Jimin revealed. "There were also some scratches and dents." 

I nodded my head. I couldn't see any evidence of scratches, much less dents, that were difficult to get rid of without the right tools. 

"Prospect," Namjoon called from behind me. Yoenjun's eyes shot up in question. "Did you get the Fatboy out of the pound?" 

"Yes, pres," He said, quickly moving his feet back up the ramp. 

My eyes wandered into the darkness of the back of the trailer. I couldn’t see anything but I heard the hunk of metal rattling against the wall. I could see why Namjoon called Jungkook here, he ran up to help the prospect with the weight of the bike. 

I wasn't prepared for what I  was about to witness. 

My heart dropped into my stomach at the sight. The front of the bike was completely smashed inward. Jungkook was supporting it from the front, while Yoenjun steered it from the back. The entire fork and front wheel were crushed to the left. So far deep, that it even rammed into the gas tank. 

"Oh god..." My hands tried to mask the cry that fell from my mouth. The tears fell faster from my eyes than I could acknowledge them. 

"Hey," Jimin came to my aid. He rested his hand on my back and tried to comfort me.  

"I'm honestly not sure how salvageable it is, (Y/n)." Namjoon also walked toward me. I felt him linger over my shoulder, all I could do was merely glance his way as I tried to control my composure. "Maybe Jimin and Taehyung could try to-"

"No," I managed to take in a shaky breath, running my fingers along the wet stains of my cheeks. "I can fix it." 

I said mostly to myself. I had this irrepressible urge in the back of my mind to repair the bike myself. My father had taught me everything I needed to know about motorcycles. This was my chance to prove myself. 

"I might need some help though."

I was well aware that this would at least be a two-person job, the poor thing couldn't even stand on its own. There were also tools that I didn't have at my current disposal. 

"Whatever you need, love," Jimin whispered, his hand slowly slipping off my back. 

I suddenly realized how close Namjoon and Jimin were standing to me. I was feeling a little enclosed between the two of them. So I took a moment to excuse myself from the group. 

My back rested into the warm redbrick of the building. A deep breath of late summer air filled my lungs. I could almost view the sun starting to head toward the horizon. Its surrounding sky was beginning to orange with heat. 

I was standing just outside of the garage. Everyone had gone back into the bar to get a drink. Except, for Yoenjun who the boys had sent back to the auto shop.   

It seemed every day that I spent here was just another miserable recognition of my castaway. I hated feeling this way. I hated feeling like all I could do was complain about my father's abandonment. But goddamn it, he was all that I had. 

I thought I was all he had too. 

I imagined maybe one day he would tell me that he regretted sending me away. But, even in his will, he left me with nothing to stay here for; not his bar, not my mother's house, just some money, and a motorcycle to run away on. 

"You alright?" 

Jimin always seemed to catch me in the middle of a crying session. 

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, pushing myself off the wall. I forced him a smile and decided to prompt another subject. "I hope you're as good as a mechanic as you say you are."

He returned my smile, a more genuine one, and followed me with his eyes as I moved back into the garage. 

"Me?" He challenged, as we both stepped back toward the damaged bike, circling it. "I've been working in a shop for five years, what have you been doing?" 

I shot him a glare and chuckled at his tease.

"Who do you think has been taking care of my bike all this time? The mechanics in Seattle are a joke." He laughed at my words, not doubting them for a moment. 

I watched him watch me. His round lips held in an endearing smile as his eyes stared into me. I felt, at that moment, the same as he did. It was nice to spend moments like this, after all this time.  

"Besides," I said, feeling bashful in his gaze. "I've worked on this bike a million times." 

We had the Fatboy mounted on a hydraulic stand to get a better look below. Some of the pipes underneath were also severely damaged. But as long as the frame was still intact, I was pretty sure we could pull it off. 

"We should start by removing the fork and wheel," Jimin said, his eyes wandering over the details of the bike. "I think that way we'll have more room to make sure that the frame isn't too damaged."

I agreed. 

This model of Fatboy had a completely different frame than its modern counterpart. Trying to buy a new frame would easily cost over a grand.

"You know," Jimin sounded unsure. "this might cost more to fix than it's worth, (Y/n)."

I was well aware that it was reasonably true. However, my mind was already made up.

"I don't care what it costs."  

Because I had nothing else. Repairing this bike was going to be my only sense of peace for the next couple of weeks. 

-

Jimin stayed and helped me get started. Removing the front of this bike turned out to take a lot longer than expected. Jimin was a great help, and I had to admit, he probably knew a little more than I did. We ran into a lot of difficulties due to the metal that was bent together. We had to remove it without causing more damage to the parts that it was pushed into. Jimin was pleasant company, nonetheless. 

"I can't believe you dated her," I laughed under my breath, trying to keep my hands steady. 

"Okay, 'date' is a strong word," He attempted to justify himself but it was too late in my head. "I was intoxicated 80% of the time I was with her." 

The Allen head screwdriver I was using to loosen the lower triple fasteners almost slipped from my hands. Jimin's hand gripped around the bottom of the right fork, ready for it to come undone.

"That doesn't matter!" I was laughing so hard that my eyes watered. "The damage is done, Jimin. Who knows what kind of crotch-eating virus she gave you."

"Hey, I'll have you know that she got regular check-ups."

I hummed and rolled my eyes. I proceeded to also loosen the fastener on the top of the fork. I looked down at Jimin, to make sure his grip was still tight before freeing the fork. It should have slid right out the moment the screw came out but it didn't. 

"Damn," He said, carefully, removing his hand. 

"It must be jammed." I groaned, stepping back and wiping my forehead of any sweat. Jimin straightened himself out too.

"We can just find a way to remove it tomorrow," I sighed. I was honestly already worn out, and ready to call it quits for the night. However, determined, Jimin took a closer look at the fork. 

I watched as he, without a word, kneeled to dig around the toolbox. He was attentive as he picked out a flat-bladed screwdriver and came back to the bike. Jimin pushed the screwdriver in between the gap of the lower triple.

"Try to pull on it." He muttered, to me as he was using all of his strength to loosen the bent metal. 

I wrapped my hand around the metal rod and tried to tug on it. It made a rasping sound as it was starting to move. Then the entire weight came undone, it almost slipped out of my hand, but Jimin was fast too, also holding on to it. 

"Wow~ Jimin~" I was pleasantly surprised. 

"I know what I'm doing, love," Jimin smirked, proud of himself, he took the heavy rod from my hand. 

A relieved sigh left his nose as he placed the fork next to the previous one we removed. Along with other parts of the bike, like the wheel, that was close to unrecognizable. 

I reached into my pocket and checked the time. 

The effects of not sleeping the night before were starting to come through. It was barely 8 o'clock and I was exhausted. 

"I hope you're hungry because I just ordered some food," Jimin called to me. I looked up from my phone to see him showing me his food delivery app. 

"Oh, Jimin," I grumbled, putting my phone back in my pocket. "I was just about to head out."

He raised his brow at me in questionable doubt.

"You already ate?" He maintained his eyes on me while cleaning his greasy hand on the hem of his white t-shirt. 

"No," My eyes accidentally caught a glimpse of his abdomen, which was shockingly healthy underneath. "But I'm not very hungry." 

Worried that I was staring, I switched my attention to another part of the room. Jimin appeared to move close as a result. 

"Come on, it's Chinese food from that place you like." He insisted. 

I would have continued to refuse him, although my stomach appeared to respond to the contrary. It rumbled at the memory of the Chinese food, causing Jimin to laugh at the sound.

"I guess I can eat," I admitted in defeat. 

Jimin nodded his head and pushed the sleeves of his t-shirt over his shoulder.  It appeared that he was making advances toward the door but I called him. "Do you mind if we eat here though? I don't really want to be around other people." 

I wasn't sure if Namjoon had left with the others, or if he was just on the other side of the door. I was just enjoying Jimin's company without worrying about anything else. 

"Sure, I don't mind." I was comforted to hear him say so. 

Underneath a table, I found a couple of crate boxes. I carefully kicked two of them into the middle of the room. My aching legs relieved to finally sit down after three long hours. Jimin had his back turned to me as he washed his hands in the sink along the wall.

"Are you staying at Namjoon's house?" He suddenly asked, trying to make more conversation. 

"No, thank god." A short chuckle came from my lips. Taking notice of the dirt on my hands, I ran my palms over the fabric of my jeans. "I don't need Jaeeun’s cold glare watching me every minute." 

I could hear Jimin smirk.

"Yeah, she's intimidating as all hell." He stated. Turning back to face my direction, he shook the water off his hands, droplets falling to the cement floor. "You guys still aren't getting along?" 

"You know we've never had," I said a little bitterly. Recalling back to all the time I spent in high school complaining about her to him.

"I know, but I thought that was just like a teenage thing." Jimin eyed the counter to his right, where he had previously left his cut to remain. 

"Definitely not after the conversation we had yesterday." I jeered.  

"She threatened you?" Jimin sounded surprised as he was slipping the leather around his shoulders.

"Let's just say, it was a passionate discussion," I hummed, deciding it wasn’t even worth mentioning and that it was time for me to wash my hands as well.

The plastic sink in the back used to be white, now it was grayed and falling apart. I tried my best not to touch it as I turned on the faucet and rubbed some dish soap in my hand. 

"Is that why you left last night?"

 My hands slowed down at his question. I didn't like the idea of having to lie to Jimin. He was the only person who made me feel like I could depend on him. That meant a great deal to me however, I didn't really have any other alternative. 

"I didn't feel very welcomed once you left," I muttered, just loud enough for him to hear. I continued scrubbing underneath my fingernails. "I also didn't feel like celebrating Namjoon's coronation."

It was a joke but I knew Jimin could hear the slight sourness in my tone. I tried to shake off as much of the water from my hands before turning back to Jimin. "Did Hoseok give you a rough night with his new VP patch?" 

I joked while reaching for a roll of paper towels under the sink. 

"No," He said calmly, "But Taehyung sure did." 

I wasn't quite sure if I had heard him correctly. Looking at his facial expression was meaningless as he remained unbothered.

"Taehyung?" I asked for clarification.

"That's right," He sang as I walked back in his direction, taking the same seat as before. "Namjoon wanted someone different than him, Taehyung is as different as you can get." 

I had never thought to compare the two. I doubt if I even knew enough about Taehyung to relate him to Namjoon. 

"Does it bother you?" I was curious.

"Taehyung being VP? Nah." Jimin answered. "I'm actually pretty relieved,"

Jimin stopped to lick his lip, thinking about what he was about to say. "There is no doubt in my mind that Namjoon will be a good leader. He's smart as hell, but sometimes- I think he can lose sight of things."

I was deeply intrigued by what Jimin thought. His opinion was unbiased, and he only spoke for what was best for the club. "Taehyung has never been afraid to call him out on it. Taehyung and your old man, that is."

The Vice President of a club was the middle ground between the President and the members of the charter. Any questions, comments or concerns from the other members are brought to the VP's attention. It was hard for me to imagine my father ever disagreeing with Namjoon. He never did so in my presence, anyway. I wondered when that all began to change. I wondered if it had anything to do with the drugs.

Jimin noticed that mentioning my father brought me down easily, he saw me lost in my own head, so he changed the subject. 

"You know," Jimin pushed himself off the box seat. "I know why Jaeeun doesn't like you." 

"Oh?" I smiled gently. This ought to be good. "Enlighten me, please."

Even though I could name a few reasons myself, Jimin always had an interesting perspective. 

He returned my smile and decided to let the anticipation linger in the air. I watched him slowly walk toward the refrigerator that sat in the corner of the room. He pulled the door opened and leaned in to retrieve two bottles of beer that rested at the very bottom shelf. He turned around to face me and shut the door with his foot. 

"You two are exactly the same,"

I looked at him unimpressed, with such a simple answer. Also, a little offended by his assumption.

"Hear me out," He requested while holding the bottles between his fingers, using his free hand to dig into his pocket. "Jaeeun is intimidated by your character. She's constantly trying to put you down because she knows you don't let things go- just like she doesn't. " 

"Who says I don't let things go?" Jimin laughed at my question.

"(Y/n), just yesterday you said you've waited seven years to come back home." 

Ouch. 

Jimin pulled a lighter from his jeans. He used the end of it as leverage to snap open one of the bottles. "You only threaten someone that you feel threatened by." 

Jimin offered me the beer, and I took it thankfully. His words sunk in.

"Well, you know what they say," I pushed my lips against the glass, taking a large gulp.

"What?" He asked while sitting back beside me.

"A beaten dog never forgets," I said earnestly.

Jimin stared at me for what seemed like an entire minute, but ultimately, he tipped his bottle toward me. 

"That, we don't." 

He said as I met him halfway. Our bottles clanged together before we took another drink. 

"There is actually something I've been wanting to ask you," He suddenly said after clearing his throat.

"What is it?" 

"Yesterday... You make it sound as if you've wanted to come back this entire time," I was dreading this question. "Why didn't you?"

How could I even begin to explain to him such a story? "I know you had problems with your family and maybe that's why you left, "

He sounded hurt. "But I thought we were close enough for you to have told me. It just seemed so unlike you." 

He knew me better than I gave him credit for.

"I would have told you." I wanted to make that clear to him first. "I didn't want to leave but my father sent me away."

"How come?"

I stared into his eyes and knew that he did not recognize the man I spoke of. But this was the reality. 

"Because," I sighed and felt unworthy of holding his gaze. "I couldn't let things go..." 

-

My entrance to the bar was met by a pleasant absence of people. It was well past 10 o'clock and yet the room was entirely empty. Not only that, but the entire place looked as if a tornado had spit it out. The chairs and tables were knocked down and spread all over the floor. The back doors of the club's conference room were broken in and barely hanging on. Though I couldn't even see down the hall, I could imagine it was a similar story.

 The only soul that remained stood tall behind the bar, wiping down the counters against the wall. 

"What the hell happened here?" Namjoon hadn't heard me come in. He looked over his shoulder and found me walking toward him. 

"Pigs had a day off," He said, setting down the damp rag and turning his body to speak with me. 

He sounded unimpressed, and so was I. Blackburn police were always trying to find dirt on the club. It wasn't the first time they had come in with their warrants; it wouldn't be the last time either. However, the only thing that they left with was their tails tucked between their legs. It's just the way things were. 

"Where is he?" I asked, knowing he knew who I meant. 

I took the leather stool right in front of him. Resting an elbow on the surface of the bar, I reached for an ashtray with my closest hand. 

"My mom's Cadillac broke down again," I hummed, barely surprised. 

I drew a pack of almost empty smoke from my back pocket. Bringing the carton to my mouth, I wrapped my lips around one of the cigarettes which was left exposed by the missing cover. 

"She needs to take that piece of shit to a mechanic," I muttered, fumbling with my jeans, trying to find a lighter. 

"He's going to take a look at it in the garage," He replied, reaching behind him and then placing a cheap lighter in front of me. 

"I mean a real mechanic," I said, taking the dark blue lighter in my hands and using the light to light my addiction. "Once the machine surpasses three wheels, he has no idea what he's doing."

"It's not that much of a difference," 

I scoffed at him.

"How would you know?" I urged, taking a sharp drag of my square, the end of it lighting up like Roudoff's nose. "You don't even know what's wrong with your bike half of the time."

"That's not true," He continued to gather glasses up and down the bar space. 

"My old man and I are the only ones who have ever touched your bike," I told him bitterly, hoping he would recall me having to repair his bike a few weeks ago after he had left the gas sitting in the tank for too long. 

Namjoon chose to ignore my comment. 

"Why don't you pour me a drink instead?" I said after not getting a word from him. "You're good at that." 

"You're 18," He replied as if that meant anything.

"And you're 19 working as a bartender but, here we are." 

Namjoon shot me an annoyed look, and I found it satisfying. A smirk grew on my lips as he placed his current glass in front of me. The impact of crystal glass against the wood seemed to ring on. His eyes never left mine as he reached under the bar for a bottle of Jack. 

"Pour it yourself." He spoke dangerously. My sadistic mind, only finding humor in his tough-guy act. 

"Well then," I grabbed the bottle by its neck and did the work myself. The brown liquor coming smoothly out of the metal pour spout, into the bottom of my glass. "Just because my old man lets you hang around the club, you're too good to pour me a drink now?" 

I said only casually. It was a snide comment to myself, but of course, in the dead of silence, Namjoon caught an ear. 

"What did you say?" 

Based on his expression, I was sure that he heard me clearly. I nonchalantly blew a puff of smoke in his direction, his hard stare threatening to curse me. "You've got a fucking mouth on you,"

He fiercely set everything in his hands down on the counters behind him. I watched him come around the bar and walk past me. I seized my glass in the opposite hand from where my cigarette rested between my digits. Turning in my seat to keep my eyes on him, I had a feeling he had more to get off his chest. 

"If anyone has to check their ego at the door, it's you, sweetheart." I took a sip of my drink as the bitter words left his lips. He began to pick up the chairs of the closest table to the bar. "Your biker princess entitlement is seriously getting under everyone's skin."

"Oh? Who is everyone, Namjoon?" I ridiculed him. Even though, in the tones of my voice, I was stung by his comment. "Your mother? Who has never needed a reason to not like me?"

I took in a breath of nicotine, realizing my voice was beginning to crack under my sentiment. "Or my father? Who's discarded everything I've done since you came in the picture?" 

He appeared to be trying very hard to keep his composure from reaching a violent point. 

"Your daddy issues aren't my problem," Namjoon slammed a chair down, the loud noise echoing off the ceiling of the bar. "I am not your goddamn problem!" 

This has been one of the few times I had ever seen Namjoon be fueled by his anger. But I couldn't find it in me to care. In that instance, I felt completely lethargic about it all. "You aren't a member of this club. You don't know your place and that-!" 

He stopped to breathe, to lower his voice before he did something bad. "That is your fucking problem." 

It was strange that the moment his voice softened, I lost my temper. 

"Son of a bitch," I muttered before rising to my feet. I clutched the drink tightly in my fist, using all of my force to hurl the glass at him. 

Namjoon barely stepped out of the way on time. The shattering glass missed his face by mere inches, the alcohol trailed along the six feet of floor between us. I could feel my body tremble with wrath.

"I'm always wrong, aren't I?" I said, speaking more aggressively than before. "I don't ever listen, right?"

The pit of rage that coursed through me left me feeling lightheaded and with shortness of breath.

"Well guess what, sweetheart," I mocked, regaining dominance over my emotions. "It's in my nature. Just like the rest of you, I have a problem with authority."

I was acting exactly the way that my father raised me. I was a spitting image of everything he believed in. "And I am sick to death- of being crushed under the weight of selfish men who don't believe in anything."

Namjoon hadn't said a single word, he hadn't moved an inch of his cold face. I didn't know what he was thinking. I didn't care if he thought I was crazy or the saddest thing to walk the face of the earth.

It seemed that the more I tried to be who I was, the more I was denied. So, I began to question; why should I be the one to be discarded?

I dropped my cigarette on the floor, stepping on it as I walked in his direction. The room between us smelled of the cigarette I just put out, and the whiskey I didn't drink. I came to stand so close to him, the closest I had ever been. 

He was significantly taller than I was, he towered over me like a mountain. I looked into his obscure eyes and questioned what made him so much better than me?

"My father thinks you're the greatest," My voice was barely a whisper full of venom. Namjoon was stiff in place as my fingers danced their way to the button of his jeans. His strong brows cut into his eyes that began to blacken. "Show me what makes you so goddamn special..." 

He was on me in less than a second. 

His lips pressed against my own with great intensity. His hands stroking their way down to my hips, where he urged them against him. 

I couldn't even find a taunt on my lips as he stuck his tongue between them. It was warm and soft against mine. The taste of him sent shivers across my body. The rage he brought out of me went directly from my chest to the place between my legs. 

My hands felt their way up to his rising torso. I cursed the thin fabric that kept me from scratching his skin. I settled for wrapping my arms around his neck, my hands sinking straight into the locks of his platinum hair. 

He paused for the second I pulled at his roots, letting out a grunt of frustration before moving down to attack my vulnerable neck. His teeth drew moans from my mouth, my eyes fluttering closed at the mixture of kisses and bites. 

He grew irritated by the clothes between us. His hands struggled to push me back, I lightly stumbled on my feet, Namjoon used his black eyes to search my trembling figure. He grabbed the collar of my blouse, ripping open most of the buttons in one yank. The lack of clothes underneath drove him wild.

His hands were on me again after that. He couldn't wait any longer and picked me up by my thighs. My hands impatiently began to push up his black shirt. Namjoon managed to locate the only standing table in the bar and dropped me upon it. His shirt came off the instant I hit the wood, I kept it beside me on the table. 

"You're such a pretty girl," he hissed as I arched my chest toward him. His fingers handled the buckle of my belt before pulling my button undone. "But you’re so very, tough to please," 

I hated how much I loved to hear him talk to me. I pulled back into a heated kiss. My hands finally began to feel his creamlike skin under my fingernails. The feeling sends his skin to tremble under my touch as I kick off my shoes. 

They tumbled to the ground and Namjoon found the waistband of my pants. His lips still pressing bruises against mine, I didn't want him to pull away. He did so to pull my pants down my legs, panties and all, leaving me almost completely bare on the table. 

He leaned his damp forehead against mine. His eyes had a stronghold on my own as his hands rubbed the supple skin of my thighs. 

"Is this what you wanted?" He asked, pulling me closer to the edge of the table. I gulped and took my breath all the same. 

All I could give him was a panting whimper and nodding gesture. 

But that was enough.

Namjoon palmed my heat, leaving my body wanting more, making it long for him. I gripped his broad shoulders, leveraging my hips closer to him. He took the suggestion and pushed his pants down his thighs. I didn't even get a glance at what he had to offer until he was pressing at my opening.

He left me breathless. I was a whining mess under the force of his hips. 

"Shit," Namjoon's voice strained under the pleasure. 

His fingers pressed into the skin of my hips, holding them in place as he pounded into me. I was struggling to keep my eyes open. 

"Oh god..." I wished my voice hadn't trembled. 

I was almost embarrassed at the noise that left my mouth, I begged him to shut me up. His mouth was addicting, each stroke of his tongue was like silk. My bare legs caressed along his, as I held back every urge to lock them around his waist. 

The marks I was leaving along his back must have gotten painful because Namjoon grabbed a hold of my wrists. He pinned my hands flat on either side of me. This gave me enough room to lean back on them, offering him some room to explore. His lips were so full and smooth, I couldn't help but to want them all over me.

In this position, he leaned forward, making his thrust start to move at an angle. My eyes threatened to roll back at the new depth. His eyes relished in the display of my body. My breast stuck to the thin material of my blouse and moved at the pace of his hips. 

"Oh! Namjoon..." Now that my hips were free from his hold, I began to roll them against him, almost uncontrollably.

He drifted forward to capture my lips, pressing a more delicate kiss into them. His hand slipped off my wrists and found their way to caress the skin of my cheek. Suddenly the lustful moans that had been leaving my mouth were replaced by sweeter ones. His touch was gentle, and I couldn't help but admit that his intimacy made me uncomfortable. 

I took his bottom lip into my mouth and grazed it with my teeth. I saw his eyes open as he let out a low growl from the back of his throat. I pried my hand around his neck, my claws digging at the surface of his nape.

He immediately understood what I wanted and was not afraid to give it to me. 

Namjoon hooked his arms around my legs, spreading my legs wider and pushing me further onto the table. I didn't think he could go any faster, but for once, I was happy he proved me wrong.

"Ah! Yes!" I cried.

That place deep inside of me he hit so flawlessly it made my eyes tear with joy. The sounds coming from my mouth were like evidence of that. I wanted to just shut my eyes and let the feeling consume me. However, he was an extraordinary sight before me.

Namjoon's head was slightly tossed back, eyes shut in concentration and bliss. His jaw clenched every time he tried to suppress one of his moans.

I tighten my walls around him, just to watch how his mouth opens with a groan.  

"Fuck! You're so good." He was living a high life.

Our rapid breathing and ecstatic moaning filled the room. At his pace, he could have easily taken me to the top.

It was such a shame our time had to be cut short by a voice that was not our own.

"What the fuck is this!?" That was rage only his mother could spit. 

Namjoon pulled out of me immediately as he heard his mother came in from the garage. I made sure to moan loud for her as he left me feeling empty inside. 

Namjoon's body covered enough of me as I caught Jaeeun's murderous expression in my line of sight. My mind was still clouded by ecstasy but that wasn't the reason my lips wore a smile. 

My father walked in moments later at the sound of Jaeeun's startle. He was just on time to catch Namjoon pulling up his pants, and my lower half covered by his black shirt. 

Their expressions were priceless. 

Namjoon could do no wrong in my father's eyes. He was the son he always wanted. I was hoping this would put a little strain on their relationship.

Masterlist ≽

[robertlaw]

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[seattlebankruptcyattorney-blog]

Are you looking for affordable solutions to debt problems? Visit here and know about our Northwest Debt Relief Law Firm, a bankruptcy attorney in Seattle WA. You can also visit us in Vancouver, Portland, Tacoma or Sandy for a consultation.

[glorifiedgpjfic]

Glorified G- Chapter 36

A/N TW: sexual assault (nothing happens but I just want to make anyone who might be triggered by it aware that it is mentioned in this chapter) I hope you enjoy, feel free to leave feedback

Joanne debated what to do, she didn’t know her way around well enough to sneak down alleys and run from whoever was following her, she didn’t want to continue walking to the hotel and them to know where she was staying, the best option she could think of was to flash her gun and badge which were in her handbag in an attempt to scare them off,

“Whoever is following me I strongly suggest that you stop, right fucking now.” She said aloud to no one, slowly she turned around to see a figure emerging from the shadows she let out a breath of relief, “Matthew what the fuck?” Matthew let out a chuckle before approaching Jo,

“I didn’t mean to scare ya.” He offered Jo a smile that seemed familiar but she couldn’t place where she’d seen it before she returned the smile and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, “You’re something else Joanne.” He said with an unnerving smile, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other,

“I wouldn’t say that.” She said not breaking eye contact,

“But that’s the thing, you’re not like any other woman I’ve ever met- you’re sexy without even trying,” He took a step towards Jo and she subtly moved back, trying to keep the safe space of three feet between them, he moved closer again and she stepped backwards again- only this time she slammed against a wall, she let out a quiet hiss at the sudden contact, “Your friend Casey thought I was interested in her, she was wrong- its you I want.” He closed the space between the two of them and placed a hand at either side of Jo’s head, she knew what he was doing- establishing his power, if he made Jo feel small he would keep control of the situation- little did he realise that Jo wasn’t about to give him all of the power,

“What do you want?” She asked her voice stayed level and calm but there was an air of authority in her words,

“You.”

The setting at Discovery Park and Eddie sat alone, watching the sunset- he allowed himself to be transported to another time, he closed his eyes and pictured Joanne sitting beside him- her eyes watching him, their hands intertwined. He looked out to the sunset again and realised that he could imagine Jo all he wanted but it wouldn’t change anything- they needed to talk, at this point, he would do anything to be with her again, he’d take it back, he’d give everything up to be with her. The time he spent at studio seemed dull without Jo sitting on the sofa smiling at him, he loved music - he loved the band, it was his life, but he was willing to give it up for Jo - of course she’d never ask that of him, but if it came to it he would do it without a second thought.

“I have a boyfriend,” Jo stated, a shiver ran up her spine and she felt although she was going to vomit,

“He isn’t here, it’s just you and I now, Jo. I know that this is what you want- I saw how you looked at me in the bar, and how you wrapped your lips around your beer bottle, you want me and I want you.” Jo placed two hands on his chest and pushed him, hard.

“Listen to me Matthew, I am a federal agent I swear to god if you do not let me go I will arrest you right here and now and throw you into the nearest fucking cell.”  He frowned at her,

“Ohhh, I get it - we’re roleplaying,” He said before pushing Jo back against the wall his hands began to reach for her top,

“Matthew, get off me now.” She ordered, he ignored her and began fumbling at his belt, if Jo didn’t act fast this was going to escalate, she froze for a moment before the adrenaline pumping through her veins sprung her into action, she brought her knee up quick to his groin Matthew doubled over which allowed her to push him down, she pushed him but to her surprise he didn’t fall, he actually stood up-

“Oh, you just made a big mistake Jo.” He grabbed her by the wrists and pinned her face first against the cold brick wall, he brought his face to her ear and began biting her ear and neck,

“Get the fuck off me you sicko!” She screamed, hoping someone would be walking or would hear her cries for help, Matthew’s calloused hands roamed up and down her torso almost reaching her chest,  another surge of adrenaline gave Jo the strength to push back against the wall, she jolted her head to the right and headbutted Matthew in the jaw, this stunned him and he stepped back. This new space allowed Jo to spin around and deliver a swift kick to his groin again, this time he fell to the floor cursing at Jo she reached to the back of her jeans where there would normally be a pair of handcuffs, but of course she didn’t have any because she was off work-

“Bollocks,” Jo muttered to herself, Matthew seemed although he was about to get up so in a moment of panic Jo fled. She could deal with getting the scumbag arrested at a later date, she needed to get to the safety of her hotel room.

The following morning Jo tracked down Casey and told her about Matthew the previous night, Casey told Jo that he was a regular at the bar they went to so tonight they could go and arrest him, tonight they’d be prepared. The briefing flew by and soon enough Jo and Casey were preparing to arrest Matthew and Jo found herself panicking she didn’t think she could face him again, last night could’ve ended so much worse and she almost froze- it was a natural reaction the fight or flight instinct, Jo almost didn’t fight though and she knew that the trauma of it would’ve changed her forever.

Jo and Casey didn’t bother to get changed out of their suits, they’d told John about their plan and he had told them that he’d be looking for them if they weren’t back within an hour. The two entered the bar and spotted Matthew almost instantly, he was standing beside another man who was more muscle than anything else,

“Shit if this turns ugly we’re screwed look at that guy,” Jo whispered to Casey,

“Honestly Jo, fuck it- let’s arrest this ass wipe- if we get any trouble we flash the guns and we can leave.”

The two agents approached the two men with confidence in their stride, Casey tapped Matthew on his shoulder which caused him to turn and look at the two when he saw Jo his face grew drained of all colour, Jo and Casey held their badges up to his face before Casey read him his rights,

“Matthew, you are under arrest for attempted rape and for the assault of a federal officer. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to have an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you by the court. With these rights in mind, are you still willing to talk with me about the charges against you?” Jo was quick to snap the handcuffs on his wrists, he avoided eye contact and looked at the floor his friend simply stood there with his jaw on the floor,

“Matthew man, what the fuck? Why would you? Jesus dude that fucked up!” He stared at his friend with confusion, “I’m so sorry that he’s done this, I’m so sorry.” Jo shook her head to the friend,

“Dude, it’s not your fault- hopefully, some time in a cell will teach him his lesson. Has he done this before that you’re aware of?” The guy shook his head,

“No never.”  Arresting Matthew brought Jo a tiny bit of relief and closure because had he done what he did to someone who didn’t fight the aftermath for the victim and their family would be devastating, she felt happy to take one more sicko off the streets.

Jo’s flight was early the following morning and she was going to be glad to be back home, she decided that given the events she needed to see Eddie, or at least talk to him- she needed her best friend and despite everything that was still Eddie. She arrived back in Seattle around half past two, except it was really eleven in Seattle - fucking time zones. She called a cab to her apartment and as she pulled up onto the street she saw a figure sitting on the step, a smile crept onto her face, Eddie was waiting for her, as the cab drew closer to her apartment she realised that it wasn’t Eddie waiting for her, this was someone Jo was most definitely not ready to face. Theo.

The butterflies that had formed expecting Eddie quickly subsided and were replaced with a feeling of utter dread. She got out of the cab and dragged her suitcase behind her, she got to the step where Theo sat,

“Move.” He stood up and moved from the step allowing Jo to walk straight past him, she opened the door and walked in quickly slamming it shut behind her, out of the corner of her eye she saw it creep open, “Fuck off. Don’t you fucking dare come into my home Theo.” She growled as she made herself some coffee, Theo ignored her and let himself in, “Theo I swear to fucking God-”

“I need your help.” He spoke barely above a whisper his strong accent made Jo’s seem barely there,

“Of course you do.” Jo spat, her voice laced with venom,

“Please, Jojo. I need help.” Finally, Jo turned to face him, he had not changed at all. His dark hair still looked although his mum had put a bowl on it and hacked away leaving it looking a mess, his brown eyes still held a glimmer of warmth in them, he hadn’t aged a day. “I need some money after you left I started gambling- there are people coming after me, people that I owe money to. Please give me my share of the inheritance.” Jo could’ve slapped him into another dimension,

“You son of a bitch! You are not entitled to anything from me or my fucking grandma.” Jo paused for a second, “Wait if you’re in debt how the fuck did you afford a plane ticket from London to fucking Seattle, do you think I’m fucking dumb?”

Eddie dragged himself to the coffee shop that sells the really good coffee that Jo loves, her flight was due to be back in around eleven, he wanted to be there waiting for her with coffee. The queue was really long and Eddie fell a half hour behind schedule, when he got to Joanne’s place he heard shouting from inside, so instead of walking straight in he paused for a second,

“Do you think I’m fucking dumb?” He’d never heard Joanne sound so angry and cold, he grew more curious about who was in there with her,

“No not at all Jo- but you owe me money!” Eddie heard the sound of a coffee mug being slammed on the table,

“I don’t owe you anything! It’s not my fault you got into gambling because I chose not to stay with you! You can’t manipulate me anymore!” Jo’s voice almost cracked and Eddie heard her cover it up with a cough,

“You’re all wrong Jojo, of course, I still can, you still know that you mean nothing to no one, so you’re gonna give me my money and then I’ll be on my way.” Something inside Eddie snapped and he burst through the door, Jo’s eyes met his and all she saw was anger, Eddie looked over to the piece of shit that was standing at the other side of the kitchen, without another thought Eddie practically charged at him- fists flying.

Jo froze in place watching as Eddie knocked Theo to the floor, punching him in the face,

“Shit shit shit. Eddie no!” She called, she ran over and attempted to drag Eddie off Theo, “Eddie! Let it go!” She yelled, nothing happened, so she pushed Eddie and he lost his balance slightly, Theo went to throw a punch but Jo caught his fist, “Theo. Get the fuck out of my fucking house. And don’t ever, ever come back!” Theo ran out of the door with his tail between his legs, Jo crouched down beside Eddie and took his hand in hers it was cut and bleeding, “Oh, Eddie.” She whispered, she planted a gentle kiss on his head before disappearing to get the first aid kit, she sat down beside him and took his hand again, “I’m sorry this is gonna sting.” She murmured before gently rubbing an alcohol wipe over his knuckles, Eddie winced and pulled his hand away, “I’m sorry.” Jo repeated, she grabbed his hand, “Squeeze my hand when it hurts, I need to do this I’m sorry.” She wiped his knuckles again with the wipe and Eddie squeezed her hand tightly, Jo grabbed a bandage and wrapped it around his hand, he watched her as she finished bandaging his hand, he watched as she slowly brought her hand to her lips and placed a gentle kiss on it, “I’m so sorry Eddie,” She whispered and he shook his head,

“Jo I’m fine.” She looked at him and looked angry for a split second,

“Eddie, you can’t go around punching people! You could get arrested for assault! And that would ruin everything you’ve got going for yourself!” He looked at her and smiled slightly,

“I know, but I hate him.” He mumbled like a child getting scolded,

“You’ve never met him,” Jo replied with a small smile,

“He hurt you, I instantly hate anyone that hurts you.”

“Well, you’d hate a dude called Matthew.” Jo thought aloud, which caused Eddie to question what happened she managed to tell him everything without breaking down, once she’d finished Eddie cradled her in his arms and she let her walls down.

Eddie didn’t speak as she cried he just held her and played with her hair, she clung onto his shirt as she cried refusing to let go of him,

“Oh Jo, I’m so sorry.” He murmured, as he held her he thought about how much he would love to get rid of her pain, he’d never known one person have so much shit in their lives, better yet he’d never known a person have so much shit and not let it make them into a bitter miserable soul. Despite everything Jo was still caring and kind, Eddie had never seen her act coldly until today with Theo, but that was a valid reason - she was always a ray of light and never failed to brighten his day, as cheesy as it was, she really was the light of his life, he wanted to tell her this but he couldn’t face any more rejection from her- so, for now, he’d be happy just to hold her.

[orbemnews]

Pandemic’s Toll on Housing: Falling Behind, Doubling Up As the pandemic enters its second year, millions of renters are struggling with a loss of income and with the insecurity of not knowing how long they will have a home. Their savings depleted, they are running up credit card debt to make the rent, or accruing months of overdue payments. Families are moving in together, offsetting the cost of housing by finding others to share it. The nation has a plague of housing instability that was festering long before Covid-19, and the pandemic’s economic toll has only made it worse. Now the financial scars are deepening and the disruptions to family life growing more severe, leaving a legacy that will remain long after mass vaccinations. Even before last year, about 11 million households — one in four U.S. renters — were spending more than half their pretax income on housing, and overcrowding was on the rise. By one estimate, for every 100 very low-income households, only 36 affordable rentals are available. Now the pandemic is adding to the pressure. A study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia showed that tenants who lost jobs because of Covid-19 had amassed $11 billion in rental arrears, while a broader measure by Moody’s Analytics, which includes all delinquent renters, estimated that as of January they owed $53 billion in back rent, utilities and late fees. Other surveys show that families are increasingly pessimistic about making their next month’s rent, and are cutting back on food and other essentials to pay bills. On Friday, as monthly jobs data provided new evidence of a stalling recovery, President Biden underscored the housing insecurity faced by millions. The rental assistance in his $1.9 trillion relief plan, he said, is essential “to keep people in their homes rather than being thrown out in the street.” Bobbing above the surface of a missed payment, the most desperate are already improvising by moving into even more crowded homes, pairing up with friends and relatives, or taking in subtenants. That is the case with Angelica Gabriel and Felix Cesario, residents of a two-story apartment complex in Mountain View, Calif., largely inhabited by cooks and waitresses and maids and laborers — the kinds of workers hit hardest by the pandemic. With their incomes reduced, Ms. Gabriel, a fast-food worker, and her husband, a landscaper, recently moved out of the bedroom they shared with their two youngest children, 6 and 8. They now rent the bedroom to a friend of a friend, while the couple and the kids sleep on a mattress in the living room. (Two daughters, 14 and 20, continue to share the other bedroom.) The arrangement has kept them current by bringing in $850 toward the $2,675.37 monthly rent, which Ms. Gabriel reeled off to the penny. “We weren’t able to pay the rent by ourselves,” she said in Spanish. “Suddenly the hours fell. You couldn’t pay, buy food.” Such changes are not directly reflected in rent rolls or credit card bills, but various studies show that disrupted and overcrowded households have a host of knock-on effects, including poorer long-term health and a decline in educational attainment. Reflecting the broader economy, the pain in the U.S. housing market is most severe at the bottom. Surveys of large landlords whose units tend to be higher quality and more expensive have been remarkably resilient through the pandemic. Surveys of small landlords and low-income tenants show that late fees and debt are piling up. One measure of relief came when Mr. Biden extended — by two months — a federal eviction moratorium that was scheduled to expire at the end of January, as states and cities also moved to extend their own eviction moratoriums. In addition, $25 billion in federal rental aid approved in December is set to be distributed. But for every million or so households who are evicted in the United States each year, there are many more millions who move out before they miss a payment, who cut back on food and medicine to make rent, who take up informal housing arrangements that exist outside the traditional landlord-tenant relationship. Updated  Feb. 6, 2021, 11:08 a.m. ET “What happens in housing court will miss most of the people who need help,” said Davin Reed, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. While rents have fallen in many big cities, vacancy rates for the cheapest buildings are essentially flat from last year, according to CoStar Group, a commercial property group. That is: Nothing about Covid-19 has changed the fact that there is a longstanding shortage of affordable housing, so anyone who loses an affordable home will still have a hard time finding a new one. And in the same way that subprime mortgages were an early indicator of the mid-2000s housing crisis, today informal renters — roommates and sublessors who don’t have a proper lease — offer a look below the surface. Low-income and frequently undocumented immigrants, these tenants find apartments through word of mouth, social media and Spanish-language news sites, where single-room dwellings (“I rent a room with a bed for $400”) are a staple of the classified advertisements. Kaitlin Heinen, a staff attorney at the Housing Justice Project in Seattle, said that over the past few months she had seen a marked increase in “unauthorized occupant” cases, in which a landlord seeks to evict someone for allowing an off-the-books roommate into the unit. Claas Ehlers, chief executive of Family Promise, a homeless-prevention nonprofit that has more than 200 affiliates in 43 states, said people without leases constituted an outsize share of the group’s requests for rental aid and assistance. “We’re seeing this domino effect where cheaper affordable housing is still saturated, so now we’re getting into unauthorized occupants,” Ms. Heinen said. It is a world of cash rent and oral agreements that are unstable and easily torn — a big reason that various studies show informal tenants are more likely to become homeless. “People who have places they can be evicted from are better off than those who don’t,” said Marybeth Shinn, a professor at Vanderbilt University who studies homelessness. John Wickham found his last place on Facebook. Mr. Wickham, 60, lives in Decatur, Ga., and worked in customer service for a tree-trimming business before losing his job last summer. He was collecting unemployment insurance but could no longer shoulder the $1,200 a month he was paying to live in a residential hotel, so he resorted to a $600 sublet with a stranger. His girlfriend found it on Facebook Rentals. Mr. Wickham has since fallen behind on his share of the rent and is looking for a new place. “We’re trying to find something in our budget, and that’s not looking pretty easy,” he said. Tenants like Mr. Wickham pose a huge challenge for governments trying to prevent displacement and stanch the flow of homelessness. Consider what happened last year as a federal deadline approached to spend rental assistance funds that flowed to states through the federal CARES Act. Despite a crush of demand for help, cities and states struggled to get money to tenants, in part because their criteria were too restrictive. “Our systems are built around these middle-class models where everybody has documentation for everything,” said Elizabeth Ananat, an economics professor at Barnard College. “Much of the world doesn’t work that way, but most of the people who write laws live in the world that works that way.” Cities like Los Angeles and Philadelphia have been trying to remedy this by moving to cash assistance programs. The California Legislature recently passed a bill that extended the state’s eviction moratorium and will use up to $2.6 billion in federal rental aid to help clear back rent. The legislation allows tenants to apply for rental assistance by submitting documents like bills and school registrations, instead of a formal lease, as many other city and state rental assistance programs require. “The state’s housing crisis wasn’t created by Covid, and this bill alone certainly doesn’t solve it,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said. “While we’ve got to recommit to housing affordability more broadly, this bill protects against the worst economic impacts of the pandemic in a balanced and equitable way.” In California and elsewhere, the work of distributing aid has largely fallen to nonprofits. They have also filled in the gaps. Take Destination: Home, a San Jose organization that works to end and prevent homelessness. In addition to distributing aid from the CARES Act, the group has raised some $30 million in private donations that it can deploy to a broader swath of the population, with fewer restrictions on how it is spent. About 40 percent of the organization’s rental aid has been distributed to tenants who do not have a traditional lease, said Jennifer Loving, its chief executive. “People we would have never seen before are now in trouble,” she said. On a recent evening in Mountain View, another nonprofit, the Reach Potential Movement, was distributing bread, cereal, milk and diapers to economically stressed families in the apartment complex where Ms. Gabriel and Mr. Cesario live. One of the residents, Hilario Saldívar, a 43-year-old cook and dishwasher, saw his hours cut to four hours a day, four days a week, so is struggling to afford the $2,600 monthly he pays for the two-bedroom apartment that he shares with his brother, his sister, her husband and their child. Mr. Saldívar hasn’t missed a rent payment, but staying current has come at the expense of his meager savings and even food. “We’re in a hard battle, a sad battle,” he said in Spanish. His neighbor Rosa Arellano, a 47-year-old mother of three, cleaned schools and offices before she was laid off last year. She is months behind on the $1,300 rent for her one-bedroom apartment. Ms. Arellano recently signed a document with her landlord stating that while California law prohibited her eviction for now, she still owed a $3,900 balance, rising to $5,200 with the February rent. After a year of lost income, she asked, “where are we going to get all that money we owe?” Liliana Michelena contributed reporting. Source link Orbem News #doubling #Falling #Housing #Pandemics #toll

[expatimes]

US landlords sue over COVID-19 eviction ban as tenants struggle

As millions of people in the United States struggle to pay their rent during the coronavirus pandemic, landlords are going to courts, claiming that the national eviction moratorium unfairly strains their finances and violates their property rights.

At least 26 such lawsuits have been filed by property owners this year, including several federal challenges of US President Donald Trump's directive, delivered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that broadly prevents evictions through the end of 2020.

In Memphis, Tennessee, seven landlords who together manage or own more than 5,000 rental units filed lawsuits this month, accusing Trump and other federal officials of unconstitutionally violating their due process protections and wrongly pre-empting state laws. The National Apartment Association joined a separate federal lawsuit this month in Georgia against the CDC. Another legal battle has been initiated in Ohio.

“All plaintiffs have tenants in units who are delinquent in the payment of rent and who would be otherwise lawfully evicted from the units… but for the halt order,” the complaint in Memphis says. These landlords are required by law to spend money on repairs and upkeep of the rental homes, but are not getting federal help under the ban, it says.

Housing advocates worry that overturning these bans could cause homelessness to spike, forcing people to crowd into indoor spaces and shelters and worsening the spread of infection.

The CDC's directive, which took effect on September 4, is based on the agency's broad powers to protect public health. The agency put it in the context of other historic, unprecedented and exceedingly rare government responses to the pandemic, and said stopping evictions is an effective way of preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

To be eligible for this protection, renters must earn $ 198,000 or less for couples filing jointly, or $ 99,000 for single filers; Demonstrate that they have sought government help to pay the rent; declare that they cannot pay because of COVID-19 hardships, and affirm that they are likely to become homeless if evicted.

The CDC's directive was handed down just as many other eviction bans - including the CARES Act's eviction moratorium, which covered an estimated 12 million people in federally supported housing - were set to expire.

This sparked alarm since more than 20 million renters live in households that have suffered COVID-19-related jobs losses, according to a report from the Aspen Institute.

Still, housing advocates have offered only tepid support of the moratorium, warning that without more federal help for people who are unemployed and behind on their rent in the pandemic, it only delays a pending eviction wave.

“I think there are a lot of people still struggling economically. Those are the people who are being kept in their housing right now because of the CDC's order, said Katy Ramsey Mason, an assistant professor law at the University of Memphis.

The CDC's order notably did not include financial help for landlords, forcing many to consider selling their properties as rents go unpaid. This could ultimately cause an even greater loss of affordable housing.

“In a way, I am surprised it took so long for this lawsuit to show up,” Mason said.

These challenges are particularly significant in Memphis, where mass foreclosures in the Great Recession that followed the 2008 housing market collapse forced much of the city's Black middle class to lose ownership of single-family homes. Out-of-state investment companies snapped up these properties and turned them into rentals, said Daniel Schaffzin, who teaches law at the University of Memphis.

All but one of the seven landlords in the Memphis case are limited liability companies, which are typically designed to shield their true owners from responsibility for debts or liabilities. One is registered in Tennessee but based in California. Two others are based in Utah and New Jersey.

Before civil court proceedings were suspended due to the pandemic, about one in five Memphis renters had an eviction notice filed against them between 2016 and 2019, according to housing researcher Austin Harrison. In some neighborhoods, the rate was as high as one in three.

Landlords have filed at least 23 legal challenges against eviction moratoriums around the country in state and local courts, none successful thus far, said Edmund Witter, senior managing attorney at the Housing Justice Project of the Seattle-based King County Bar Association.

It is telling, Witter said, that in the 13 cases where judges have been asked to weigh in on the merits, all declined to temporarily stop eviction bans while the lawsuits are pending.

Most recently, the libertarian Pacific Legal Foundation sought to resume evictions in Washington state and the city of Seattle, where the governor's eight-month moratorium is set to expire on October 15. The foundation's lawyers said landlords need quick relief because it is unclear how long an eviction ban will remain in place otherwise.

Diane Patterson, a 60-year-old cook in Memphis who lives in one of the 3,400 units in Hunter Oaks Apartments, said the current owners of the apartment complex have done a “great job” since taking over last year, making renovations and installing new siding. She has managed to make her rent each month, but she said landlords, in general, should hold off on evicting people until the pandemic ends.

“They should wait,” she said. "They're only making things worse by putting people out in the street."

#world Read full article: https://expatimes.com/?p=10876&feed_id=7330

[kaelytraec]

How Taylor Swift Uses Her Immense Economic Power

Taylor Swift has supported over 30 charities in the time between 2006 and now (x). These charities include:

ACM Lifting Lives (x, y, z)      A charity which provides grants for music therapy and music education. ALS Association (x, y, z)      A charity dedicated to curing and treating ALS  Cancer Research Institute (x, y)      The worlds leading organization dedicated to finding a cure for cancer through immunotherapy, reducing the traumas of chemo and radiation. Children in Need (x, y, z)      Charity which provides shelter to children who are victims of abuse and neglect Clothes off Our Back (x, y, z)      Celebrities auction their clothes and the proceeds go to children’s charities DonateMyDress.org (x, y, z)      Donating prom/event dresses to those who cannot afford the expense.  DoSomething.org (x, y, z)      “One of the largest organizations for young people and social change” Elton John’s AIDS Foundation (x, y, z)      Worlds leading nonprofit for AIDS prevention plan in the United States and the Caribbean Entertainment Industry Foundation (x, z)      Raising awareness and funds for important causes such as childhood hunger, cancer research, creative arts, education, cardiovascular research, and much more  Feeding America (x, y, z)      Brings awareness to domestic hunger and distributes food and grocery products to those in need FHI 360 (x,y, z)      Providing health care and public health education to diverse populations and responding to the AIDS crisis Grammy Foundation (x,y, z)      Develops music education through programs and activities which focus on American Culture, everything from country to hip hop is included. Habitat For Humanity (x, y, z)      Building homes and hope around the world Hands On Nashville (x, y, z)        HON is a recognized leader in programs, partnerships and services that maximize volunteer impact for youth, adult, corporate, and nonprofit constituencies in the greater Nashville community. Each year, Hands On Nashville refers or places 34,000 volunteers to projects in more than 300 area service agencies and schools Hero in Heels (x, y, z)      Celebrities donate pairs of signed shoes to auction off and the proceeds go to women’s cancer research Make-A-Wish Foundation (x, y, z)       Granting the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength, and joy MusiCares (x, y, z)      Covers financial, medical, and personal emergencies for struggling musicians Music for Relief (x, y, z)      Helps victims of natural disasters (Like Katrina and Harvey) recover and rebuild, with an emphasis on education, housing, and resources PETA  (x, y, z)       Questionably defends the rights of animals. PROJECT ZAMBIA  (x, z)       Helps children orphaned by AIDs in Africa.  Red Cross  (x, y, z)       Providing relief to victims of disasters and helping people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies  Save The Music Foundation  (x, y, z)       Restoring music education programs in schools after the huge cuts.  Shine A Ligh7 Foundation (y, z)       A foundation dedicated to raising awareness to those affected by bullying, depression, and mental health issues.   Shoe Revolt  (x, y, z)       Celebrities donate shoes to fight against domestic sex trafficking. Shriners Hospitals for Children  (x, y, z)       Provides medical care to children at no charge. Small Steps Project  (x, y, z)       The organisation delivers shoes, hygiene kits and emergency aid to protect children in the dump environment, followed by sustainable solutions to enable children to take small steps off rubbish dumps and into education. Soles4Souls  (x, y, z)       The charity distributes these shoes free of charge to people in need, regardless of race, religion, class, or any other criteria.  Stand Up To Cancer (x, y, z)      Stand Up To Cancer is a non-profit organization/website/TV show that aims to raise money for cancer researchers and scientists to come together and reach their common goal: the cure for cancer.  Tug McGraw Foundation (x, y, z)      Established by Tug McGraw in 2003 to raise funds to enhance the quality of life of children and adults with brain tumors and their families by stimulating and facilitating research that addresses the physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual impact of the disease.  UNICEF  (x, y, z)        Providing health care and immunizations, clean water and sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency relief and more. Victory Junction Gang (x, y, z)        Enriches the lives of children with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses by providing life-changing camping experiences that are exciting, fun, and empowering, in a safe and medically sound environment. Wish Upon A Hero Foundation (x, y, z)         The Wish Upon A Hero Foundation is a 501©(3) non-profit organization that supports the wish granting efforts of individuals and organizations.(Basically support organization to Make A Wish)

Other Donations

2010

$500,000.00 to the Nashville flood relief (x)

2011

$750,000.00 to Speak Now Help Now Benefit Concert for tornado relief (x)

2012

Most Charitable Celebrity 1st year 

$4,000,000.00 to the Country Music Hall of Fame to support music education(x)

2013

Most Charitable Celebrity 2nd year

2014

Most Charitable Celebrity 3rd year running

$100,000.00 to the Nashville Symphony (x)

$4,000.00 to a homeless fan (x)

2015

Most Charitable Celebrity 4th year running

$50,000.00 to a fan fighting leukemia (x)

$50,000.00 to NYC inner city public schools (x)

$1,989.00 to a fan to pay off student debts (x)

$15,000.00 to an injured firefighter (x)

$50,000.00 to the Seattle Symphony Orchestra (x)

2016 

3rd most charitable celebrity, behind Beyonce and Lin Manuel Miranda 

$100,000.00 to Dolly Parton’s Smokey Mountain’s Telethon to help Tennessee fire victims (x)

$10,000.00 to help a five year old get a service dog (x)

$5,000.00 to a fan who lost her sister in a car crash (x)

Undisclosed amount to Cedars-Sinai, a nonprofit children’s hospital to support congenital heart disease research (x)

$1,000,000.00 to Louisiana flood victims (x)

$50,000.00 to Baton Rouge food bank (x) 

Undisclosed amount to African Parks, an organization dedicated to translocating 500 elephants (x)

2017

Taylor also donated $250,000 to Kesha during her sexual assault case. (x)

Taylor also released this written statement after her own grueling lawsuit (x)

I want to thank Judge William J. Martinez and the jury for their careful consideration, my attorneys Doug Baldridge, Danielle Foley, Jay Schaudies and Katie Wright for fighting for me and anyone who feels silenced by a sexual assault, and especially anyone who offered their support throughout this four-year ordeal and two-year long trial process.I acknowledge the privilege that I benefit from in life, in society and in my ability to shoulder the enormous cost of defending myself in a trial like this. My hope is to help those whose voices should also be heard. Therefore, I will be making donations in the near future to multiple organizations that help sexual assault victims defend themselves.

After which she promptly donated a generous undisclosed amount to Mariska Hargitay’s Joyful Heart Foundation in support of sexual assault victims. (x)

Taylor donated a signed guitar to the Black Tie Dinner to auction in support of Texas LGBT+ Community (x)

Taylor donates a super fan pack to Paul Martin’s Shine A Ligh7 Foundation (an organization dedicated to bullying, depression, and mental health issues) to auction. (x)

TL; DR She’s supported these causes:

Abuse,Adoption, Fostering, Orphans,AIDS & HIV,ALS,Animals,At-Risk/Disadvantaged Youths,Bullying,Cancer,Children,Creative Arts,Disaster Relief,Economic/Business Support,Education,Environment,Family/Parent Support,Health,Homelessness,Human Rights,Hunger,Mental Challenges,Miscellaneous,Philanthropy,Physical Challenges,Poverty,Rape/Sexual Abuse,Refugees,Slavery & Human Trafficking,Substance Abuse, Unemployment/Career Support, Women

Please let me know if I missed any so I can update this!

[tacomabankruptcyattorney]

Debt Relief Attorney In Seattle

Read this infographic to learn about how bankruptcy filing can resolve your debt problems. To find out more about resolving your debt problems contact our Seattle bankruptcy attorneys at 206-258-6225.

[nwdrlf]

Seattle Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Lawyer

Read this infographic to know about how chapter 13 bankruptcy work & how a Seattle Chapter 13 Bankruptcy attorney at Northwest Debt Relief Law Firm can help you. Call now at 206-258-6225 or visit nwdrlf.com

[anthonyekoehler]

Allied Collection Services of California

Debt collectors like Allied Collection Services of California cannot harass you over a debt. You have rights under the law, and we will stop the harassment once and for all.

THE BEST PART IS…

If Allied Collection Services of California violated the law, you will get money damages and they will pay your attorney’s fees and costs. You won’t owe us a dime for our services. Plus, some of our clients also receive debt relief and cleaned-up credit reports. You have nothing to lose! Call us today at 888-572-0176 for a free consultation.

Who is Allied Collection Services of California?

Allied Collection Services of California is a third-party debt collection agency based in Chatworth, California. Founded in 2000, Allied has managed over one-million accounts with over $3.5 billion in total value, but is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

Allied Collection Services of California’s Address, Phone Number, and Contact Information

Allied Collection Services of California is located at 9301 Oakdale Ave., Suite 205, Chatsworth, CA 91311. The main telephone number is 877-714-8191 and the main website is www.acsca.com/.

Phone Numbers Used by Allied Collection Services of California

Like many debt collection agencies, Allied Collection Services of California may use many different phone numbers to contact debtors. For an advanced search, visit www.agrussconsumerlaw.com/ and click “Number Search” in the “Lookup” dropdown menu. Here are some phone numbers Allied Collection Services of California may be calling you from:

818-933-3373

877-714-8191

Allied Collection Services of California Lawsuits

If you want to know just how unhappy consumers are with Allied Collection Services of California, take a look at the lawsuits filed against the agency on the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (“PACER”). PACER is the U.S.’s federal docket which lists federal complaints filed against a wide range of companies. A search for the agency will display over 20 lawsuits filed in the U.S., and these typically involve violations of consumer rights and/or the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).

Allied Collection Services of California Complaints

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a federal law which applies to everyone in the United States. In other words, everyone is protected under the FDCPA, and this Act is a laundry list of what debt collectors can and cannot do while collecting a debt, as well as things they must do while collecting debt. If Allied Collection Services of California is harassing you over a debt, you have rights under the FDCPA.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) protects you from robocalls, which are those annoying, automated, recorded calls that computers make all day long. You can tell it’s a robocall because either no one responds on the other end of the line, or there is a delay when you pick up the phone before a live person responds. You can receive $500 per call if Allied Collection Services of California violates the TCPA. Have you received a message from this agency that sounds pre-recorded or cut-off at the beginning or end? These are tell-tale signs that the message is pre-recorded, and if you have these messages on your cell phone, you may have a TCPA case against the agency.

The Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) protects electronic payments that are deducted from bank accounts. If Allied Collection Services of California took unauthorized deductions from your bank account, you may have an EFTA claim against the agency. Allied Collection Services of California, like most collection agencies, wants to set up recurring payments from consumers; imagine how much money it can earn if hundreds, even thousands, of consumers electronically pay them $50 – $100 or more per month. If you agreed to this type of reoccurring payment, the agency must follow certain steps to comply with the EFTA. Did Allied Collection Services of California continue to take electronic payments after you told them to stop? Did they take more money from your checking account than you agreed to?  If so, we can discuss your rights and potential case under the EFTA.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) works to ensure that no information reported to your credit report is false. In essence, it gives you the right to dispute those inaccuracies that you find on your credit report. We’ve handled many cases in which a debt collection agency reported debt on a consumer’s credit report to obtain leverage over the consumer. If Allied Collection Services of California is on your credit report, they may tell you that they’ll remove the debt from your credit report if you pay it; this is commonly known as “pay for delete.” If the original creditor is on your report rather than the debt collector, and you pay off the debt, both entities should accurately report this on your credit report.

Several states also have laws to provide its citizens an additional layer of protection. For example, if you live in California, Florida, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, or Wisconsin, you may be able to add a state-law claim to your federal law claim above. North Carolina, for example, has one of the most consumer-friendly statutes in the country: if you live in NC and are harassed over a debt, you may receive $500 – $4,000 in damages per violation. We work with a local counsel in NC and our NC clients have received some great results in debt collection harassment cases. If you live in North Carolina and are being harassed by a debt collector, you have leverage to obtain a great settlement.

How do we Use the Law to Help You?

We will use state and federal laws to immediately stop Allied Collection Services of California’s debt collection. We will send a cease-and-desist letter to stop the harassment today, and if Allied Collection Services of California violates the FDCPA, EFTA, FCRA, or any state law, you may be entitled to money damages. For example, under the FDCPA, you may receive up to $1,000 in damages plus actual damages. The FDCPA also has a fee-shift provision, which means the debt collector will pay your attorney’s fees and costs. If you have a TCPA case against the agency, we will handle it based on a contingency fee and you won’t pay us a dime unless you win.

THAT’S NOT ALL…

We have helped thousands of consumers stop phone calls. We know how to stop the harassment and get you money damages. Once again: you will not pay us a dime for our services. We will help you based on a fee-shift provision and/or contingency fee, and the debt collector will pay your attorney’s fees and costs.

What if Allied Collection Services of California is on my Credit Report?

Based on our experience, some debt collectors may credit-report, which means one may mark your credit report with the debt they are trying to collect. In addition to or instead of the debt collector, the original creditor may also be on your credit report in a separate entry, and it’s important to properly identify these entities because you will want both to update your credit report if or when you pay off the debt.

THE GOOD NEWS IS…

If Allied Collection Services of California is on your credit report, we can help you dispute it. Mistakes on your credit report can be very costly: along with causing you to pay higher interest rates, you may be denied credit, insurance, a rental home, a loan, or even a job because of these mistakes. Some mistakes may include someone else’s information on your credit report, inaccurate public records, stale collection accounts, or even being a victim of identity theft. If you have a mistake on your credit report, there is a process to dispute it, and my office will help you obtain your credit report and dispute any inaccurate information.

REMEMBER…

If a credit reporting agency violates its obligations under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you may be entitled to statutory damages up to $1,000, and the credit reporting agency will be required to fix the error. The FCRA also has a fee-shift provision, which means the credit reporting agency will pay your attorney’s fees and costs. You won’t owe us a dime for our services. We have helped hundreds of consumers fix inaccurate information on their credit reports, and we’re ready to help you, too.

Complaints against Allied Collection Services of California

Here are some of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) reviews and complaints against Allied Collection Services of California:

“Allied Collection Services continues to furnish false information regarding a debt that I never had with a sports club. This has been verified by the GM of the sports club, that I closed my account in late 2012 with no outstanding balance. Furnishing false and misleading information to the credit bureaus regarding a fabricated debt.”

“[Allied] is not an assignee for the purported agreement, and they have not offered any evidence to the contrary as Request of verification and validation sent to collection agency. I also requested that they send a copy of my letter to the original creditor notifying them that I dispute this debt so that they cannot report it as delinquent on my credit report. I also requested that they ask all credit bureaus to which they subscribe to insert a notation on my credit file that I dispute this debt.”

“They’ve ruined my credit over a debt that is not mine. I had some squatters move into my vacation house near Seattle in 2012 who used my mail to order all sorts of things. Credit cards, cell phones…you name it. Most of it has been relatively painless to take care of, but Allied Collection Services hasn’t budged. I don’t even know the company they’re collecting on…it’s clearly not mine. I’ve called several times over the past couple of months and explained the situation, have disputed the item on my credit, and have faxed a police report on the issue. The collection still sits there damaging my credit.”

Cases We’ve Handled Against Allied Collection Services of California

I think you’ll agree when we say that threats and harassment from collection agencies can be pretty intimidating. However, we can stop the harassment and get you money damages under the law, and the collection agency will pay your attorneys’ fees and costs. Here are two cases we’ve handled against Allied Collection Services of California:

Janann Q. v. Allied Collection Services of California – In December 2018, Janann of Tarrant County, Texas, filed a claim against Allied Collection Services of California for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Texas Debt Collection Act (TDCA). Complaints consisted of harassing phone calls for a debt the plaintiff did not owe based on mistaken identity, and ongoing harassment after the plaintiff requested that the calls stop. 

Eugene D. v. Allied Collection Services of California – In October 2013, Eugene of Orange County, Florida, filed a claim against Allied Collection Services of California for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (FCCPA). Similar to case one, complaints consisted of harassing phone calls for a debt the plaintiff did not owe based on mistaken identity, as well as robocalls and ongoing harassment after the plaintiff requested that the calls stop.

What Our Clients Say about Us

Agruss Law Firm has over 825 outstanding client reviews through Yotpo, an A+ BBB rating, and over 110 five-star reviews on Google. Here’s what some of our clients have to say about us:

“Michael Agruss handled two settlements for me with great results and he handled them quickly. He also settled my sister’s case quickly and now her debt is clear. I highly recommend Michael.”

“Agruss Law Firm was very helpful, they helped me solve my case regarding the unwanted calls. I would highly recommend them. Thank you very much Mike Agruss!”

“Agruss Law Firm was very helpful to me and my veteran father! We were harassed daily and even called names for a loan that was worthless! Agruss stepped in and not only did they stop harassing, they stopped calling all together!! Even settled it so I was paid back for the problems they caused!”

Can Allied Collection Services of California Sue Me?

Although anyone can sue anyone for any reason, we have not seen Allied Collection Services of California sue consumers, and it’s likely that the agency does not sue because they don’t always own the debt they are attempting to collect, and would also need to hire a lawyer, or use in-house counsel, to file a lawsuit. It’s also likely that the agency collects debt throughout the country, and it would be quite difficult to have lawyers, or a law firm, licensed in every state. However, there are collection agencies that do sue consumers; for example, Midland Credit Management is one of the largest junk-debt buyers, and it also collects and sues on debt. Still, it is less likely for a debt collector to sue you than for an original creditor to hire a lawyer or collection firm to sue you. If Allied Collection Services of California has threatened to sue you, contact Agruss Law Firm, LLC as soon as possible.

Can Allied Collection Services of California Garnish my Wages?

No, unless they have a judgment. If Allied Collection Services of California has not sued you, then the agency cannot get a judgment. Barring limited situations (usually involving debts owed to the government for student loans, taxes, etc.), a company must have a judgment in order to garnish someone’s wages. In short, we have not seen this agency file a lawsuit against a consumer, so the agency cannot garnish your wages, minus the exceptions listed above. If Allied Collection Services of California has threatened to garnish your wages, contact our office right away.

Allied Collection Services of California Settlement

If you want to settle a debt with Allied Collection Services of California, ask yourself these questions first:

Do I really owe this debt?

Is this debt within the statute of limitations?

Is this debt on my credit report?

If I pay this debt, will Allied Collection Services of California remove it from my credit report?

If I pay this debt, will the original creditor remove it from my credit report?

If I pay this debt, will I receive confirmation in writing from Allied Collection Services of California for the payment and settlement terms?

These are not the only things to consider when dealing with debt collectors. We are here to help you answer the questions above, and much more. Whether it’s harassment, settlement, pay-for-delete, or any other legal issue with Allied Collection Services of California, we at Agruss Law Firm are here to help you.

Top Debt Collection Violations

Debt collection laws provide a laundry list of what collectors can and cannot do while collecting a debt. Based on our years of experience handling thousands of debt collection harassment cases, here’s what collection agencies most often do to violate the law:

Called you about a debt you do not owe.

Called you at work after you told them you cannot receive calls at work.

Left you a message without identifying the company’s name.

Left you a message without disclosing that the call is from a debt collector.

Called third-parties (family, friends, coworkers, or neighbors) even though the collection agency knows your contact information.

Disclosed to a third-party (family, friends, coworkers, or neighbors) that you owe a debt.

Contacted you after you said to stop calling.

Threatened you with legal action (such as a lawsuit or wage garnishment).

Called you before 8:00 AM or after 9:00 PM.

Continued to call you after you have told the collector you cannot pay the debt.

Communicated (phone or letter) with you after you filed for bankruptcy.

Failed to mark the debt on your credit report as disputed after you disputed the debt.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to pay your fees and costs for helping me with my consumer rights case? No. We handle consumer rights cases based on a fee-shift provision and/or a contingency fee. That means either the other side pays your fees and costs, or we take a percentage of your recovery. Whether it’s a fee-shift case or a contingency-fee case, we don’t get paid unless you get paid, and you’ll never owe us a penny for our time.

What are the damages I can get under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act? If a collection agency violates any section of the FDCPA, you are entitled to damages up to $1,000.00. You may also be entitled to actual damages if the violation caused you out-of-pocket expenses. For example, if a collection agency threatens you with legal action to induce you to pay the debt, you may be able to get your payment back as actual damages.

What are the damages under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act? You can get $500 per robocall, or $1,500 per robocall if the robocalls were willful. In any type of settlement, Defendants often pay much less than $500 per call. However, if there are 50 calls at issue, even at $250 per call, your case could settle for $12,500.00.

What type of debt is covered under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act? Only consumer debt, such as personal, family, and household debts. For example, money you owe on a personal credit card, an auto loan, a medical bill, or a utility bill. The FDCPA does not cover debts you incurred to run a business, or debts regarding unpaid taxes, or traffic tickets.

Does the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act apply to banks or credit card companies? No.  Only third-party debt collectors are bound by the FDCPA. Original creditors, such as banks and credit card companies, are not bound by the FDCPA.

Are there state laws that protect me from original creditors? Yes! Several states also have laws that provide its citizens an additional layer of protection. If you live in California, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Nevada, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, or Wisconsin, you have additional state-law rights.

Are mistakes on credit reports common? Yes! Are you one of the 40 million Americans who have a mistake on their credit report? Mistakes on your credit report can be very costly.  Along with causing you to pay higher interest rates, you may be denied credit, insurance, a rental home, a loan, or even a job because of these mistakes. Some mistakes may include someone else’s information on your credit report, inaccurate public records, stale collection accounts, or maybe you were a victim of identity theft.

What do I do if I have a mistake on my credit report? If you have a mistake on your credit report, there is a process to dispute them. My office will help you pull your credit report and dispute any inaccurate information. If a credit reporting agency violates its obligations under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you may be entitled to statutory damages up to $1,000.00, plus the credit reporting agency will be required to fix the error.  The FCRA also has a fee-shift provision, which means the credit reporting agency pays your attorney’s fees and costs. Therefore, you will not pay me a penny for my time. To speed up the process, please get a free copy of your credit report at www.annualcreditreport.com. You can also learn more about the FCRA and your rights at http://www.agrussconsumerlaw.com/practices/common-credit-report-errors/.

Share your Complaints against Allied Collection Services of California Below

We encourage you to post your complaints about Allied Collection Services of California. Sharing your complaints against this agency can help other consumers understand what to do when this company starts calling. Sharing your experience may help someone else!

HERE’S THE DEAL!

If you are being harassed by Allied Collection Services of California over a debt, you may be entitled to money damages – up to $1,000 for harassment, and $500 – $1,500 for illegal robocalls. Under state and federal laws, we will help you based on a fee-shift provision and/or contingency fee, which means the debt-collector pays your attorney’s fees and costs. You won’t owe us a dime for our services. We have settled thousands of debt collection harassment cases, and we’re prepared to help you, too. Contact Agruss Law Firm at 888-572-0176 to stop the harassment once and for all.

The post Allied Collection Services of California appeared first on Agruss Law Firm, LLC.

Allied Collection Services of California published first on https://agrusslawfirmllc.tumblr.com

[agrusslawfirmllc]

Allied Collection Services of California

Debt collectors like Allied Collection Services of California cannot harass you over a debt. You have rights under the law, and we will stop the harassment once and for all.

THE BEST PART IS…

If Allied Collection Services of California violated the law, you will get money damages and they will pay your attorney’s fees and costs. You won’t owe us a dime for our services. Plus, some of our clients also receive debt relief and cleaned-up credit reports. You have nothing to lose! Call us today at 888-572-0176 for a free consultation.

Who is Allied Collection Services of California?

Allied Collection Services of California is a third-party debt collection agency based in Chatworth, California. Founded in 2000, Allied has managed over one-million accounts with over $3.5 billion in total value, but is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

Allied Collection Services of California’s Address, Phone Number, and Contact Information

Allied Collection Services of California is located at 9301 Oakdale Ave., Suite 205, Chatsworth, CA 91311. The main telephone number is 877-714-8191 and the main website is www.acsca.com/.

Phone Numbers Used by Allied Collection Services of California

Like many debt collection agencies, Allied Collection Services of California may use many different phone numbers to contact debtors. For an advanced search, visit www.agrussconsumerlaw.com/ and click “Number Search” in the “Lookup” dropdown menu. Here are some phone numbers Allied Collection Services of California may be calling you from:

818-933-3373

877-714-8191

Allied Collection Services of California Lawsuits

If you want to know just how unhappy consumers are with Allied Collection Services of California, take a look at the lawsuits filed against the agency on the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (“PACER”). PACER is the U.S.’s federal docket which lists federal complaints filed against a wide range of companies. A search for the agency will display over 20 lawsuits filed in the U.S., and these typically involve violations of consumer rights and/or the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).

Allied Collection Services of California Complaints

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a federal law which applies to everyone in the United States. In other words, everyone is protected under the FDCPA, and this Act is a laundry list of what debt collectors can and cannot do while collecting a debt, as well as things they must do while collecting debt. If Allied Collection Services of California is harassing you over a debt, you have rights under the FDCPA.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) protects you from robocalls, which are those annoying, automated, recorded calls that computers make all day long. You can tell it’s a robocall because either no one responds on the other end of the line, or there is a delay when you pick up the phone before a live person responds. You can receive $500 per call if Allied Collection Services of California violates the TCPA. Have you received a message from this agency that sounds pre-recorded or cut-off at the beginning or end? These are tell-tale signs that the message is pre-recorded, and if you have these messages on your cell phone, you may have a TCPA case against the agency.

The Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) protects electronic payments that are deducted from bank accounts. If Allied Collection Services of California took unauthorized deductions from your bank account, you may have an EFTA claim against the agency. Allied Collection Services of California, like most collection agencies, wants to set up recurring payments from consumers; imagine how much money it can earn if hundreds, even thousands, of consumers electronically pay them $50 – $100 or more per month. If you agreed to this type of reoccurring payment, the agency must follow certain steps to comply with the EFTA. Did Allied Collection Services of California continue to take electronic payments after you told them to stop? Did they take more money from your checking account than you agreed to?  If so, we can discuss your rights and potential case under the EFTA.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) works to ensure that no information reported to your credit report is false. In essence, it gives you the right to dispute those inaccuracies that you find on your credit report. We’ve handled many cases in which a debt collection agency reported debt on a consumer’s credit report to obtain leverage over the consumer. If Allied Collection Services of California is on your credit report, they may tell you that they’ll remove the debt from your credit report if you pay it; this is commonly known as “pay for delete.” If the original creditor is on your report rather than the debt collector, and you pay off the debt, both entities should accurately report this on your credit report.

Several states also have laws to provide its citizens an additional layer of protection. For example, if you live in California, Florida, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, or Wisconsin, you may be able to add a state-law claim to your federal law claim above. North Carolina, for example, has one of the most consumer-friendly statutes in the country: if you live in NC and are harassed over a debt, you may receive $500 – $4,000 in damages per violation. We work with a local counsel in NC and our NC clients have received some great results in debt collection harassment cases. If you live in North Carolina and are being harassed by a debt collector, you have leverage to obtain a great settlement.

How do we Use the Law to Help You?

We will use state and federal laws to immediately stop Allied Collection Services of California’s debt collection. We will send a cease-and-desist letter to stop the harassment today, and if Allied Collection Services of California violates the FDCPA, EFTA, FCRA, or any state law, you may be entitled to money damages. For example, under the FDCPA, you may receive up to $1,000 in damages plus actual damages. The FDCPA also has a fee-shift provision, which means the debt collector will pay your attorney’s fees and costs. If you have a TCPA case against the agency, we will handle it based on a contingency fee and you won’t pay us a dime unless you win.

THAT’S NOT ALL…

We have helped thousands of consumers stop phone calls. We know how to stop the harassment and get you money damages. Once again: you will not pay us a dime for our services. We will help you based on a fee-shift provision and/or contingency fee, and the debt collector will pay your attorney’s fees and costs.

What if Allied Collection Services of California is on my Credit Report?

Based on our experience, some debt collectors may credit-report, which means one may mark your credit report with the debt they are trying to collect. In addition to or instead of the debt collector, the original creditor may also be on your credit report in a separate entry, and it’s important to properly identify these entities because you will want both to update your credit report if or when you pay off the debt.

THE GOOD NEWS IS…

If Allied Collection Services of California is on your credit report, we can help you dispute it. Mistakes on your credit report can be very costly: along with causing you to pay higher interest rates, you may be denied credit, insurance, a rental home, a loan, or even a job because of these mistakes. Some mistakes may include someone else’s information on your credit report, inaccurate public records, stale collection accounts, or even being a victim of identity theft. If you have a mistake on your credit report, there is a process to dispute it, and my office will help you obtain your credit report and dispute any inaccurate information.

REMEMBER…

If a credit reporting agency violates its obligations under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you may be entitled to statutory damages up to $1,000, and the credit reporting agency will be required to fix the error. The FCRA also has a fee-shift provision, which means the credit reporting agency will pay your attorney’s fees and costs. You won’t owe us a dime for our services. We have helped hundreds of consumers fix inaccurate information on their credit reports, and we’re ready to help you, too.

Complaints against Allied Collection Services of California

Here are some of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) reviews and complaints against Allied Collection Services of California:

“Allied Collection Services continues to furnish false information regarding a debt that I never had with a sports club. This has been verified by the GM of the sports club, that I closed my account in late 2012 with no outstanding balance. Furnishing false and misleading information to the credit bureaus regarding a fabricated debt.”

“[Allied] is not an assignee for the purported agreement, and they have not offered any evidence to the contrary as Request of verification and validation sent to collection agency. I also requested that they send a copy of my letter to the original creditor notifying them that I dispute this debt so that they cannot report it as delinquent on my credit report. I also requested that they ask all credit bureaus to which they subscribe to insert a notation on my credit file that I dispute this debt.”

“They’ve ruined my credit over a debt that is not mine. I had some squatters move into my vacation house near Seattle in 2012 who used my mail to order all sorts of things. Credit cards, cell phones…you name it. Most of it has been relatively painless to take care of, but Allied Collection Services hasn’t budged. I don’t even know the company they’re collecting on…it’s clearly not mine. I’ve called several times over the past couple of months and explained the situation, have disputed the item on my credit, and have faxed a police report on the issue. The collection still sits there damaging my credit.”

Cases We’ve Handled Against Allied Collection Services of California

I think you’ll agree when we say that threats and harassment from collection agencies can be pretty intimidating. However, we can stop the harassment and get you money damages under the law, and the collection agency will pay your attorneys’ fees and costs. Here are two cases we’ve handled against Allied Collection Services of California:

Janann Q. v. Allied Collection Services of California – In December 2018, Janann of Tarrant County, Texas, filed a claim against Allied Collection Services of California for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Texas Debt Collection Act (TDCA). Complaints consisted of harassing phone calls for a debt the plaintiff did not owe based on mistaken identity, and ongoing harassment after the plaintiff requested that the calls stop. 

Eugene D. v. Allied Collection Services of California – In October 2013, Eugene of Orange County, Florida, filed a claim against Allied Collection Services of California for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (FCCPA). Similar to case one, complaints consisted of harassing phone calls for a debt the plaintiff did not owe based on mistaken identity, as well as robocalls and ongoing harassment after the plaintiff requested that the calls stop.

What Our Clients Say about Us

Agruss Law Firm has over 825 outstanding client reviews through Yotpo, an A+ BBB rating, and over 110 five-star reviews on Google. Here’s what some of our clients have to say about us:

“Michael Agruss handled two settlements for me with great results and he handled them quickly. He also settled my sister’s case quickly and now her debt is clear. I highly recommend Michael.”

“Agruss Law Firm was very helpful, they helped me solve my case regarding the unwanted calls. I would highly recommend them. Thank you very much Mike Agruss!”

“Agruss Law Firm was very helpful to me and my veteran father! We were harassed daily and even called names for a loan that was worthless! Agruss stepped in and not only did they stop harassing, they stopped calling all together!! Even settled it so I was paid back for the problems they caused!”

Can Allied Collection Services of California Sue Me?

Although anyone can sue anyone for any reason, we have not seen Allied Collection Services of California sue consumers, and it’s likely that the agency does not sue because they don’t always own the debt they are attempting to collect, and would also need to hire a lawyer, or use in-house counsel, to file a lawsuit. It’s also likely that the agency collects debt throughout the country, and it would be quite difficult to have lawyers, or a law firm, licensed in every state. However, there are collection agencies that do sue consumers; for example, Midland Credit Management is one of the largest junk-debt buyers, and it also collects and sues on debt. Still, it is less likely for a debt collector to sue you than for an original creditor to hire a lawyer or collection firm to sue you. If Allied Collection Services of California has threatened to sue you, contact Agruss Law Firm, LLC as soon as possible.

Can Allied Collection Services of California Garnish my Wages?

No, unless they have a judgment. If Allied Collection Services of California has not sued you, then the agency cannot get a judgment. Barring limited situations (usually involving debts owed to the government for student loans, taxes, etc.), a company must have a judgment in order to garnish someone’s wages. In short, we have not seen this agency file a lawsuit against a consumer, so the agency cannot garnish your wages, minus the exceptions listed above. If Allied Collection Services of California has threatened to garnish your wages, contact our office right away.

Allied Collection Services of California Settlement

If you want to settle a debt with Allied Collection Services of California, ask yourself these questions first:

Do I really owe this debt?

Is this debt within the statute of limitations?

Is this debt on my credit report?

If I pay this debt, will Allied Collection Services of California remove it from my credit report?

If I pay this debt, will the original creditor remove it from my credit report?

If I pay this debt, will I receive confirmation in writing from Allied Collection Services of California for the payment and settlement terms?

These are not the only things to consider when dealing with debt collectors. We are here to help you answer the questions above, and much more. Whether it’s harassment, settlement, pay-for-delete, or any other legal issue with Allied Collection Services of California, we at Agruss Law Firm are here to help you.

Top Debt Collection Violations

Debt collection laws provide a laundry list of what collectors can and cannot do while collecting a debt. Based on our years of experience handling thousands of debt collection harassment cases, here’s what collection agencies most often do to violate the law:

Called you about a debt you do not owe.

Called you at work after you told them you cannot receive calls at work.

Left you a message without identifying the company’s name.

Left you a message without disclosing that the call is from a debt collector.

Called third-parties (family, friends, coworkers, or neighbors) even though the collection agency knows your contact information.

Disclosed to a third-party (family, friends, coworkers, or neighbors) that you owe a debt.

Contacted you after you said to stop calling.

Threatened you with legal action (such as a lawsuit or wage garnishment).

Called you before 8:00 AM or after 9:00 PM.

Continued to call you after you have told the collector you cannot pay the debt.

Communicated (phone or letter) with you after you filed for bankruptcy.

Failed to mark the debt on your credit report as disputed after you disputed the debt.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to pay your fees and costs for helping me with my consumer rights case? No. We handle consumer rights cases based on a fee-shift provision and/or a contingency fee. That means either the other side pays your fees and costs, or we take a percentage of your recovery. Whether it’s a fee-shift case or a contingency-fee case, we don’t get paid unless you get paid, and you’ll never owe us a penny for our time.

What are the damages I can get under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act? If a collection agency violates any section of the FDCPA, you are entitled to damages up to $1,000.00. You may also be entitled to actual damages if the violation caused you out-of-pocket expenses. For example, if a collection agency threatens you with legal action to induce you to pay the debt, you may be able to get your payment back as actual damages.

What are the damages under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act? You can get $500 per robocall, or $1,500 per robocall if the robocalls were willful. In any type of settlement, Defendants often pay much less than $500 per call. However, if there are 50 calls at issue, even at $250 per call, your case could settle for $12,500.00.

What type of debt is covered under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act? Only consumer debt, such as personal, family, and household debts. For example, money you owe on a personal credit card, an auto loan, a medical bill, or a utility bill. The FDCPA does not cover debts you incurred to run a business, or debts regarding unpaid taxes, or traffic tickets.

Does the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act apply to banks or credit card companies? No.  Only third-party debt collectors are bound by the FDCPA. Original creditors, such as banks and credit card companies, are not bound by the FDCPA.

Are there state laws that protect me from original creditors? Yes! Several states also have laws that provide its citizens an additional layer of protection. If you live in California, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Nevada, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, or Wisconsin, you have additional state-law rights.

Are mistakes on credit reports common? Yes! Are you one of the 40 million Americans who have a mistake on their credit report? Mistakes on your credit report can be very costly.  Along with causing you to pay higher interest rates, you may be denied credit, insurance, a rental home, a loan, or even a job because of these mistakes. Some mistakes may include someone else’s information on your credit report, inaccurate public records, stale collection accounts, or maybe you were a victim of identity theft.

What do I do if I have a mistake on my credit report? If you have a mistake on your credit report, there is a process to dispute them. My office will help you pull your credit report and dispute any inaccurate information. If a credit reporting agency violates its obligations under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you may be entitled to statutory damages up to $1,000.00, plus the credit reporting agency will be required to fix the error.  The FCRA also has a fee-shift provision, which means the credit reporting agency pays your attorney’s fees and costs. Therefore, you will not pay me a penny for my time. To speed up the process, please get a free copy of your credit report at www.annualcreditreport.com. You can also learn more about the FCRA and your rights at http://www.agrussconsumerlaw.com/practices/common-credit-report-errors/.

Share your Complaints against Allied Collection Services of California Below

We encourage you to post your complaints about Allied Collection Services of California. Sharing your complaints against this agency can help other consumers understand what to do when this company starts calling. Sharing your experience may help someone else!

HERE’S THE DEAL!

If you are being harassed by Allied Collection Services of California over a debt, you may be entitled to money damages – up to $1,000 for harassment, and $500 – $1,500 for illegal robocalls. Under state and federal laws, we will help you based on a fee-shift provision and/or contingency fee, which means the debt-collector pays your attorney’s fees and costs. You won’t owe us a dime for our services. We have settled thousands of debt collection harassment cases, and we’re prepared to help you, too. Contact Agruss Law Firm at 888-572-0176 to stop the harassment once and for all.

The post Allied Collection Services of California appeared first on Agruss Law Firm, LLC.

[seattlebankruptcyattorney-blog]

A bankruptcy lawyer can evaluate your case & figure out which bankruptcy option best suits your circumstances. To get legal advice and guidance on bankruptcy filings, call us at Northwest Debt Relief Law Firm and speak with one of our experienced Seattle bankruptcy attorneys. Visit https://nwdrlf.com/bankruptcy-exemptions-in-washington/ or call 206-258-6225.

[findusonweb-blog]

Mark McClure – Managing Attorney Mark C McClure (253)631-6484 Mark McClure managing attorneyEmail: mark@northwestbk.com

Court Admissions United States District Courts for the Western Districts of Washington United States Bankruptcy Courts for the Western Districts of Washington Supreme Court of the State of Washington

Bankruptcy and Insolvency Practice Representation of Individuals and their businesses in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 proceedings. Representation of debtors in general litigation in the bankruptcy court, including discharge ability, claims objections and general claims. Fraud investigation.

Other Legal Experience Civil Litigation of commercial disputes and collections in Washington State Courts. Entity formation and general business. Tax issues, particularly collection defense,. Real Estate matters. Asset Protection and Business Planning. Wills, Trusts and Estates.  Family Law.  Patent Prosecution.

Professional Experience Law Office of Mark McClure, PS Contract Attorney, Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt U. S. Air Force Engineer, The Boeing Company

Education J.D. Seattle University of Law, Seattle, WA B.S.E.E.T. cum laude Colorado Technical University , Colorado Springs, CO

Bankruptcy Lawyer *We are a Debt Relief Agency and provide relief and protection from creditors by filing bankruptcy for qualified individuals and businesses.** There are a number of reasons why a person can fall on hard times. As a result, every day honest, hardworking individuals fall behind on the bills. You can fall behind because you lost losing your job, you or a loved one are facing health problems, or you reached for the stars by starting a business, but it then fails despite your best efforts. Fortunately, the law provides relief for people facing financial hardships, and a chance for a fresh start. The Law Office of Mark McClure can handle your Kent bankruptcy and help you get back in the black and reestablish good credit. Whether you are seeking a Chapter 7, or a Chapter 13, our Kent bankruptcy lawyers are ready to address your particular situation to see whether you qualify. Filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy is perfect for people who are seeking to get rid of most of their debt. It is the most common bankruptcy filed in the United States, and it allows most debt to be discharged with a few exceptions. Chapter 13 bankruptcies are filed by people who don’t qualify for a Chapter 7, and it allows them to pay off their debt over a given period of time via monthly payments. This type of Kent bankruptcy can provide financial relief by reducing a person’s monthly home and car payments. Our dedicated Kent bankruptcy attorneys understand how devastating financial hardships can be on you and your family. We are ready to use our knowledge of bankruptcy law, and our experience in Washington Court, to help you negotiate a solution that gets you back on track. If you’re tired of getting nagging phone calls from creditors, contact us today.

PERSONAL INJURY Being in an accident can leave you bruised and battered, both physically and emotionally. Protecting your health is paramount, and our Kent personal injury lawyers can help you ensure that you are treated fairly by the insurance companies. With so much at stake, it makes sense to do everything you can to get all of the facts before you enter into any agreement or settlement.Unfortunately, insurance companies are only interested in their bottom line, and will do everything they can to protect it – even at the cost of your health and financial security. Our Kent personal injury attorneys will make sure that your legal rights are protected, and will fight against the unfair practices that insurance companies regularly employ. You might think that because you’ve been a loyal customer to your insurance company for years that they will take care of you in your time of need. Many make this same mistake, and find themselves buried in medical bills years later with no recourse for compensation. Don’t let this happen to you – contact one of our Kent personal injury lawyers before you agree to any terms with your insurance agent. Your accident will likely lead to medical bills, lost wages, and emotional stress that can be difficult to mitigate. Don’t allow someone else’s negligence to force you to sacrifice your financial stability, your health, or the future prospects for members of your family. Contact our office today and talk to a qualified professional about your case, and we will explain how we might be able to help. We are experienced litigators who will fight for fair compensation in your Kent personal injury case.

WASHINGTON L&I For almost everyone who is involved in an on-the-job accident, a Washington L&I (Labor and Industry) claim is the only means by which they can seek financial coverage. At the Law Office of Mark McClure, our Kent workers compensation attorneys handle Kent L&I claims involving occupational injury, disease, and rejected compensation. If you are considering filing a Washington L&I claim with hopes that you can secure disability awards, loss of earning benefits, or additional compensation for an aggravated condition, then you should contact us without hesitation. We are experienced Kent L&I lawyers with the experience needed to make sure your legal rights are protected. An on-the-job injury can leave you with medical bills for surgery, therapy, prescription drugs, and other medical expenses. Missed work will mean lost wages, making it even harder to pay the mounting bills. In cases of permanent injury you could lose your ability to work, perhaps for many years or the rest of your life. Don’t take any chances with your future. Our Kent L&I attorneys will do everything the law allows to make sure your worker’s compensation is maximized as much as possible. If you’ve been a victim of retaliation by an employer, having been laid off or fired as a result of your injury, then it’s especially important that you talk to a qualified lawyer. These practices are forbidden by law, and you could be in a position to bring a claim against your employer. Contact our office today and make sure that you are fairly compensated after a workplace injury.

PROBATE If you’re looking for a Kent probate attorney, the Law Office of Mark McClure can help. Probate and estate planning requires a professional approach combined with an in-depth knowledge of the law. At stake is the future of your family and the people you love, and our Kent probate lawyers offer legal counsel based on that simple premise. We handle many estate planning issues including trusts, real estate, assets, wills, and power of attorney. Unfortunately, eventually you will endure the trauma of dealing with the loss of someone you love. When that happens, the last thing you need are hassles and drama. Our Kent probate lawyers will handle situations involving contested and disputed wills. When this happens you need someone on your side that has your best interests at heart, and will fight to ensure you are protected according to the law. Situations that involve family disputes, or that require mediation, can be especially trying, so it’s important to make sure your legal rights are being acknowledged. There are numerous other Kent probate issues that you could be facing, so don’t hesitate in contacting one of our legal professionals today. We can talk about the specific details of your situation, and you can make a decision as to how you would like to proceed with no pressure from us. Oftentimes, the first steps you take in any legal matter are the most important. Our promise is to do everything legally possible to make sure you have a solid foundation to build on.

SERVICES

(A) Fair Debt Collection Act (FDCPA) (B) Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) (C) Personal Injury    Auto / Truck Accidents    Slip and Falls    Dog Bite    Most Dangerous Dog Breeds    Importance of Treating    Subrogation (D) Medical Malpractice    Standard of Care    Expert Witnesses    Subrogation (E) Washington L & I    On the Job Injury    Re-injury    Permanent Partial Disability Benefit    Permanent Total Disability Benefit    Pension    Third Party Liability (F) Estate Planning    Wills    Trusts    Probate

Service Areas

Bankruptcy Auburn Black Diamond Bonney Lake Burien Covington Des Moines Federal Way Fife Kent Lea Hill Maple Valley Milton Pacific Puyallup Renton Seattle Seatac Sumner Tacoma Tukwila

Personal Injury Auburn Black Diamond Bonney Lake Burien Covington Des Moines Federal Way Fife Kent Lea Hill Maple Valley Milton Pacific Puyallup Renton Seattle Seatac Sumner Tacoma Tukwila

L & I Lawyer Auburn Black Diamond Bonney Lake Burien Covington Des Moines Federal Way Fife Kent Lea Hill Maple Valley Milton Pacific Puyallup Renton Seattle Seatac Sumner Tacoma Tukwila

Probate Lawyer Auburn Black Diamond Bonney Lake Burien Covington Des Moines Federal Way Fife Kent Lea Hill Maple Valley Milton Pacific Puyallup Renton Seattle Seatac Sumner Tacoma Tukwila

[marie85marketing]

What Startups Can Learn from ‘Tax Relief’ PPC Campaigns

Old-school industries don’t get the credit they deserve.

Every blog focuses on the hot new startup.

People write case study after case study on the trendy new subscription box.

But no one ever talks about offline companies.

Even though, many times, there’s WAY more money at stake.

Take ‘tax relief,’ for example.

The latest IRS numbers show that people fail to pay $458 billion a year in taxes. That accounts for almost 69% of our annual deficit.

Obviously, people don’t get away with avoiding taxes for too long. Eventually, they’ll be caught.

And then they’ll need to pay back the IRS.

The problem, of course, is that they probably won’t have the money on hand.

So what will these desperate people do?

They’ll start looking for help from tax relief companies.

These companies specialize in helping people reduce or avoid certain debts.

What’s the problem?

This is a heavily commoditized market. Many of these providers are offering the same services, more or less.

If a ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’ refers to uncontested markets, tax relief is a very, very, molten lava, red-hot, competitive market.

It’s among the most competitive in the world. You have massive companies all chasing the same few people who owe lots and lots of money.

You know what else that means?

There is no room for error.

These companies literally cannot afford to make a mistake.

They’re among the highest-priced PPC terms, for instance, reaching up to around $40-50 bucks a click.

And that’s just for a single visit!

They still have to try and convert those visitors. So the actual cost per lead is well into the hundreds of dollars, easy.

That’s why we should be studying these old school industries. They might not have the flashiest designs or most cutting-edge tech.

But they are slogging it out, day in and day out, with competitors who’re all spending a TON of money.

In this article, I’m going to show you strategies from the best in the tax relief business. At the very end, you’ll be able to take these tips and instantly increase your own PPC campaigns.

First, however, we need to start by getting a lay of the land.

How to research an industry you know nothing about

PPC is one of my favorite marketing tactics.

I love it because it produces results almost immediately. You can turn campaigns on and make adjustments on the fly.

Do it right and customers start flowing in within a few days.

I also love it because it’s consistent. You can predict what kind of results you’re going to get.

And you can predict them, because a simple competitive analysis will give you almost all the data you need.

For example, before this post, I knew nothing about tax relief. Thankfully!

My trick to uncovering the best marketing tips isn’t to watch what people say. It’s to watch what they do.

If you want to know more about ‘tax relief,’ let’s start by Googling the competition.

So far so good. The first four ad results show they know what they’re doing.

My search query was “tax relief Seattle.”

But all of them do a good job bringing up benefits of their service.

Why does that matter? Because just over a year ago, Google opened up the ‘expanded’ headline.

This way, you could hit the keyword in the first headline. And then add a secondary benefit to get people to click.

Here’s an awesome example:

“Take 60 seconds to cut taxes” helps the searcher hop over the first objection hurdle: It’s going to be too long or boring.

When this new expanded headline debuted, WordStream ran a study and found that adding an additional benefit like this can increase your click-through rate by 400%!

Just a few simple queries like this will help you quickly find a whole slew of companies.

Stick to big, popular queries at this point.

The reason? Keywords like “tax relief” will also be among the most expensive in the space.

Which means the companies you see advertising on them will have the big bucks.

They’ll be the most aggressive.

And you can use them as a benchmark.

For example, Precision Tax Relief had an excellent ad earlier. They used ad extensions like star ratings and reviews.

So you know they’re legit.

Now, I’m going to grab their URL and drop them into two tools.

First, let’s see what their site brings up in SpyFu:

Check that out.

Two seconds and you can see:

The number of keywords they’re bidding on

An estimate of clicks they’re receiving

Their total monthly budget

And then, you can even drill down into the individual keywords in their account.

Each one will show a cost per click, the total ad budget on each, and where they’re showing up for them.

SEMrush will show you similar data:

In this case, you’re able to sort the keywords they’re bidding on by search position.

See something interesting already?

Precision Tax Relief is paying for the #1 position of a competitor, Optima Tax Relief.

Judging by this traffic estimate, they’re also stealing a TON of their clicks, too.

Look further down the list and you see more of the same.

Why should we spend time looking up competitors?

Because these tools will uncover the strategies the best companies in the industry are using.

So far, we can see that Precision Tax is using a branded search strategy.

Instead of just dominating their own name, they’re actively bidding against the competition’s.

But that’s not the most important thing buried in here.

For starters, they’re giving us the 800LB gorilla in the tax relief space: Optima.

Which means we can now go research them to see what’s making them so successful.

Let’s start with reverse-engineering their keyword strategy.

Analyze the best in the business to see what works

There’s a trick I use to shortcut keyword research for SEO.

Instead of wasting tons of time on inaccurate tools like the Google Keyword Planner, I do the same thing every time I get a new site:

Fire up an AdWords campaign.

The reason? It saves me a ton of time.

The hardest part about optimizing a brand new website is that you don’t know the ‘money’ keywords.

You have no idea which keywords will deliver the best bang for your buck. Or hours.

AdWords can help you solve that.

You can add a bunch of keywords from five minutes of research. Set up a decent daily budget.

Then, the AdWords Search Terms report will tell you exactly which keywords are worth focusing on.

That’s what we want to replicate in this case, too.

Right now, we still have no idea which keywords perform best.

Sure, we saw that some companies are going after the competition hard.

But you often can’t rely only on competitive brand queries.

Instead, let’s look up the top keywords for Optima Tax Relief. They were one of the biggest in the space.

So they probably have a pretty good keyword strategy already in place.

Here’s what that looks like in SEMrush:

Notice what they’re doing?

They’re employing a location-based keyword strategy.

A lot of the estimate monthly volume is really low, too. ~200-300 monthly queries is nothing.

“Tax relief,” by comparison, gets over ~8,000 monthly searches alone. It’s also expensive, with CPC’s that can range up to ~$40 a click:

Instead of going after just those big keywords, Optima is going after a ton of long-tail keywords.

That’s good and bad news.

It’s good news because long-tail keywords should offer better conversions and cost less per lead.

But it’s bad news because there’s often not enough of them to go around.

In other words, you have to piece them all together to get the end results you’re looking for.

You can’t grow a business off one or two conversions each month. Instead, you need to stack those like bricks.

You need thousands to really take off.

Clicking on those individual keywords they’re running will also show you the different ad creatives they’re using.

And you’ll get to see the other similar search terms their ads are appearing on.

For example, here’s what it looks like when you click on “tax attorney nyc”:

Now, you’re seeing all of those little long-tail variations that go together.

And you’re looking at the exact ad copy they’re using to drive clicks.

See how this works?

With about ten minutes of research, you can start piecing together a winning campaign.

Even in an industry where you have no prior experience.

Of course, this is just a start.

There’s actually a whole lot more involved in a successful ad campaign.

We’re only scratching the surface right now.

Keywords and ads get people to click. But they’re not why people convert.

Most of the time, that happens when people start interacting with your site.

Your site’s landing pages not only determine conversions, though. They also can end up determining how much you’re going to pay for each click.

Here’s how.

Mimic the customer’s process to understand their experience

Back in the day, when I first started out, AdWords didn’t have a Quality Score.

That meant anyone could advertise on any keywords and there was no penalty.

As long as you had the money to spend, it was fine.

That created a problem for users, though. The results were often irrelevant.

Google’s Quality Score changed all that.

It factors in a bunch of different variables, like ad relevance or expected click-through rate, to determine which ads are best.

Generally speaking, the better the score and your Ad Rank, the less you often end up paying.

In this video, I give 5 tips for increasing your Quality Score:

So while AdWords is an auction, you can sometimes pay less than the people showing up below you. If your scores are better.

Years ago, Larry Kim analyzed millions in ad spend and found a 16% cost difference based on Quality Score. A point higher and you paid less. A point lower and you paid more.

Jacob Baadsgaard repeated this experiment a few years later and found a 13% correlation.

In other words, your Quality Score can often directly influence your costs.

Now, here’s the kicker:

A huge component of your Quality Score comes down to message match.

Here’s what that means:

How well does your keyword selection represent someone’s search intent?

How well does your ad text match the keyword you’re bidding on?

And how well does your landing page match both the ad text and keyword?

Those three elements should be in perfect harmony.

The more they’re aligned, the better the message match, the higher the Quality Score, and the lower cost you pay.

Still with me so far?

Let’s go back to our original example from Precision Tax Relief.

Here’s what their ad looked like again:

Notice how the headline is: “Best Tax Relief Seattle”?

The ad copy below also uses “attorneys,” among other keywords.

Compare that ad to the landing page people see when they click:

Not bad, right?

Technically speaking, the headline on this page (“Best Seattle Tax Attorney”) is a little off. Ideally, you’d make them the exact same as the ad and keyword.

But think through what that means, now.

Earlier, we saw how Optima tax relief was using a bunch of different long-tail keywords, sorted by location.

That means you’d have to create unique landing pages for almost every one!

You’d probably want to keep the same overall design to make your life a little easier.

However, you’d want to at least customize the text to better reflect what sent people here in the first place.

That means you might have one example for attorneys, specifically:

And then you’d have another targeting physicians and dentists:

There are a few ways you can pull this off.

You could have designers and developers help create custom pages for you.

But not everyone has that luxury.

Instead, I also like using dynamic text replacement wherever possible.

I’m all about ROI. The best solution is often the one that scales the best.

Landing page tools like Unbounce have features that will automatically replace text on a page, depending on where they came from.

That means you can create just one single landing page template.

Then, you can simply switch up the words.

Here’s a location-based example, just like those keywords from earlier.

This landing page says “Caribbean” right now.

You can highlight the location-based text, then click the “Dynamic Text” button on the right-hand side of Unbounce.

Now, we can customize the text based on the location or “destination”:

Now, repeat this process for all of the different keywords you’re bidding on.

You’ll get a simple, customized URL to copy and place in your ad campaigns.

That way, when someone clicks on the ad for “California” beach getaways, they’re going to land on a page with “California” all over it.

And you never had to create more than a single landing page.

Let’s go back to tax relief.

Because I came across a landing page that uses another advanced feature. You have to see it.

Here’s how Optima tax relief uses qualifying questions to convert more users.

Qualify and lead new customers to your doorstep

Clicking on an Optima Tax ad will bring you to the following landing page:

Here’s what it looks like if you want to play along at home.

Notice what you don’t see here?

You don’t see a Name field. You also don’t see Email or Phone.

They’re not asking you any personal information just yet.

Instead, they’re starting with “How much tax debt do you have”?

Weird, right?!

Except, it’s not so weird when you dig below the surface.

Right off the bat, they’re qualifying new visitors.

They’re trying to see how much you owe, between 0 – $50,000+.

If you owe less than $10,000 for example, and there’s probably not enough they can help you with.

They won’t stand to gain a whole lot.

Owe over $50,000 and their hands might also be tied. They’re not miracle workers, after all.

So they’re segmenting potential visitors to customize the kind of response you’ll get.

They can automate most of the disqualifying, gently letting people know they can’t help that much.

While they can also fast-track people who do fit right in their wheelhouse.

Only then do they ask for your personal information:

Virtu did two similar tactics to skyrocket conversions.

They asked qualifying questions to figure out how to treat individual leads:

And then they add Calendly to the Thank You page for good leads to remove any remaining friction.

Their rate of leads scheduling phone calls jumped from 20% to over 60% in just the first month.

There’s another reason this inverted process works, though.

Think about it from a customer’s perspective.

They probably don’t feel great. They’re embarrassed or hesitant about reaching out.

So landing on a page that immediately asks for a bunch of personal information is a little off-putting.

Counterintuitively, asking easy questions first can increase conversions later. It lowers the barrier to entry.

KlientBoost calls this the ‘Breadcrumb Technique.’

It’s based off research from Scott Fraser and Jonathan Freedman that showed how starting with a small ‘ask’ can make it easier to get a “yes” to the big ‘ask’ after.

By as much as 76% vs. 20%!

KlientBoost tested both approaches on a mortgage landing page:

And here were the incredible results:

The Cost Per Acquisition fell from $800+ to $35

Total conversions went from 6 to 135 a month

The conversion rate jumped from 1% to nearly 20%

Pretty remarkable, right?

But we’re not even done yet.

There’s still a big difference between people that apply for tax relief help, from those that go through with the service.

We still need to see how people get over that last sales hump, then.

Here’s how you can use automation to largely set-and-forget this process.

Lastly, automate and fine-tune your intake process

After submitting your personal information, Optima Tax follows up with an automate email.

That’s pretty typical, though.

You’d expect that.

What’s not so expected is the text message you’ll receive at the very same time.

It will read something like this:

“$NAME Thanks for your interest in OptimaTaxRelief.com, we’ll be calling you soon.”

I know, because I ran through this process and received one myself. ;)

Soon after, you will receive that call, too.

So far they’ve followed up in all three primary channels:

Phone

Email

Text

If you don’t pick up that phone call, you’ll receive another text message with something like:

“We were unable to reach you. Click 800-481-3615 to call a tax relief”

Fail to respond, and they’ll continue calling you throughout the next few days.

What’s happening here?

Optima Tax knows that this space is tough.

You, the customer, could have lost interest. Or you could be on the phone with the competition, comparing rates.

So they’re persistently aggressive to get ahold of you.

If and when you do get on the phone, they’ll ask you the same basic questions:

Why are you calling us today?

How much do you owe?

What do you do for a living?

Have you filed a tax return?

Have you filed an extension?

How did you hear about them?

And on and on.

They will also use an interview to figure out if you own any other assets, have insurance, what your household income looks like, and if you have any dependents.

The entire thing is scripted. They’re sizing you up, determining if they can win your case and how much you can afford to pay them.

They want to close you right there on the initial phone call, with costs ranging from $995 – $2995 depending on how much you owe.

Decline their first invitation to sign up, and they’ll continue sending you messages:

All of this can be choreographed ahead of time.

Based on the answers people give you, they can receive different messages.

Based on the way they act or don’t act, they can receive more, different messages.

Best of all, you can create these sequences in a matter of days with options like Hubspot, Drip, Infusionsoft, or Autopilot.

There are text message apps like TextMagic that can help you customize messaging based on responses or behavior, too.

The best tax relief companies have a masterful conversion funnel.

It’s no different than signing up for a new SaaS app.

You go through the trial period. Receive a bunch of emails. Then, you’ll get upgrade notices before your information is cancelled.

The same can and should apply to all businesses. You need a well-oiled funnel like this to convert the most people.

Remember: These leads and clicks are expensive!

These companies can’t afford to spend $40,000+ on ads each month and not see a significant return.

So each step of this funnel is fine-tuned, scripted, and automated. That way, they can easily isolate and tweak the parts that aren’t working.

Conclusion

“Boring” industries don’t always get the credit they deserve.

They don’t get any major press. And they don’t land on the front page of TechCrunch.

Dig a little deeper, though, and you’ll see that the best are well-oiled machines.

While they might not get a lot of attention, what they do get is a whole lot of money.

They’ve been around the block. They’re not distracted by trends or other shiny hacks.

They’re just really good at routinely turning strangers into customers.

I almost learn more from watching these old school examples than new apps.

Because they just quietly go about building a huge business.

What’s the best example of a ‘boring,’ yet highly profitable company you’ve seen?

About the Author: Neil Patel is the cofounder of Neil Patel Digital.