The Troubleshooter 7-9-24

Yeah, ripped, you need advice? Who you don't have? Come running just as fast as we can. Show Shooter's gonna help. Come man, this is the Troubleshooter Show now, Tom Martinez, welcome, Welcome to the show, the only show of it's kin. We're here to solve problems, answer questions, take complaints. Where's Tommy Shannon? Tom Shannon? What remember Tom Shannon Edward TV Tom Shannon, No, yes, no, actually I

don't. But here's the deal. We're here to help you out to the tune of over three hundred million dollars in exchanges and refunds and cash and you pretty much name it services. We're here to protect you. We're here to help you. In the phone number simple three zero three seven one three eight two five five three zero three Martino, Please don't forget that number works on and off the air. What does that mean? That means you can call

us anytime. We'll either answer the phone or we'll call you back and try to help you out. It looks like Shelley's got an ish. Hey, you don't even you didn't even know I was here. I was sitting here and you were lying. Hey, if you're lying on Dick, Hey, listen, you think Shannon would have had the courtesy to say, oh, you're on the air, or you got a minute to go worse? You know what, after forty five years, You're right, Shannon should have reminded

you, No, we're sitting here shooting the breeze. Oh, thank you very much. You know what, I'm going to do a lawsuit on agism and Biden's going to be my co defend my co plankin anyway, Go ahead, Mark, you were taking Do you know what happened with Shelley? I have no idea. It's his flood damage. It must have happened after I dropped off here. Now Shelley is Shelley the one? Oh this is the crazy one. Listen to this, Mark, because you were you were away

when I think I first soke this call, but I'll take Shelley. Are you there? Yeah, I'm here. I want I brought up. I have two people. I want to talk to two experts because this baffles me. And first I'm going to bring up Compass Insurance Group. Then I want to bring up Matt with Paragon Services. He's a public adjuster. Actually I do remember this. I looked at her paperwork. Now this is the one. This is the one she signed the claim over no contractor no, no,

that's not the settlement. There's two of them talking about you're right though, that is one very close to this. It's another weird situation. But Shelley is the one that has a condo and she was called saying you got to get home, there's an emergency. She goes home. They had turned off the water and I want everyone to listen. In fact, I'm going to bring up Jeremy. Are you listening, Jeremy? I am all right.

So she gets there, they had turned off the water and it turns out that in her if you picture a mechanical closet, her water heater is in there, but behind the dry wall. Not at her water heater, but behind the dry wall where her water heater pipes go into the wall. Somewhere in there a pipe failed. Now, Shelley, I wanted to ask you something. Was this pipe exclusively feeding your water heater or water supply or

was it common to any other units? Someone asked me that say, that's another I have no idea, like I said, okay, all right, now, so here's what happened. Here's what happened. They told her come home. She came home, she let the plumber, and no one could find anything. Eventually, a guy came opened up the and found a broke. Was it broken or cracked or corrona was corroded? Corroded? Yeah, so listen to this, Jeremy the hoa. Oh no. The management company

calls in a restoration company. The restoration company drives up a bill of about how much was it, Shelley, thirty grand or more? Two thousand and no itemization whatsoever. And the company they called in was one of their subsidiaries. Now, okay, so Shelley says, I have insurance. I'm going to turn it into my insurance because they came after her for thirty grand.

So I have a number of questions. So she submits it to her insurance company, who says, we're not covering this based on one invoice for thirty grand. All right, I mean that was it. I mean one invoice for thirty grand. That's all they had, and it had no itemization whatsoever. First, my very first question to you, do insurance companies want itemization? Oh? Absolutely, Okay, that's not unusual. That's not unusual. Even though she has a sucky company. It's not unusual for State Farm or

any company to ask for itemization. I thought so, and I'm yeah, that's the standard now. But my next question more important than this. I

thought condo owners can only be responsible from the drywall in. No, they're responsible to fix the damage from the drywall in so, regardless of where the water comes from or whatever, their responsibility is to ensure the drywall in so that it would be appropriate for her to use the State Farm policy her HO six for the downstairs condo as well for the other condo as well, even

though she there was no negligence or part it was just an accident. They're not she is respond possible for that because the pipe was feeding her condo. It doesn't matter if the pipe was feeding her condo or not. She could have an upstairs neighbor who ran the baptub and forgot it was running and it pours into her house or to her unit if she's successful in using the upstairs person's insurance through the liability. But great, but that's probably not going to

happen initie. No, but that's not what I was asking. I get you, Jeremy. You're saying her insurance will cover her no matter the cause. What I'm asking this is about her liability. They're popping her for thirty grand in repairs, not to her apartment, to the one below her. They're saying to her, you destroyed or caused damage to the condo common area and the condo below you. So they want thirty grand and she's and I

want to know is that so or would that be the hoa's coverage. I feel that would be the hoa's or the other unit owners for their so the common the damage to the common own property would be the hoa's and the individual unit owner's damage that's not hers would be their HOA or their ho six. If they feel she's responsible, they can subrogate or try to sebrogate her insurance, but there's no way her insurance policy is going to take the liability for

that. That's what we're talking about right now. That's what we were talking about. State Farm says, give us an itemized bill of the cleanup for the condo down below and the repair, and we not the repair, just the cleanup, and we will consider paying it. But I'm asking you, if the break happened inside the drywall wouldn't that more than likely be the HOA coverage? Absolutely? Why are they denying it, Shelley? When you said way, what about the HOA insurance? What do they say? They said

no? They said, why are we going to pay for your what happened in your unit? Because I've tried, but it didn't happen in your unit by any definition I've said. So, now I'm going to bring up Matt Stanford with Paragon Services. He is on our referral list at referralsts dot com. He is a public adjuster for those listening. Public adjusters work for you against your own insurance or other insurance companies that are unfair. Matt, how

do you weigh in on this? Having heard this? Well, the first question I had was that type in a perimeter wall or an interior is it actually inside your unit? Oh? Okay, good idea. So, Shelley, if you poked a hole through that wall, does it come out on the other side to your unit or is it a is it a wall going into common area? I believe it would probably go into my closet. So the wall is between your closet and your laundry room, so that would be

her problem. I don't know, Jeremy, would they consider that her unit or would they consider that inside the drywall, it would still be her unit if if it's enclosed within her unit, even if it's behind the drywall. But I would still make the argument should not liable for the other damage. If the other the HOA and the other unit's insurance wants to go after State Farm in this case and subrogate, then they can do that. But by

nomen But Jeremy, I don't I don't understand this. If she took an axe and started cutting into her drywall between her kitchen and the closet and cause this leak and flooded the apartment under her, the townhome or whatever it is under her, that wouldn't be. That's not her problem. Yes it is, that would be, of course, that would be she'd intentionally have done it. But even if she, what I'm saying is if it froze or something along those that, I don't see how it's the HOA under this circumstance.

Well, what he's saying is she's she wasn't negligent or liable and it just broke and it was inside the wall, and everyone has their own liability the person down below has their own liability. Shelley has her own liability, and the HOA should have some kind of insurance, And he's saying if they shouldn't come after her personally, they can have their insurance company sue State Farm. Correct. Everyone's responsible to ensure the physical damage of their property, the

HOA and all the individual unit owners. So if there's damage to that physical if there's physical damage to their units, their policies are going to pay that. If they feel that the where the source of the water came from was negligent, then they could subrogate back to her if State Farm's willing to pay

some of that liability costs for cleanup for other units. That's, in my opinion, that's above and beyond what we would typically see because the difference is she didn't she didn't purposely cause that, and you know, things leak. That's pretty common in any capared condo type living. So, Matt, you've handled probably similar situations or not. Yeah, definitely. So to weigh in on this, you said, now that you know the walls between her closet

and her mechanical room, the pipe went up inside that wall. It was not exposed to her. There was no way for her to know anything was wrong. It went bad, and now they want her to pay for all damages in addition to our own. Yeah, and she actually had damage to her unit as well? Or did it just the water slip through the wall. Good question, Shelley. Did you have damage to your own unit? Yeah? I had just a little bit. I mean, not not much.

That this is where State farmed they I mean, they have stuff that says it's like trash, that's what they say that they want it broke down by units. What was my damage? What was the downstairs damage down? For see? Maybe State Farm wants that broken down. Maybe State Farm wants that broken down because they don't plan on paying other than your unit. Yeah, I mean, and this has already been two years, almost a year and a half. Well, they can't file suit, now, can they.

Jeremy liability is different than her being able to file a claim audation on that is, Matt, what would you do well if I was Shelley in this situation, I would have Number One, the mitigation company can't just write an invoice on a cocktail. They did ope for the best, they did, they wrote one. It's ridiculous. What they wrote down. So that's a big glaring issue. They need if they're expecting to get paid anything, they need to itemize. Break it down. Square footage is water logs,

all the data. The problem is, they did get paid. Here's why the management company hired them. Listen to this. The management company hired them. They were a subsidiary of the management company, and the management company paid them in full, and then the HOA fired the management company. Oh lord, yeah, so they've been paid and they're gone. So now it's come down to basically who's paying for the low Now the HOA says, hey,

we paid, we want to be reimbursed. I don't think they have a leg to stand on, and that's why I don't think they filed a suit against Shelley. I agree. I think, you know, I can step in and as an act of good faith on state farms part. I think if we just break this down further documenting everything, maybe they would consider covering the common area and the unit below and then subrogates, you know, against DHOA. I think that's the cleanest path. But again, this is getting

a little messy. It might be time for an attorney to take a look. I know, I know, and that's but but I appreciate all of you weighing in. Shelley. I'm gonna give you some recommendations right now. Why don't you call Matt, Just talk to him off the air and maybe let him see your policy and stuff. Just just call him because even if he doesn't take a case, he can just talk to you about it. Paragonservices dot com. Here's the number. Seven one nine seven two six zero

zero two zero, Kachina, can you make sure she gets that? Go with a sure thing Denver's best roofer Excel Roofing dot com. You don't pay a cent until you're content. Time for an insurance check up free, no obligation. In comparison, call Compass Insurance paying too much your coverage at dozens

of insurance companies find out now three oh three seven seven one help. You'll think you're his only customer when you choose Frank durand the real estate Man dot com to list your home with re Max Alliance three all three nine two zero

sixteen twenty two. Hi Tom Martina out here at three O three seven one three talks seven one three eight two five five waterpros dot net The best water systems, the lowest prices, drinking water all you can drink at the kitchen sink, filtered reverse osmosis, fourteen hundred fully installed waterpros dot net, Ben Ben, Benben, what's going on? Uh? I believe Mark forwarded me this email he read it. Isn't this the one you sent to me?

Mark? This is about Titans Solar again. They went out of business. Wow. And you know, we we were predicting that these were bad people from the beginning. They lied to us. Remember they said they were gonna come on air and just give us a day to look at it and blah blah blah. Well hold on, that was another company to a local. Uh, I don't know of this, pretty sure Titan said that as well. Okay, So anyway, uh, what do we do now? And I wanted to get Brooke on from Red Rocks, Roof and Solar, but

her plane was delayed. She was supposed to be here today. So Ben, tell your story though, because this is pretty outrageous. Tell your story, let me bring Yeah, you're up, go ahead, sir. Hey, thanks Tom. This is kind of a cautionary tale too. Titan Solar had a representative call me. I was interested in Solar about three years ago. And you know, they may believe made me believe it was best thing since life bread and there, well, well, solar done right can be

very good for you. So you did this three years ago. Three years ago, yes, but it took a year to actually get a contractor to upgrade my electrical panel. I had one hundred and twenty kill what panel and they needed to upgrade it a lot higher than that for Solar, and Titan was taking care of all that. They had a contractor who was supposed to show up. They never showed up. And a year after that they finally got a contractor to upbraded the panel and I was able to turn it on

basically the same day, and it's actually worked pretty well since. And then I get this email from Solar Edge, who does the monitoring, saying Titan Solar close their doors and we'd like to take over the warranty on the equipment, but not the labor. So now the original warranty was for labor, The original warranty was for panels and labor, okay, And the new company says we'll take it over, but only for material only for the product.

That's correct, and the reason they want the reason they'll do that and by the way, anyone can do that. That's why because they but they won't do the labor because the labor is the thing that costs them. They're going to get reinbursed from the company. Absolutely. What components do you have? What components do you have? Oh, I've got the inverter, I've got the panel. But no, what's the name of the company? Solar Edge And solar Edge is good for how long on the warranty? Twenty years?

So that's good. Solar Edge will probably stand behind that equipment. Yeah, I just have to pay for the labor. My question is what do I do with the loan if the company's out of business? Who am I paying all this money to the loan through Titan? Right? The the loan, These people loans you the money. The stuff's on your roof. You can't just stop paying it. No, I can't. And it's actually serviced by a company called Goodly. Yeah, but yeah, I understand that, and

that is a legit company. What I'm asking you is this, If the materials were paid for with a loan, and the materials are on your roof, yeah, and they're functioning, why do you feel that you can. That's like saying I bought a car, I went to my bank and I got a loan, and the manufacturer of the car went out of business.

Do I still have to pay off my car loan? Yeah? No, And I understand that I fully expected to have to pay off this loan for the next twenty years or so. I was just wondering if there was any recourse or anything. I didn't think there was. There's not a recourse against the lender once the system is activated. If the system never got activated or they walked away from the job, you do have some recourse. Again, I don't know if you would in this scenario though, But no, because

it's activated, it's done. No. No, no, I'm saying when the company goes out of business, they can't. I mean, the credit union or whoever it is doesn't even have recourse the bank. But had it not been I'll bet you this mark. Had they gone out of business and not done one liquor work, I think he would have had a right to cancel that loan. And they would have had, you know, the let with the with the solar business. I remember Brooke telling me that, oh,

by far, I agree with you. They have to get it going. Yeah, So since it was activated, Ben, the only downside, the only loss you now have is is possible labor on a warranty repair. But really, what solar doesn't need a lot of warranty work, And if it's a result of damage from storms, your insurance is going to cover that. So I don't see a lot of exposure for you, especially if the system is working. And by the way, is it working. It is

working, and it's working well in the summertime. In the winter time, of course, you know, sun goes in and out. Everybody knows that with snow and stuff like that. Do you have battery backups or do you have a way to store when the sun out in the winter. Unfortunately, when I had the panels installed, battery backup was not an option, at least not through Titan. How long ago do you have it done? Three

years? Okay, you're lucky it was done. Hold on a second, though, there's a comment, Adam, you have a comment for Ben or for us? Go ahead? Yeah, I used your referral list and I got the same Titan panels through Mark Schamansky. Right, yeah, and that's where a Titan came in and he was the one installing all them panels. Well, he wasn't the one. He wasn't the only one. There were

a ton of people installing them. Yeah, and I got the same email that they're going out of business and we got to find someone else to warranty, right because Titan just I mean, Titan was more of the actual, uh what do you call the fulfiller of the contract. And then there were different sales organizations like you said, Mark, and there were a ton of different companies. Here's what it says about it. Titan managed the installations while

the dealers focused on sales, right, right, right. And here's something I read that's uh, I'd never put this together. One of the reasons these solar companies are falling off the earth very quickly is interest rates, because they have to float when grants come in and when tax credits come in if they're going to be the ones that getting the tax credits. And when interest rates went so high that demand for cash flow each month got crushed and a

lot of them just couldn't you just couldn't stay in business. And they're saying that was part of the issue with Titan. Uh huh, and one of the largest in the country. By the way, Now, Mark the one that you were one of the ones you were talking about though, Mark and and Ben. Like I said, if you do need service, though, I would definitely call Red Rocks Roof and so well, we've got two on our referral lists that both will work on any sense. Probid Energy dot com.

Pro Bid Energy is a good company as well, and so Probidenergy dot Com. Okay, that's one. They do the sales, the service, the installation and the warranty work. Now, Red Rocks Roof and Solar is Redrocks rs dot com both good companies. Now, Mark that problem that you were talking about. I looked up real quick, listen to this one too. This is from a website called solar Ensure that just talks about the industry. What the other nail in the coffin was they're talking about the disconnect between

sales promises and installation realities. Really strained Titans resources because they would hope these other companies are doing their part, but the salespeople would be out there, you know, promising everything in the world, and that simply wasn't the way. It is. Same thing we've been preaching forever. You want a solar company that does its own sales, its own service, its own warranties. It's its own company, not someone that's one cog in the entire wheel.

Exactly. That's exactly right. And by the way, the one you were talking about earlier, Mark, I looked it up. It was Valor Roofing locally, but they were selling a company called One Solar, so on Solar. One Solar did the installations, Valor Roofing did the sales. They both suck. They both left these consumers high and dry. And I just want to put out a warning about Valor Roofing and construction and also about One Solar. They're a bad company. Go with a sure thing Denver's Best roofer Excel

Roofing dot com. You don't pay a cent until you're content. Time for an insurance checkup, free no obligation comparison call Compass Insurance paying too much your coverage at dozens of insurance companies find out now three oh three and seven to one help. You'll think you're his only customer when you choose Frank durand the real estate Man dot com to list your home with Remax Alliance three oh three nine two zero sixteen twenty two. Hey, Tom Martino here three O three

seven one three talks seven one three eight two five to five. Hey, listen eight eight eight heating dot Com for accurate, honest assessments of your AC in this heat or any issue with plumbing an electric as well. That's eight eight eight Heating dot Com. We know Garrett very well. You can depend on him now and his company. Now listen, Uh, Randy, I'm gonna go to Edgar's been waiting, But Randy has a quick comment on this

pipe situation Shelley. In Shelley's apartment, there's a wall between her closet and her laundry room. Inside the wall of pipe broke. It caused damage downstairs. The management company hired one of their own companies to the one of the subsidiaries to fix everything and pay them in full without a detailed invoice. And now they expect Shelley to pony up the money for these repairs. And our guy said, listen, she's not necessarily liable. Each one has their own

liability insurance and they should leave it at that. What did you want to say, Randy? Yes, I work in the fire alarm trade and some in these buildings when they're being built, and I would say ninety percent of the time, they curate the condo building with exact four floor plans stacked on top of each other, and they do vertical pipe runs that service all three floors, all three sets of bathrooms or kitchens are all done so that they're

single vertical drops coming down. It's very rare. Why you're right about that, Randy. It seems weird that there would be one home run pipe feeding her condo. They rarely do that. She would know obviously if she has a water meter dead hated to her unit. That's a very good point.

And how would they and so how the hell do they just pick one section of that pipe and say it's her problem, right, because it could be feeding the third floor too, if she's got a condo above her, and therefore it is it is a public or a common run for the building exactly. What we just need to ask her if she gets a water bill based on metering or is it the exact same amount every month or something exactly, and then if if it isn't, if she doesn't, and it's it's done.

Like all these condos do square footage, they have one meter for the building and they dole out of these. Okay, we're gonna we're gonna find that out, Randy, Thank you so much. I love my listeners. I tell you they're smart people. Uh, even though Mark's not Edgar, what's going on? Can y'all hear me? Yes, sir? Anyway, my deal was with a Fender vendor that I had, So, okay,

let's let's talk about it happened, Edgar. So I was pulling into a parking lot, and uh, you have the storefronts on one side and then parking spots on in front of the storefronts and across the parking lot of the storefront. So I'm pulling into the parking lot and it is a pretty tight space. So I went past my parking spot where I was gonna intend to park, and back into my parking spot. As I'm backing up into my

parking spot, I noticed another car backing out and it wasn't stopping. So I was about halfway through parking and then I got I got pretty much it would be like I got t bone. You mean the other car did not even look in their rear view mirror or their camera. Obviously not no they didn't. So at that point we kind of got out, you know, we we got out, and she just said, you know what, I didn't I didn't see you there, so you know, I went ahead and

got all her information. She apologized. She was says she never, uh, I've kind of been in an accident before and whatnot. So was this was this an older person? It was then she was in her probably I don't know, late thirties, early forties. Okay, So then what so after that, you know, we exchanged information. We really didn't really exchange information. She she apologized because she says she didn't see nobody in the rear area. But you say, but you did. You did get her insurance

and all that, right, I did. So here's where the here's where I'm the reason why I'm calling you. Because her insurance. I contacted her insurance. I also contacted my insurance, and they said that they felt that I was also at fault. So they only want to pay me eighty percent of the demog You know what I was going to say, Now, listen here, let me explain this to you real quickly. But you gotta hold on because this is a really important discussion and it's going to happen more and

more. So just hang on, I'll come right back to you. Go with a sure thing Denver's Best roofer Excel Roofing dot com. You don't pay a cent until you're content. Time for an insurance checkup free, no obligation in comparison, call Compass insurance paying too much your coverage at dozens of insurance companies find out now three all three seven to seven to one. Help.

You'll think you're his only customer when you choose Frank durand the real estate Man dot com to list your home with Remax Alliance three all three nine two zero sixteen twenty two. Tom Martino here, Welcome to the show. One Clear Choice Garage Doors the company you want. One Clear Choice Doors dot Com. All of their prices fully disclosed. A great company for your doors. Every need, Openers, Panels, Hinges, Hindbolts, and as I said,

their prices are on the website. When it comes to garage doors, one clear choice doores dot Com. All right, So we have Edgar with this accident, and what he is experiencing is something called comparative negligence. Now here's what insurance companies started doing a few years ago, they started going into an accident saying, well, yeah, our insured is responsible for most of it or some of it, but you're also comparatively negligent for some of it.

Therefore, they make offers sixty seventy eight percent and here's the deal. Can you get around it? Well, in most cases, I believe comparative negligence is a sham. When you were describing your case to me, and you may not like me for this, Edgar, but it's not like I'm going to call the company and tell them this. I do believe there's some comparative negligence when you see a car pulling out and you think, well, they're not stopping or whatever. Did you beep your horn loudly? Did you try

to get out of there? Did you do anything to mitigate the circumstances. That's why they're saying you're twenty percent liable. Twenty percent is a pretty small amount. Now, if you don't like that, and you truly believe that you had no negligence in this whatsoever, you don't have to accept what they're offering. You can simply put in. You can simply refuse it and sue the other driver for your damages most likely how much how much in damage do

you have right now? Is just under I mean I haven't took it to a body shop or anything, but from the pictures that I submitted through through the through the other person's UH insurance, it's under one thousand dollars. Oh my goodness that the entire damage is under a thousand on your door. Yeah, well, it's the door and it basically in between both doors. That's where I suffer. I mean most of the damages on the door, but I don't know if the frames meant so I really have to paint it.

Wait wait, wait, the frame wouldn't be bent on a slow speed. I mean she was just backing out. She wasn't jamming. It was she. I mean when I when she impacted me, I mean she's still kind of pushed it a little bit. So that's kind of where I where I feel that I wasn't at fault. I mean I backed up. I've seen her backing up. I I mean I stopped and she just kept going. Did you lay on the marn you know what? I pushed on my steering wheel. I could not hit the buttons on. I couldn't. It happened

so quick. You know that's we're being honest. Listen, here's the deal. You may want to take her to court for all. First of all, you need to get this loss estimated. I don't know of any damage that would be a thought under one thousand dollars. None. I can think of not one thing that can happen on your car unless no paint is involved and it's in the center of your door panel where a paintless dent repair can fix it. Is it creased or is paint damaged? Yes, yeah,

I mean there's nothing under one thousand dollars. Who told you that that was the other insurance Well, don't don't believe her insurance company. First, go and get it estimated for real, and then take her to small claims court directly. If it's under seventy five hundred, which it should be, you don't have to accept it or negotiate a better settlement, although I do think

you're probably partially liable. We have more coming up on the Troubleshooter Show three O three seven, one three eight, two five five or three oh three Martino Go with a sure thing Denver's Best Roofer Excel Roofing dot Com. You don't pay a cent until you're content. Time for an insurance checkup free no obligation comparison call Compass Insurance paying too much your coverage at dozens of insurance companies.

Find out now three oh three seven to seven to one help. You'll think you're his only customer when you choose Frank durand the real estate Man dot Com to list your home with Remax Alliance three oh three nine two zero sixteen twenty two d news. You don't have room running just as snap as we can. Shooter's gonna help coming man. This is the Troubleshooter Show. No

Tom Martino, Hi, Tom Martino here, Welcome to the show. Three all three seven one three talk seven one three eight two five five Welcome. How are you doing? By the way, renew Home Innovations will do a beautiful shower for you from that old ugly you know what I call them shoves? Think about that shower tub SHUBs, you know the kind you step over, the ones in hotel rooms. That you have these shower curtains or doors, and you have them at your house right, get rid of them in

two or three days. Renew Home Innovations will put in a beautiful stone system wall with no maintenance, glass panels, no thresholds, perimeter drains, benches, grab bars, whatever you want. And if you're running for president, they can even you can even use them with walkers and wheelchairs. You don't even have to stumble over anything. Renew Home Innovations seventy two months to pay with no interest. We have to have just a little more respect there,

Shannon. When I mentioned the president, Yes, sir, the president of this here United States. George. By the way, after George, we have open lines for the first time this morning, So get your calls in and hey, George, what's happening? Hello, Tom, what's going I'm in I've got a vehicles that I got out from a neighbor across the street. You bought it from your neighbor. Pardon did you say you bought a vehicle from your neighbor. Oh, I'm trying to Okay, Okay, I've

given her like four thousand dollars. She did send me the title. Now, when you say you gave her four grand, do you have any kind of a written agreement here? No, just all verbal and you just gave her four grand? Well, because she is in Hawaii, okay. She called me up wanted to borrow five hundred dollars because she didn't have any money. Okay, okay, Now she said, okay, I'll sell you the car. So she said, can you send me a thousand? So I

sent her a thousand. She calls back, I need another thousand. Uh uh, I give her. I'll tell you I've got about four thousand into it. Now hold on it, drug addict. Well, I mean, why is she asking for money cans? Are you sure? First of all, are you sure it's her? Oh? Yeah, okay, So what happened? Now? Go ahead? So she is in hawi. She requested money up front, right right, So I didn't want to give her more

than twenty percent down. How much is this car worth? Well, she says she I can have it for fifteen and I think it goes for like twenty five. Really, what kind of is it? It's a twenty sixteen Lexus RX three fifty. Oh that's not bad for that price. Yeah, it's got only got twenty thousand miles on it. Okay. So she requested money up front on a fifteen thousand dollars purchase. Okay, and you paid, You've paid so far you've paid four grand? Yeah, okay, so

what's your question? Okay, she did send me the title? Oh good, Okay, Well that's a bad partner. Uh. Oh where she signed it? Part of her signature went in the old Domini reading square. Yeah, and the motor vehicle won't accept it because of so I think it can be in there just the old Domina reading nothing else. Oh come on, well are you? So? What do they wait? So what is their solution? You get a duplicate title? Correct, and well, she doesn't

have an ID to get a duplicate title through the state of Colorado. So I set her five copies to make me a power attorney. So she has to do a sign it, have it notari and send them back to me. I says, she doesn't have an ID, she can't do it. Yeah, I'm just wondering if there's a lawyer and get it? Well, all this or a lawyer is not going to help. I mean, you can spend money on a lawyer. What I mean is this, What would you want to do with a lawyer that you can't do on your own?

Like if you want to sue her, that's different. You want to get your money back, right, Well, that's different. Is she refusing to give your money back. I've asked for her, no response, and I can't even get in touch with her anymore. Yeah, you're text her all that stuff and no response. So she will not give you a power of attorney. But even with the power of attorney you're representing her, that doesn't mean she can. She still needs an ID, right, Why doesn't she

have an ID? Well, I guess she got a DUI in Hawaii, wrecked a car and all this stuff. How long has she been in Hawaii? I think since twenty twenty one, So this car has been sitting what out there? Well, I was in her garage across the street from me. Do you have the car right now? It's been in my garage since last October? Oh my god, I don't know. I don't know what to tell you. Man. You know, get I get the she lost her license because of the duy. But I mean, does she physically have

it as an ID. No, she doesn't have no idea at all. Man, If she was in Colorado, you could go down to DGE a card. Yeah, but but but she would still need something to get the card. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, so she doesn't have a burst cergnificate. She doesn't have a passport, she doesn't have anything. Well she did, she does have a passport, but it expired. God almighty.

I mean when she sold the house the street from me, that's the only thing that saved their expired but the minute, so she actually sold the house and no longer lives there. Correct, That's why she hasn't been house on them for any more money. You could have put a lien on that before this all happened. Hey, go back to the title real quick. What's in that box? What does it have instead of the odometer reading? No, no, it has the odometer? Does it have the odometer too?

Yeah? I wrote that in? But what else is it? Did you try for the hele it for the hell of it? Did you try going to another DMV and just not what I was going? I did, But the first time we went in there, my wife gave the person her ID. So they flagged her. You know what I mean? They flagged who? They flagged my wife? Why? Because we're trying to get the title. What do you mean they flagged her? Yeah, we didn't get another

title. It was our record that she was trying to do. I would guess when they pull up that vin Tom, when they pull up the vin from that someone flagged in there, that the title's no good right exactly. And the only way to get a duplicate title is to get this woman to get an ID, then to apply for it, then to send it to you. Correct. Yeah, and easily enough. She's in Hawaii. What's that? Yeah, she's in Hawaii? Right. I don't know what to tell you, man, I mean, I don't know how it to turn.

He's gonna help you, I mean, I mean, I mean you could, you could, like you got it. You have to sew her, and I don't know. Can you sew her? Here? Is she? She not even she's not even a resident here anymore? Is she? Can you argue the transaction was done here? I don't know. You want to go on? But it's still I mean it's still still she's still got to have an ID. No, but he can get his four grand back. I highly doubt this woman has any money. She just sold her house.

Yeah, the house was paid for what she sold it got it? Do you know what it sold for? Hawaii? Also, what does she do for work? Well, she used to be an insurance but she hasn't worked and probably eight years. Well, what's even if you even if you went to Hawaii, the problem would still be she needs to come back to

Colorado to get a duplicate title mark. Not if he just wants his money back, he doesn't care fair enough, fair enough, Yeah, he just wants his four grand to say, Man, well i'd rather have the car. My wife really wants the car. Then you need to get an attorney in Hawaii, and you can do a telephonic appearance. They allow those now. So you need to hire an attorney. What part of Hawaii shi in

Hawaii? So you need to find an attorney there to sue her, literally, sue her and compel her, tell him the story or tell her the story, and compel this woman to cooperate to get you a title. Okay, you give that a shot. I mean, that's what you have to do. You have to And if she goes to court out there, she's got money. If she owns a house out there and she sold the house here, she's got money. So she's not gonna want to waste money with

an attorney. Okay, Look what I just found something. You can request a duplicate title by mail with completed Department of Revenue Form DR two five three nine A. So you're saying you should just do it and turn it in. Well, that's really all it says, man, And it's basically the same thing. I need to get a duplicate title in Colorado, but I moved to another state. Is there any way to do it besides going there? And they're saying this DR two five three nine A. Yeah, I

says it's online. Listen, it's not even by snail mail. You go to DMV dot Colorado dot gov and just search for DR two five three nine A and see what it is. Man. I mean, I don't know how it would work, but it's something. Okay, that number? Did you get the form number? Yeah, I've looked that up before. Yeah, and what did Why didn't you do it? Well, there's a few forms that you can do, and one of them takes anywhere from three weeks

to six months to get the title. Well, guess what you've been sitting. This has been sitting think a lawsuit. Take you. It's been sitting there more than nine months, bro, Yeah, I know, so do it. I mean, why not do it? At least you got something going on here? I would do that. I would go and fill that out, and I'll tell you what I would do. But I want everyone to plug their ears. I would just forge the damn thing. And I would I would. You know, I don't care what anyone says because there's

no criminal intent whatsoever. I I don't care what they would say because there's no harm, no foul. No one except Trump would be prosecuted for it. So I would say, I would say, you know, what are you going to do? You paid her? Uh, and you're gonna cat and you you you don't mind paying the rest? Although, man, I'll tell you what. A woman's pretty good sign my name? What's that? Oh? She did say that? Well, man, why don't you just go ahead and take care of the damn thing and just say, looking at

this form, we might fill this form out. I'm looking at this form. I would do exactly what time's alluding to. I would you can fill all this out. You send in a check with eight dollars and twenty cents. You can even put a different shipping address. You're gonna have to sign it just like she did on the title you have. If you can't do it, I'm sure you can find an eighteen year older fifteen year old was already signed. No, I'm saying you look at her signature on that and

you're gonna sign this form? Okay, so why don't you do it and let us know how it goes? We got more coming right up? Call us lookie go with a sure thing Denver's best Ruffer Excel Roofing dot com. You don't pay a cent until you're content. Time for an insurance check up free, no obligation comparison call Compass Insurance paying too much your coverage at dozens

of insurance companies find out now three oh three seven seven one help. You'll think you're his only customer when you choose Frank durand the real estate Man dot com to list your home with Remax Alliance three oh three nine two zero sixteen twenty two. Hi Tom Martino here three oh three seven one three Tom three three seven one three eight two five five. Bob, Welcome to the show. What's going on with you? Bob? What's happening? Okay? Tom? Oh? Hold on, this is Bob or you're giving me a follow

up on a case. This is Bob from l em Landscaping, Right, yes, sure, and what are you following up on a loan deal. A call last week from the Springs about his mom getting ripped off. Fight. Yeah, two companies down the wall. So I went mill him yesterday. The law was completely built illegally and wrong. The concert's done wrong, The whole project was wrong. So I gave him a price. And this is kind of important. The whole project he originally given a price. His

mom was given a plus at fifteen. I said, what did you get? He said, why fatally closer to thirty. I said, that's your first clute. This project is at least twenty five to do correctly. I gave him my pricing. It was about twenty twenty thousand, plus the material he needs. I wrote him a letter the clinic current company because of my letter, because we're pretty sure he's going to refund the money that she's out. And so just to let you know, all right, what was what

was the name of that company? I want to warn people about it. Well, wait a minute, he came on air. You could probably get Kelly to bring him on. What was his first What was his first name, Bob? It was Mark Uh. I just I just need his first name, bro, I don't need his last name. Okay, Well, no, I think it's Brad or Mark. He has two first names of his name. I think Mark or Mark Brad. I'm pretty sure this is the one. Tell me if I'm right, Bob. Where the lady actually

got screwed by three different people? Why? Yeah, it actually am three different people, but they're part of the same company that's screwed on the first time. When did we Okay, when did you first? When did this guy first call us? I was said last I don't know, last week sometime. I think I just don't have his spoken with it because I left it at home. Because I gave him all the information they need, I

get it. I'm just looking for the call anyway. What's good news is he contested it on his credit cards, so he had made those payments on his credit card in his credits. She she gave him a deposit on the credit card, and so that's what we're going to get back because they still owe him eight thousand. I said, do not pay that eight thousand. These people have suddenly disappeared. They found out that they were shopping in another

county where they got their license revoked. Now they're not responding to him at all once he told them that he found somebody that was going to come out and look at it, and the city matched everything I said. Matt. He went to them, they said everything I told him was correct. It's built war blah blah blah. Now these people are ghosting him. They're not asking for the rest of the money. Wow. Well, so the other thing I want to say, because you kind of say this, sometimes when

the price that's too good to be true, get get another price. Because that price, that job is half the cost of what it should have cost. But his mom did not understand it. That's how they got it. And that's the kind of people I ended up helping. But they getting you're right, you're right, they end up trying to go on the cheap.

They end up wasting money and having to do it the right way to be and it costs him more than it would have in the beginning if they just got it done right right, because now he's gonna spend six thousand dollars plus all the dumpies to get it Rick out to redo it, and it would have been it would have been roughly eighteen to twenty five dollars job if I would have done it. The verse time anyways. Well, the other thing though, is if they didn't pay upfront, they wouldn't be in this situation.

That's right, that's exactly. Yeah, you got I've had You guys have to understand what time knows I've been during those forty five years. I've never had that problem because we Bob. We're not saying Bob, Listen, I'm serious. I'm not saying you would do this. I made a very direct statement. If they did not pay those people up front, they wouldn't be in this situation. You can't argue that. Yeah, that you're right, big that just said that their credit card coming just wanted a letter from

somebody very reputable. So Tom I actually said that he can even verify us on Martine. But I'm pretty sure they're I get that money back now. I hope they do. Yeah, I'm pretty sure they will. And then I'm he's already talked to me. I'm pretty sure he's gonna have me do it. So if he does, I'll buy your buy you guys lunch. Now, what is the name of that contractor again, it was some weird name. I'll be honest with you. I can't even I couldn't even pronounce

it. I can't even find it. Yeah, I know, I remember the call. I just can't find. Oh you were out, you were out, bro? Yeah, I know. Okay he talked to Mark because he wrote okay, okay, And like I said, he came on air and swore up and down. This is before Bob went out that the wall was done properly, there was no problems. Then you know, he sent pictures. Bob looked at the pictures and it is it's cylinder blacks, man.

I mean, it's like a ten year old job. Yeah. And here's the thing, and it's I want to make sure people know them send blacks are made for walls. They're not retaining walls. If you look it up, they don't tell you they have more more chance of breaking in the metal because they're not attaining wall block. The other thing that's got did is the point of furner on the outside of the wall. Raise the grade to try to hide the heights of the wall so that wouldn't be illegal. That's

how proud he did this job. You know, as as you said, people try to do it on the cheap and they end up spending more money in the long run. It's really terrible, Bob, Thank you very much. L em Landscaping. You can find him on referral liss dot com. And uh, we have more go with a sure thing Denver's best roofer Excel Roofing dot com. You don't pay a cent until you're content. Time for

an insurance check up free, no obligation. In comparison, call Compass Insurance paying too much your coverage at dozens of insurance companies find out now three all three seven seven to one help. You'll think you're his only customer when you choose Frank durand the real estate Man dot com to list your home with Remax Alliance three all three nine two zero sixteen twenty two. Hey Tom Martino here three O three seven one three talk three oh three seven one three eight two

five five. We have open lines for the first time this morning. We've been talking about problems, questions and complaints. And uh, I just want to gloat a little here because Dan Kaplis. I love Dan and he does a great show. And then Mark Major Mark Major, he was saying the same thing. They could almost guarantee that Biden will not be the candidate, will not be running again, and eventually he's going to drop out or be replaced. But just today they had a closed door meeting and these guys come

out more energized than ever behind him. What do you say, Mark? I I have asked you this numerous times. Where you get your news? It's crazy because I guys, it's all remains and they're telling me I'm not getting accurate news, Mark Shock poll Kamala beats Trump, Hillary beats Trump, Carville, Biden can't. I'm not saying that. I don't deny any of that. Here's what I'm saying. I don't think you you know, I'm not disagreeing with you that he's the worst candidate they could have. What I'm

saying is he's not dropping out. Right here Fox News right now, Biden tunes out critics with jam packed schedule. Where is this news that they're all behind him? Is what I'm talking about. Didn't they have that closed door meeting this morning? It was on None of them like them? So I'm asking you where are you getting they came out? I was who was they see in CNN? They said they came out and they reaffirmed their support for Biden. I was watching the headline right here in the studio. By the

way, do you believe that als the headline from CNN? Hold on, Many Democrats say, conclusion drawn from the House Democratic Caucus meeting followed by semit Democrats gathering will likely seal his fate. Yeah, seal it as a candidate. Uh, what do you guys think? Anyway? Listen, have you seen the new EV truck from Chevy The EV truck that looks like an avalanche looks pretty damn cool. I have not. Hey, I wanted to ask

you something though, real quick man. What's that? It's not political, but during during if people go to YouTube and just go back a couple minutes on our live stream, they'll see a picture of a dog in a bucket. And this dog was next to us for two or three days one hundred and ten, one hundred and fifteen degree temperatures. Now during the day when it was super hot, it was in, but it was out all night. It's not like it was barking. But it's literally a dog in a

bucket and we'll see it. Oh, that's cute. But if you look, it was on a leash the entire time, so it had all of four feet. It was either on the concrete or in the bucket. And I asked the owner because finally, I'm like, you know, at first, when I saw it, Tom, just like you, I'm like, Oh, that's kind of weird, that's cute. But then when the dog never left the bucket, I asked the neighbor. I finally said, Hey, that is something weird. A dog in a bucket. I've never seen

that. And the guy was like this, he goes the dog loves a bucket, And I'm thinking that dog spends the entire night outside in that bucket, barely ever gets out of the bucket unless you get a little water. I don't know, what do you think, man, do you think that's you think that's animal, animal cruelty or what. But the dog is not trapped in the bucket. He it's by the way, it's a big blue

bucket and it's not like a regular little bucket. But but anyway, the dog can easily jump out of that bucket, right, it can jump out, and there's a little bowl of water next to it. But it's on that leash. It's got four or five feet. If you had the difference between the hot concrete or the blue bucket and Honestly, to me, that's like a little bucket. I know it's not a mop bucket. But the more I looked at this dog, after two or three days, I started

going, I mean, should you call animal cruelty? I mean, this is crazy. They keep this dog in a bucket. He doesn't look at YouTube. Go to YouTube dot com, type in Troubleshooter network and just go back a little on the live feed and you'll see the dog, dog in the bucket, and tell me what you think. How much is that dog in the bucket? Oh? That was pretty shot. We're not even gonna

we're not even dignifying that. But anyway, here's the deal. I think that the dog has a choice, and the dog is sitting in there by choice. That's what I'm thinking. It is sitting in the bucket by choice. But it's only other choice. Well look at it. You see the leash on it on the ground. Yeah, the other is on the hot cement. Oh, I see what you're saying. Why doesn't he have a dog? I wonder if somebody tossed him a dog bed, if he'd lay on that instead. You see that. I don't know, but the owner

said the dog has always I'm putting it back up. The dog has always loved the bucket. The dog sleeps in the bucket. He just hangs out in the bucket. Why would a dog always want Would a dog rather be in the air conditioning? I mean, wouldn't a dog rather be anywhere but a bucket? You know, it's a weird one that when I saw it, it looked kind of cute, and I didn't think anything wrong about it. You know, when Suzanne first pointed it out. It's right out of

our kitchen window. When she first pointed it out, I thought it was the damnedest thing. Like the dog just hopped in there like a cat would, and it was a one time thing. But then I started realizing over two or three days, the dog never leaves that bucket except to get to water. Okay, So if you have a problem, question or complain, give us a call. We have all kinds of things to talk about. We do have some follow ups as well, but I think some of the

things we're learning over recent calls. Okay, and this seems to be I'm going to give you some trends that I believe happened every year this time, and we alluded to it in the last call, and it has to do with landscaping. Okay, here's the problem I've always said with the landscape business. Landscape business starts in about late March, okay, maybe April, and then it goes really it can go through October and part of November, but

no one wants it at the end of the season. Everyone wants things sooner. Everyone wants things to enjoy during the growth season and the display season and the watering season. Not many people want you to start a project in October, finish it, and then have winter come and not enjoy it until the next year. So here's what happens. A lot of the good landscapers fill

up. It's that easy. They fill up their schedules. So a lot of the bad landscapers that have openings and cheap prices get filled up too. And those people are desperate. I'm talking about homeowners who are desperate to get a landscaper at a reasonable price, will take the gamble. Well, they don't even think they're taking a gamble. They pay up front. It's a

cheap price. And I'm not even saying these bad landscapers are necessarily intentionally ripping anyone off, but they don't know what they're doing, and they come out and do a lousy job. And just know this once, this is the most fleeting feeling in the world. Once you have paid a deadbeat, whether it be a landscaper, a contractor somebody who told you they were going to sell you a car, roofer a roofer. How about an investment advisor or

some I'm serious or good, some kind of investment mark. Once you pay a dead beat, I don't care whether they had the intent to rip you off or not. You're never getting your money back. They can have all the best intentions in the world. You're never going to get money back. Years ago, years ago, my mother was very sick and dying, and I remember doing this fifty thousand dollars investment years ago, and it was a guy who worked with me at Fox thirty one. I forget his name now

I know this story. So he got a lot of TV people to invest money on supposedly this airline that was coming to town. And I mean he had all the paperwork and everything, and it was they were It was not a public offering at the time, No, it was. Wasn't it a doughnut place? Wait? Wait, wait, I thought it was no, it was just before they came to town that that could have been that you're right, you're right, you're right. The the the the airline was something

else. But and that wasn't a rip off. It just never happened. But on this particular doughnut thing, I remember somebody saying, you know, what was weird is that he went to my bank and cashed the check an hour after I wrote it. It didn't it seemed weird that he didn't. He didn't like put it with someone, but it was cashed immediately. So he was going up to Central City. His name is Scott something I forget. Anyway, he was going up to Central City gambling the money away.

And he there were some notable people by the way that were that invested because he was in TV. And there was some anchor women and some other people, not anyone that I know personally, but I'm just saying. And I was one of them, and and you know, look at here's what happened. The guy ripped everyone off. And I knew, I mean, where do you how do you ever get money back from a total deadbeat that can

never make enough money to pay everyone back? Ever, so the courts he was indicted by the way he was indicted, and he was he was guilty, okay, and did a plea arrangement to pay people back. Do you know up until last year, and every now and then a check shows up for five or six dollars a month, maybe I get one of those two,

maybe ten dollars. I mean, can you imagine, you know, making a fifty thousand dollars investment, or this person who made an investment in that wall that we talked about, or people making investments, You'll never get paid. That's why you have to guard yourself from these ripoffs, even if they don't have criminal intent, because you're never gonna get your money back. Do you know how many people right now are in a position who have paid

people money with trust and will never get it back. It's just something you got to prevent because you're never going to recover. Go with a sure thing Denver's Best Roofer Excel roofing dot com. You don't pay a cent until you're content. Time for an insurance check up free, no obligation. In comparison, call Compass insurance paying too much your coverage at dozens of insurance companies find

out now three all three seven to seven to one. Help You'll think you're his only customer when you choose Frank durand the real estate Man dot com to list your home with Remax Alliance three all three nine two zero sixteen twenty two. Hi Tom Martino, your troubleshooter three oh three seven one three talk seven one three eight two five five Mark? What's going on on with you? Hello? Mark? Hello? Let me get you out with sure? What's happening? Well, all, I got a problem with let's come up?

Yes? Oh oh, sorry about that. No, that's okay, You've sound great now. I don't know. I'm hoping. I don't know if you guys can help me out or if there's anything you can tell me to do. I've got I lived down in Pagosa and I took my boat to San Juan Marine. It's in Aztec, New Mexico, because that's the closest place. That's the only place around here. They've had it since December. Now, now, why did you well, why did you take your boat

in? Well, it had a trim problem. It needed to be reprogrammed because it wouldn't trim up under power, So they had to reprogram the trim okay, And where is the where is az Tech? Where's Aztec located next to Farmington? Okay? In Farmington, Okay, outside of Colorado, you know, in the Four Corners area. Yeah, and uh so I was. I got in there. They said I got to wait for all their winners and winterizations to get done and then they could start on it. And

when did you drop it off? Month? I dropped it off late November, early December. Okay, got it? And uh so? Uh I waited a month or so. The guy calls me. He says, oh yeah, we'll get in and take a look at it. Wait another month. Okay. He tells me, you know you need a pump. This thing's not put together right. And I was like, okay, wait, let's let's continue this hold on man, and I'll come right back to you.

I promise. We'll talk about his boat, what's going on with it, what we can do about it. And he wants to know about small claims. I'm Tom Martino. We got a lot more happening. Three oh three seven one three talk Go with a sure thing Denver's best roofer Excel roofing dot com. You don't pay a cent until you're content. Time for an

insurance check up free, no obligation comparison call Compass Insurance. Pay too much your coverage at dozens of insurance companies find out now three oh three seven seven to one help. You'll think you're his only customer when you choose Frank durand the real estate Man dot com to list your home with Remax Alliance three oh three nine two zero sixteen twenty two rips needed so you don't have come running as fast as we can. Show Shooter's gonna help come six is the Troubleshooter

Show? No Tom Martine, Hey Tom Martin here, and I welcome you to the show. I like saying the only show if it's kind anywhere in the universe, where we're solving problems, answering questions, taking complaints, making life a little easier, and we have a lot to talk about as always, because our consumer life is really important. Now did that guy go away or is he still here? Mark was talking about a problem He took his boat to as tech Marine. There he is. Let me get my earpiece

on here, all right? So you took your boat to as tech Marine in the Four Corners area in December twenty twenty three. Now, let me ask you something about the boat. What is the boat? Tell me about the boat. It's a two thousand and six Ranger six twenty okay. Now, you were having problems with it. It wouldn't te up under power. You know, you couldn't use the trim option under power. Okay, them

up at idle okay. So what happened? Then the service manager finally got to it and called me back and said, and this has been over a month. You need a pump. You're missing a pump that you need. But the pump has nothing to do. Pump has nothing to do with trim, right, and it was an extra so it was extra work. And he said it would be twenty five hundred bucks for the pump and to install it. Okay, but okay, did they tell you how much? Did

they tell you anything about the trim problem? That was only going to be an hour's labor okay, fifty bucks okay, So so he needed and so what happened then? It's been okay, so he he ordered, he said, okay, I'll order the part. So did you pay anything so far? Nothing? So it doesn't sound like they're trying to well, I'm not it sounds more like incompetence than it is. Well, they've gone through. This is the third service writer, and it's keep starting over from the beginning,

over and over. My question is can I sue for loss of use? Not in small claims court? Nope, Okay, you know you can sue. You can sue for loss of use, but it's it's doubtful unless they were negligent. You you here, let me explain about consequential damages, which is loss of use, loss of vacation, pain and suffering, emotional distress, whatever it is. There's all kinds, hotel rooms, whatever.

In order to collect first first and foremost, they must be not just doing it or not doing it, but they must be negligent, you see, not just liable. Liability is you take on something to repair it, You're liable to repair it or to attempt to repair it. But negligence is where you purposely or you negligently drop the ball. So that's a really big burden of proof. I know you're saying I didn't get to use my boat,

but you have to remember something. You have to make the case. Listen to this, not only that they were negligent, but that you were prevented from taking it anywhere else, and if you did take it somewhere else, you would have been able to use it. It's just not even worth the trouble. It seriously isn't. So what you need to do is just try to get the damn thing fixed. So they have worked on and they have

done some things. I'm not sure what all I mean. They keep ordering parts and then they tell me, oh, there was the wrong part, and they say every time I call, oh, we were waiting on a part. Their last service manager who just quit, was a real nice guy, but he said we ordered the wrong part. And so I said, okay, uh, you know, I've been nice. I've been going along with this crap ever since. And he said, so the last time I called him, I'm a month and a half ago, he said, it's

it's on the order and it has shipped. We expected any day. Now. Called them today and they said we're waiting on parts. And I'm like, this is ps this is not true. So if they've done that work, can I go in there, hook to that boat and drag it out of there without any It's your boat, you know, you can take it anytime you want, and they can make you pay for everything they've done thus

far. Well, but it hasn't been completed. It doesn't matter. This is going to go have to go in there and finish what they've done. Listen, listen, Mark, Well, I'm not disagreeing with you, but if they put new parts in there of any kind, they need to be paid for those. Well, okay, if they put any new parts on it, and like I said, the hour for the trim, but all the things that they've disassembled, you know how hard it's going to be to

get somebody else to reassemble somebody else's work. You can go and get your boat. Then you're going to have an argument as to what is value and what is not Again, Okay, why are they not putting it? If everything is done, why are they not putting it back together? It's in confidence? Well, you mean everything is done. They've had they're on their third service rider since December. That's why. No, it's not done.

He just called me and told me they're still waiting on parts. The last time I talked to their last UH service writer, he said the parts have been shipped. We expect them any day. Okay, now we get to call all the timetime but it's usually r v's, not boats or cars. Now, Mark, can you verify with other boat dealers that these parts are not scarce? I don't even have a parts list to start with. Well

did they get did they get the pump in? By the way, he's got the pump, he says he doesn't have the tables to connect it. All right, So you can have you called around to other marinas at all? No, I haven't. I mean, the only place I could call would be Dender, and that would be they would get me in probably next January. Oh my god, what what are there any other marinas down down below there? Well, there's some. There's something uh in Albuquerque that's five

hours away. Also, listen, I'm gonna have I'm gonna have one of our deputies here call dak Why don't you deputy chop it. I'm gonna have him call down there during the show and just say, listen, this guy doesn't have an unreasonable request. What exactly is hanging it up? And we're not going to like be accusatory, but maybe if we start probing, they'll think, oh man, this guy is like whoa you know? And and he's he's making noise and maybe you'll get some grease being the noisy wheel.

Hang on, and uh, why don't we try that chopper? Just call down there and see what we can do. We'll do three oh three seven one three talk three oh three seven one three eight two five five. Can you bring John Fuller up for a second. I have a question from text. John, you talk about U. This is you happen to be here for your spot, So I wanted to ask you this. I got a text. How important are dash cams? They're seeing more and more of them,

they're thinking about buying one, So tell me about it. I mean, how important do you feel they are to have it nowadays? Well, Tom, here's the deal. I mean, all that's got to happen after an accident is for the other person to get out and say it wasn't my

fault, and then you have a disputed liability accident. The beauty of a dash cam is that, no matter what the different parties say, no matter what the cop writs and they report and believe me, they get it wrong from time to time, you have a full color, four K video of

the actual crash occurring. That eliminates all of that, he said. She said that eliminates any issues about what color of the light was right green car ran through the red light before all of these things that get in the way of accepted liability and getting insurance companies to do the right thing are out the

window as soon as you have this full color video of the accident. So for less than one hundred bucks, you can put a great dash cam on your dash and you'll have that protection so that no more do you have to worry about that Yahoo that gets out swearing up and down that your fault for the accident and that they didn't do anything wrong. It's well worth that money. So John, do they continually loop over so many days or how does

it work? Yeah, yeah, exactly. There's an SD card that is in the unit and it continues to record over the oldest, you know, the oldest recording and then most of them. The coolest thing is they have a sensor so that if you go, if you get in a crash and it senses that you know, this collision occurred, then they automatically bracket out and save that portion of the audio and the video so that it can't be

recorded over. And so that's a really cool feature that's good I've actually had people tom that that witness an accident pull over, pull their SD card out and walk up and hand it to the cop and say, my you know, dash camera recorded this, and I've got a full color video and here it is. So, I mean, this is great technology. I predict in five or ten years, every new car that's on the road will already have them built in and forever more and not have to worry about, you

know, buying our own. But for right now, go out spend the money. Yeah, it's such an In fact, I think I think Tesla has video that you can I don't know if you can record it, but I I think my son, for example, somebody tped his car and I think he was able to go back and look at video. I don't know, Mark, I don't know, Mark. Are you still there? Yeah, they have it so you can look at who's looking at your car and walking around it, right, Yeah, if you have Century mode on.

And then also I'm not sure about his, but the model I have, if something's getting ready to hit you, or you know, an accident happens, it can basically start recording three seconds beforehand. I'm not sure how it does it, but it does three seconds beforehand. Okay, so it's like it's continually recording but not but not really right right right or continuity? Yeah, okay, anyway, thank you, John. I appreciate that we have

more coming up on the Troubleshooter Show. Go with a sure Thing Denver's Best Roofer Excel Roofing dot com. You don't pay a cent until you're content. Time for an insurance check up free no obligation comparison call Compass Insurance paying too much your coverage at dozens of insurance companies find out now three O three seven to seven to one help. You'll think you're his only customer when you choose Frank durand the real estate Man dot com to list your home with Remax Alliance

three oh three nine two zero sixteen twenty two. Hello, I'm Martino here. So I've done a little research on consequential damages as a result of broken stuff. Do people have responsibility to you for pay for damages? It goes way back. People were doing that. For example, we had people who went to a special event. In one case, it was a prize fight, a heavyweight championship fight. Many years ago. I handled this case and they took their film when we had film in to be developed, and they

ruined it. So therefore the entire trip, and he said, was ruined. But he got to see it. Remember, he just didn't get to record it for posterity. So what was the ode? More than the actual film, more than the actual photos. The man never was able to collect anything. He talked to attorney after attorney after attorney, and unless they did something really stupid or intentional or negligent, it's you can't. You really can't. Well, you can try to recover, but you most likely won't.

Now, there are so many cases like this. There have been people who've rented a boat or an RV. They've gone on vacation with it a rental and not able to use it. Now in those cases, oddly enough, with RVs, they were reimbursed way more than just the RV because the consumer was able to show that the person who rented them, the dealer that rented them the RV, did not check out the RV or do their dude diligence as they should have in between rentals. Had they checked out this one RV,

they would have seen that the RV needed some service. As a result, this person who rented it did not get the benefit of using it the entire time, and in fact it did ruin the family's vacation. So not only were they refunded the money for the RV, but they were given compensation for mist vacation and all of that. But it is such a battle. That's why it's always best to do your due diligence beforehand rather than trying to figure out what you can get from them. Now, there's another thing called

mitigation of damages. For example, if you lose something as a result of it not working, and you're on vacation, like scuba gear, and you want to sue as you weren't able to scuba dive, and you went all the way there just to scuba dive, you have to show that there was no way to mitigate that. Why didn't you rent scuba gear where you were even though it wasn't optimal. At least you would have done some scuba diving, and you wouldn't go after the scuba place here who rented it to you

for all of the loss. So there is an obligation at times to do what you can to lessen your loss, to mitigate your losses and that's a foundation of many, many, many lawsuits in the past. Did you try to mitigate your damage? Did you try to make good with what you had or lose the least amount. One of these things happened with roofing or plate glass windows from store owners. They lose the front window at their store now in a storm or in a windstorm, or in vandalism. Obviously they're not

responsible for that damage. But if they say to themselves the hell with this and they go home, or they just ignore it and their store is looted, if they had the opportunity to board it up the best they could and to make it more secure, then they don't just get to run. They don't just get to collect on everything that they lost as a result of that windstorm. They have an obligation. They don't have to make it perfect,

but they have an obligation to try to mitigate those losses. So when that guy called about his boat, you know what, I sense his frustration. But consequential damages are very seldom awarded. There's something else when it comes to shipping things. I once had a guy who tried to make the argument that because he used I think it was FedEx or one of the services to send payment and contracts back and forth, and they were lost. He lost out

on a real estate deal. Therefore, the real estate deal would have been worth x amount of dollars to him and he lost it. That is such a stretch because those taking on the service of delivering something never agreed with you that they're going to be liable for a million dollars. Had they said, Okay, this is a million dollars you want me to take responsibility for,

then you're going to pay accordingly. You don't just get to pay a normal rate and then claim some down the road that you lost a million dollars as a result of it. That goes for all kinds of claims. Three oh three seven one three talk seven one three eight two five five. The most trusted brands in the United States for twenty twenty three and part of twenty four. What do you think the number one brand? I mean, there are so many brands it's almost impossible. But if you had to take a stab

at it, could you name any of them in the top ten? Any of the most trusted brands. Now this is based on sales surveys, satisfaction surveys et cetera. And this is put together by Mourning Consult. It's a brand intelligence, a company that does research. Okay, what is the number one brand? If you had to take a guess, what is it? I never would have picked this Toyota. Let me see if you actually it's

not even in the top ten. I'm not saying it's bad. No, can you just try to name anything in the top ten, Just any brand. I know it's so open it's difficult, but name something that comes to mind. Uh yamaha. Kelly's saying Amazon is Amazon brand. She's right, she found one in the top ten. I'll tell you what number it is after the break. But Amazon's in the top ten. What else would you think? Here's one that shocks me. There's only one here that shocks me.

Sony. Sony's not in the top ten. Cheerios. Cheerios in the top ten. Cheerios You're good for your heart? Well maybe Mark, maybe the marketing did that. He could be right on that. They're their own brand. They're not like General Mills or Post. And it says cheerios nut Oh, I'm sorry, hold on, hold on, no, No, it's Cheerios cereal. Yeh, it's Cherio cereal It. Yeah, so Amazon's there, Cheerios is there. We'll talk about more coming up. Go with

a sure thing Denver's best roofer Excel Roofing dot com. You don't pay a cent until you're content. Time for an insurance checkup free, no obligation comparison call Compass Insurance paying too much your coverage at dozens of insurance companies find out now three oh three seven seven to one help. You'll think you're his only customer when you choose Frank durand the real estate Man dot com to list your

home with Remax Alliance three oh three nine two zero sixteen twenty two. Hi Tom Martino here three oh three seven one three talks seven one three eight two five five Kachina Chlory was able to identify one of the top ten most trusted brands according to this latest survey, and Amazon is in position number three. We've been brainstorming back here, what about Apple, Google or Now, by the way, this is general brands of all categories. I'm going to break

down categories. But of all categories, Cheerios is number six. Now I'm going to read the top ten because there's no rhyme or reason. But these now, remember these are based not just on sales, okay, it's sales per it's not really sales, it's satisfaction, and it's positive impressions, and it is loyalty okay. And it's based on the survey by Morning consult. Now remember one year is Mark still on Okay. One year Mark really criticized

this because he said they were way off. They had some wild ass stuff on this list. But here's what they have this year. Number one is band aid. I am suck on bend Aids because bandes suck on me anyway, band Aids right. Number two, Now, I totally disagree with this one. I think they're one of the worst companies in the world. Not in the world, I'm sorry, but they're terrible. They have no accountability, they don't honor claims, and that's ups. But it's number two on

the top ten. Number two ups. Number three Amazon, I can see that. I have never had a problem with Amazon. You need customer service. Whatever you want, you want to return something, you know, go and run it over with your truck and return it. I mean, it's just amazing. Number four I suspect has to do with COVID I do, I really do. Even though we're out of COVID. I think a lot of people they were wiped off of store shelves, and a lot of people

toilet paper liesol Oh, but speaking of paper. Number five is Kleenex, the brand Kleenex, not tissues. I mean they are tissues, but people use them interchangeably. Okay. Cheerios is number six. Why number seven is a credit card? I have no idea visa number eight. Never would I believe this ever, because I don't. And it's a bar, it's not a liquid I've not used a soap bar. Well, I do. Can't even remember last time I used the soap bar of soap, but Dove soap,

Dove, not the soft sup but Dove. I use liquid stuff. Well do you ever use a bar of soap ever? On the hand stuff? I pump. Come on, chopper, you don't use a bar of soap in the shower this morning. You guys are old farts. You can't use a bar of soap shower gel like I use axe baby or something like that, you know. Anyway? Fourteen? Anyway, that's number eight. Number nine the Weather Channel, I swear to you, the Weather Channel.

These are the most trusted brands in the United States number ten FedEx. Can you believe on the top ten there's two shipping companies three Amazon's like a shipping You're right, you're right. So what do you think about those mark this year? Remember that one year you totally disputed, you said this is the most stupid. Oh I thought I heard them. Okay, I'm sorry, all right. Now let's talk about four travel and hospitality again. So many

of these I disagree with. There's an airline on there. There are one, two, three, four, five hotels, hotels, and there a travel site. What airline would you think is in the top ten for satisfaction and popularity? Trust and trust is what they say. My gut wants to say Southwest, just because I know that they're cheap and reliable. It's pretty hard. I would have thought either Southwest or Delta. Probably yeah, United or Delta. You never hear bad things about Delta, But it's United United

Airlines. They're number nine now. The number one trusted brand and travel and hospitality is Holiday inn. I don't think I never I don't see Holiday inns anymore. My eyes just a gloss over them. I I don't think I've stayed in a holiday in uh. Number two, what were you to say, dollar, No, I see holiday inns all the time. They're nice. Yeah they are, okay. I don't doubt that. Number two is Triple A motor Club. Actually it's not the motor club, it's the travel

agency AAA Travel. Number three is Marriott, now the Marriott chain. They're good. I like Hyatt personally, and Hyatt does come in here, but forrest Hilton. Five is trip Advisor. I've not used that one. Six is Hyatt. This is just for twenty three twenty four. Number seven is Expedia, number eight, Best Western, number nine. That's where United comes in and tend the comfort in. So that's travel and hospitality. But you would be shocked around the country, I mean around the world where things are

most popular. Like Dragon mentioned Toyota it is the number one brand in Japan, And what do you think Alipe is the number one in China? Alli pay is that part of Ali Baba. It's a phone, OLLI pay. It just says Ali pay. I haven't and Toyo so Toyota PayPal? Do you know where PayPal is number one? Why? I have no idea Germany? In the United States, it's band aids. Of course, Google is number one in two countries, India and France. And Boots it just says

Boots. I think, yeah, they're Boots. In the United Kingdom, In Italy, What's App is the most trusted brand, and in South Korea Samsung just some weird stats there. Three oh three seven to one three talk, or you can call three oh three Martino. And by the way, you can call that honor off the air, and when we're not here, if you leave a message, we'll get back to you. Go with a sure thing Denver's best roofer Excel Roofing dot com. You don't pay a cent

until you're content. Time for an insurance check up free, no obligation. In comparison, call Compass Insurance paying too much your coverage at dozens of insurance companies find out now three all three seven to seven to one help. You'll think you're his only customer when you choose Frank durand the real estate Man dot com to list your home with Remax Alliance three oh three nine two zero sixteen twenty two. Hey, I'm Tom Martino here. Welcome to the show.

Three o three seven to one three Talks seven one three eight two five five Frank durand the real Estate Man for free market valuations. If your home, what does that mean? You know, if you're thinking about selling, upgrading, moving across town, moving out of town, you want to know what your house will sell for. You also want to know what you'll net and what you can buy. He can do a full analysis, not just for the Denver market, but wherever you want to move. And it's free,

truly, no tricks, no gimmicks. He's been servicing people like this for years and that's how he's gained his great reputation. Three oh three nine to zero, sixteen twenty two Frank durand the real Estate Man dot com. Now let's talk to Gregory, who wants to talk about a contractor. Hi, Gregory, what's going on with you? Hello? Tom, Thanks for taking my call. What's happening is, there's a lot going on, and I totally did not expect to be talking to you, to be honest with you,

I just wanted to, well, let's find out. Let's go pick my brain. What's going on? Man? All right? I need to open up my notes to make sure sure act. But you can also just give me some general information as well, and we don't need exact details in the beginning, but go ahead, okay. We we had a contract to come out in early October and in November time frame, and we found what we were looking for, which is to get an overlay on our concrete.

And did you actually did you actually hire the contractor? We did hire the contract and who is it? Who is the contractor? The This is where I wasn't prepared and I, oh, it's okay. So you hired a contractor in November to do an overlay. What happened? Basically they were able to do the sidewalk first, which was a rip out and repair replace rather okay, and that was fine. That was part of the deal, and

then we had plans after that to start the overlays on the concrete. Now, when you talk about an overlay, people use that expression for different things. Is is it an overlay like a coating or is it an overlay like another lift? Like two inches? Well, the minimum, I'm sorry, the maximum is around a half of an inch to three quarter. We've since had it done correctly, yeah, because overlays hardly ever work. When you say you had it done correctly, did they do just a thin layer like

that that worked. They did Our concrete was excellent in order to have it be accepted because it was in such good shape with no cracks. It's just it was flaking in just a So what did they did they beat? So? Did they kind of like rough up, scuff up the surface, sand it down, grind it and then overlay. The first company that ran off with money did not the second company. I'm very interested. Listen. I am very interested because I have not heard of many successful overlays. How how

long has that second company's job been the been complete? That was completed last week? Wow? Okay, so the longevity hasn't been proven, but I hope it does. Now hold on and we'll come back to how to go after this older company that ran off with money. I don't like hearing that at all. If you've been just to hold for a few minutes, I'll come right back to first out of the gate. I'm Tom Martinez. You're listening to the Troubleshooter Show on six thirty KHW. Go with a sure thing

Denver's Best roofer Excel roofing dot com. You don't pay a cent until you're contenth time for an insurance check. Up free no obligation comparison call Compass Insurance paying too much your coverage at dozens of insurance companies. Find out now three oh three seven seven to one help. You'll think you're his only customer when you choose Frank durand the real estate Man dot com to list your home with Remax Alliance three all three nine two zero sixteen twenty two, Ripped News.

You need advice who you don't have? Come running as sass as a cam Shooter's gonna help. Come man, This is the Troubleshooter Show. Now, Tom Martino, Hi, Tom Martino here, Welcome to the show. Three oh three seven one three talk three all three seven one three eight two five five. What is going on? And how can we help you? This hour brought to you by Dan mackenzie for a state planning. If you need a will, a trust, or any combination thereof, or you want to

get together an estate plan. Dan McKenzie he is available and he's a great guy. We've known him for a few years now, Dan McKenzie, McKenzie Law. And here's the number eight three to three COO Plans eight three three co Plans or the website co plans. Dot COO Gregory wants to talk about this now where we left off, as he hired a contractor in November to do concrete overlay in some replacement. The first company ran off with money and did not do the job or did not do it correctly? Which one is

it? They did not do the job, and Tom, I just wanted to let you know I connected to my wife. She's also on the line, Teresa Good. She was the frontline in dealing with with l Now are you the first company that took off with the money? They did absolutely no work at all, because that can turn into a criminal complaint. They did what they did the sidewalk, you know, which just was the re ripout and replace right? And how much? And then how much was the whole

job supposed to be? Hi, Thomas, Teresa, My entire project was twelve was supposed to be twelve thousand, seven hundred and fifty six dollars. Okay, Now, just the first company, how much did you pay them in full? So far? The first company only yes, So we paid them out of pocket and the street hold on here for me just quickly time three would be five hundred and sixty seven dollars okay, so about ninety five.

Now here's the deal. So they did part of the work and took off basically, yes, okay, And there was a lot of communication going on for why and what is the contractor's name? So the name of the company that he supposedly owns is Custom Design Concrete and his name is Alfred or exposed by L Servants CEV I'm sorry c E r V A N t ees. Okay. So Servantes does part of the job and then walks off the

job. Now, can you, for argument's sake here just to help you, because I know you're going to ask about what to do about this? The part that he how much value did you get for the ninety five hundred? I well, I believe what he took from us and owes us is thirty one hundred and eighty nine or thirty four hundred, So you feel so you feel you got about six grand worth of work exactly? Okay? And what does he say about this? Or can you not find him? We've

been communicating by text messages, but then it finally ceased. He doesn't reply at all anymore. He is denying. Well, basically, he just continued to say he was going to come out, come out, come out, and do the job. Never did. And you know he was going to have this done for us by December, and we were finally set up because we have no we have no patio furniture in our back. Everything was just a disaster. He had tried to put an overlay and it turned out.

I mean, I have pictures. It's horrible. It was Wait a minute, so wait, wait, whoa, whoa. So when you said he did the replacement and took off, he really didn't. He attempted to do the overlay, like maybe not even not even a fourth of the overlay. Okay, I got it. Do you think he realized he was over his head and took off or do you think it was his intention to rip you off? No? Yeah, well I think both. Actually, if I

were to be really honest, Joy was sick in December. He gave us I which I'm you know, I'm sorry if anybody ever lies about this, but he said that he had stage four liver cancer and we gave him lots of space. Do you think he's lying? Do you think he's lying at this point? Yes? Okay, Now, next question, what did the second company do? Is everything cool? Right, now with the second company, Yeah, how much did you pay them to how much did you pay

them to complete the job? Greg, do you remember off the top of your head. I would have to look hold on I believe Okay, so the numbers work out basically. Basically, this guy was in over his head. He took off, but under the Contractor's Trust Act, he's not allowed to be paid ahead and keep the money. It's a slam dunk to get the money back in small claims court to get a judgment, but then he may not have a dime to go after. What do you know about this

Servantes? He said that he was short at one point and needed an advanced payment in December to pay his employees that he hadn't paid profile And that's when Teresa was nice, No, no, I get it. But what do you know about him now? Is he still working? I believe so. I believe so because he's actually told me that he in several occasions that he said he was going to a job and that yep, he's got me on

the schedule. He was going to you know, be over in a couple of days, and then it went from one line to the next to the next. So yes, I do believe he is working. Okay, last conversation Tom was he said he needed new material that helps it bond better. And I asked for the name of the company that he was checking with on this bonding material. He said it would be available July nineteenth, and I said, can I please get the name of that? This was via text.

He never received returns calls. All right, so I please get the company now, right, We're going to We're going to get somebody. We're going to get somebody to try to go after him. But here's the deal. Remember, it's only as good as this guy. I mean, if the guy's a total shlock, I'm not sure there's much you can do. But I also suggest that you try. He just get it a record, to get a letter from this new contractor and maybe go after the other guy

for the thirty five hundred bucks or whatever and do it. Just go after him small claims court, show what was done, show what you paid, and show what he owes. He's not going to show up. You'll probably get a judgment. But I want to tell you something that's not entirely useless, even with a deadbeat. Let me explain something. If you get a judgment. It stays on there for many years, and you can go after accounts receivable if you find out where he's working. You can go after tools,

you can go after equipment, you can go after vehicles. Unless this guy is such a cheater he has planned for all of this. Yeah, that's what it feels like, honestly. And that's a great way to describe it. Now from the letter of the current contractor, event include what they had to witness as far as his shoddy workmanship. Well, well, no, here's what you need to know. You need to have valued what he

did and how much you're owed. That's all you need. So in other words, you paid ninety five hundred and according to this new contractor, what he did was only worth this amount of money, and that's it, you know. And maybe if he cost you money with the bad overlay that had to be removed, then you subtract that. So at the end you have a net loss or a net gain or whatever. It's not going to be a gain. So what is your net loss after dealing with him? And

that's a very reasonable way to go about it. Now, I'm also going to let Deputy Dollar give him a call on one of our people right here. We call him a nickname, Deputy Dollar. We're going to have him. We're going to see if we can get a hold of this guy and and maybe scare him about the Contractor's Trust Act, because when they knowingly keep funds that have not been applied to a job, it can turn criminal.

Okay, now where you located? In general, don't give me your address, but where you located we felt, Okay, hold on a second, Deputy Dollar, I'm going to give this to you. Let's see if we can scare him into giving them a three grand or so. Meanwhile, Gregory and Teresa Dollar will also go over with you how to go online and start that small claim suit. Go with a sure thing Denver's Best roofer Excel roofing dot com. You don't pay a cent until you're content. Time for an

insurance check up free, no obligation. In comparison, call Compass Insurance. Pay too much your coverage? Does of insurance companies? Find out now three oh three seven seven to one help. You'll think you're his only customer when you choose Frank durand the real estate Man dot com to list your home with Remax Alliance three oh three nine two zero sixteen twenty two. Hi Tom Martino here, Welcome to the show. Three O three seven one three eight two

five five. Let's talk to Cameo. Cameo, what's going on? Well, yes, my daughter is supposed to be receiving child support and now hold on, does she have a court order for child support? Yes? And and and it's for how many kids? One? Okay? Go ahead, dear, Okay, so there was there's just a lot of information, long story shorts. My daughter's been receiving eighty two dollars a week for child support, which I mean, let's be honest, it doesn't even begin to cover

foods, right, right, right, anxiety. But that's besides the point. So eighty two dollars a week last week? Got it the same text message? That does it actually read eighty two dollars a week and not per month? Correct? Okay, that's weird. Okay, go ahead. And it's an actual court order. And is this the biological father? Correct? Were they ever married? Yes, we are technically still married. I left him over two years ago. Oh it's you. I'm talking to you.

I thought you said your daughter or you have a daughter. Yeah, my daughter is a miner. I get it. Okay, dear, I get it now, go ahead, cameo right, okay, So there's Last week I got the same text message that eighty two dollars would be deposited into my account because she's a minor. And is it taken out of the by the childcare registry or is it done by him voluntarily sending a check? No, he wouldn't voluntarily help anything or anybody. He owes over one hundred k in

child support for his other children that he claimed many children. So hold on, So does the county take it out for you? Or the state? Yeah, okay, go ahead. I think it's a Rappahoe County. But they have been doing weird stuff to my account, and well, what's going on? What's the problem. So last week I got the same text message that it would be deposited into my account, and I know it was a holiday, so I didn't It wasn't there when it was normally there, So

I waited a few days. I was like, okay, it's probably because of the holiday. And then I noticed I was going to log in to make sure that everything was okay, and the piece of paper that I had my username and my password was ripped off of the bottom, so I was

like, okay, well somebody probably took that. Wait a minute, I ripped off the bottom of what So when when I first got child support, they sent a letter with information on where to sign up for an account, on how we received them right, And when I email them, they're like, oh, yeah, it looks like it's been you ordered a card and the money's been going to your card, and now it's going to your account. I never ordered a card. But what do you mean? So you're

saying that someone started an online account for you? I started. I went online, I signed in, and I decided how I wanted to have the money, and I signed up for a direct deposit to have it directly deposited into my account. I never wanted a card a third party, because that's just that causes. I get it. Then, what happened that the checks have been going into your account? Right? Correct? We've been getting eighty two dollars a week because he gets paid once a week. So the only

check that was not put in your account was the last one. That's what it appears to be. Yes, Now, hold on, Let's just say someone did get access to your account and they hacked it and they have a card. Now, are you able? The very first thing I want to do is stop the bleeding? Were you able to put a stop to that? No? So I called the lady on the phone and she literally said, I'm about to hang up on this lady and make her lose her mind.

And I was like, I'm still here. And she was like, oh, I'm really sorry if you were offended by that, and I'm like, yeah, yeah, but hold on. Why would she want to hang up on you? What were you doing? I was calling to figure out what is going on with my child's money? Okay, what is going on? Do you know? No? They told me to call the simone or whatever card it is. They said to call them and to see what the balance is and to order a new card. I said, I never ordered

a card. Okay, I tried to call that. Cameo, put your card, CAMEO, listen carefully, okay, right now? Can you go and sign on right now? Or did they change your did they change your log in or what? Can you log in right now if you wanted to? Nope, they have taken my information and they have changed it. I never did anybody I get it? So you have no ability right now to get into your account. Correct, All right, now you need to go into the office and have them stop whatever access is on there. Okay.

When I went there last time, the lady was very condescending and very rude. I will go back. No, no, no, no. Do you have which office did you go to? Did you have to Well? When you say a rap hole county specifically, what office? A county? Human Services off of Alameda, right across the library. Okay, gotcha. Now when you go to human Services do you have to make an appointment? Last? I don't know. Sometime, I honestly don't know whenever I've gone.

You said you've gone in there and someone was rude to you. When did you go in? I went in a few weeks ago to speak with them, and I didn't have an appointment or anything, and they told me they were going to have a family resource navigator give me a call. They called me like four days later. And this was about like trying to get assistance to that at my parents' house. If I told you what I've been through in my story, you would be no, no, I know.

I don't want to go through it right now. What I want to do is try to just stop the bleeding right now. We got to stop access to your account. There's got to be a way to do this without pulling teeth. So when you call them and say someone hacked my account, please do not disperse any money to that card, what do they say? They told me to call the the place who issued the card and to give him my card number, which I don't have a card. That's what's stupid.

They're telling you to do something you can't do because you don't have the card exactly, and they don't listen to you. Nope, come on, do you have the name? Okay, do you have the name of somebody you've talked to? My chief manager is Angela, and apparently she's not in the office. I've been emailing with Lynn at a Rapaho County and she's the one who told me to call the to call the place and to give them my card number the balance. So this Lynn that you've emailed, who is she?

She worked for a Rapaho County and what does she do? Let me see what her title is like? Is she in human services there? Yes, let me see. I have this email out here. You know, it's funny they call it human services. Why wouldn't they just call it services? But anyway, right, so the Family Support Registry customer service. That's what you want, okay, I need Here's what I need you to do for us. I need that name and email, and I need whoever else

you talk to along with your name and number. Give it to Kachina. I'm going to write an email. Then I'm going to give it to somebody to work on. I'm not sure who yet, Kachina, but I'll take the first round and write this letter to the to the customer service, because we need to put them on notice that this woman is not getting her money and they can't hold her responsible. They need to make up for it. So hang on, okay, dear, okay, thanks? You know what,

it really is frustrating when people get worked over like this. Were you going to say something a dollar before you had your mic, you were going to say something, have you dealt with these? No? I was just listening to her. I just wondered, how do you know what I was going to say? Dragon? How do you know? I said one breadth of the word. How do you know? I said? Have you ever worked with these? And it's like he knew he was on the button almost

because you knew what I was thinking. You know what I was going to say, right, because I dealt with these people. I know that they are okay and that. But it's amazing how I didn't even say it and everyone heard it. Okay, So have you dealt with these people? You have? But I just wonder if her husband worked last week because of the

holiday, maybe that's why she didn't get a payment. But she said someone applied for a card intentionally get the email notification or text notification that it should be deposited and it will. Yeah, and then they also took away her online access. But how does someone how does someone log in to her account? I mean, really just a normal web portal user name and passwords? I guess. I guess there's all kinds a cyber crime. Don't they sell

that card automatically? I think that their default the card, But why would they send it to a new It go with a sure thing Denver's Best Roofer Excel roofing dot com. You don't pay a cent until you're content. Time for an insurance check up free no obligation comparison call Compass insurance paying too much your coverage at dozens of insurance companies. Find out now three oh three seven

seven to one help. You'll think you're his only customer when you choose Frank durand the real estate Man dot com to list your home with Remax Alliance. Three oh three nine two zero sixteen twenty two. Hi Tom Martino, you're troubleshooter. Three oh three seven one three talk seven one three eight two five five, Welcome to the show. Eight eight eight Heating dot Com. I stress them because they're good, honest people, and a lot of people have

If you have an air conditioning issue, who do I call? These guys are good and I know them for years. Three oh three seven seven zero two seven seven six eight eight eight Heating dot Com. All right, so it's it's quite interesting some of the issues people have with online and cyber attacks. There are a lot of them people and I don't know. I think a lot of times people do things that are stupid without knowing it. There are so many ways to get hacked on public Wi fis, and you know,

you go to a Starbucks, you may not think about it. You're using your phone, you may not think about it. And thieves are becoming more and more sophisticated on stealing access. So I don't know who's doing it to her or if it's being done, but she says she can no longer gain access. We're going to look into that for her, thorn do. What's happening? Well, I'm thankful to be alive. Tom. Let me first say I've enjoyed listening to your show many times over the years. I

appreciate what you do. I was helping a friend. I was gonna help her transplant plant transplant a new plant into her yard, called eight one one to get lines located. Uh, somebody came out marked lines, painted stripes all over the yard on where utilities were supposed to be, went to the corner of the yard with no painted markings, dug a hole a couple of feet deep with metal post hole diggers and got electrocuted. Well, well you

didn't get electricity. Your sho's still here, but you got a pretty bad shot. Yeah. Well, well, fortunately there were rubble rubber handles on the metal post hole diggers. Did it knock you on your ass? No, it just put up a big puff of smoke and a spark. And there was a single spark that rose up on the cloud of smoke. I knew i'd hit something. Hey, Thorne, let me ask you something this eight one one When you called him, they went all over the yard.

Yeah, as far as I know they well did you know? Usually what they do usually is you tell them what you're doing, and they go in the vicinity of what you're doing. For example, if you told them I'm going to be doing this and then you go to the other side of the yard, that could happen. Tell me, tell me what no no,

I told him. I told him there's there's two metal boxes in the corner of the yard, in the northwest corner of the property, and I was going to locate the shrub right adjacent to those, So they knew exactly what I was talking about. Uh. What turns out is Highland's Ranch Community Association has a great big sprinkler control panel just outside the property. And what they did not mark is the electrical connection between the junction box inside the property and

the Highlands Ranch. Now, who did not mark it? You mean the eight one one people didn't eight one to one locate, did not mark it. So I reported it to them, told them what happened. They come out the next day and they locate They painted new stripes to identify the pet you know, the route of the line that goes to that electrical that sprinkler control box. And they painted right through the bottom of the hole that I had already dug. And so I took pictures of all the new paint showing

that they located the line through the bottom of the hole. So what you're saying, what you're saying is had they done the job right the first time, they would have marked it there right correct, and I wouldn't have dug there. Okay, gotcha? So now what So that's what I'm asking you. I'm looking for ideas, okay, but ideas for what I'm not sure what you're asking ideas for what? You know? I called them back. I said, I want a green light on a written statement that the repair

has been efluctuated before I do anything to even fill in the hole. Oh oh oh. In other words, youth, think, did did anything break when you did that? Uh? I clearly penetrated some sort of electrical connection. So did they listen? They You're not afraid that they're going to try to pop you with any kind of damage? Right? No? No? But I want I want a green light on the repair being uh, you

know, I want a written statement that the repair has been made. And I think it apology is appropriate because well, obviously, obviously you would think logically they would apologize that they almost killed you. But here's here's the deal though. Okay, seriously, you're not going to get a written statement of anything. Okay, they're they're they're just not going to do it. But what I want to know is what were you doing in that area? Are

you Were you just planting something? No, I was digging a hole for a plant that had been purchased. That's what I asked. You were planting something. So what I want to know is this, If you simply don't plant there and just fill up the hole, why do you care if it's a sprinkler, control valve or cable, why do you care if they fixed

it or not? Well, because if the homeowner, even if the homeowner fills in the hole and then there's something wrong between that connection with that sprink or control panel and what's inside her property, she's going to get blind for it. I don't think so. I don't think so. You could take responsibility and the other thing, and this is what's really important. They are

incompetent. I could have easily been killed. Thankful to God that I wouldn't, right, But I don't trust these people anymore, and I don't think anybody else should either. No, that that is no. Really, that is a scary thought that they came out there and missed that. But do why do you think they missed it? Did they give you any explanation at all? I would have thought that they would have. Did they say now

that I've reported it? And I got this barrage of emails from different utility providers saying we don't have anything there, because you know, they reports the incident to like eight or nine different UH providers facilities providers, and so I get all these emails, none of which was from Excel, and I talked to Excel Energy of the next who runs I was just going to ask you something, who runs that eight one one? Who are they? I have no idea. I take it as a state. I actually don't know the

answer. They have several contractors because I've don't like them, all right, So eight one one is just an aggregate number that you call and they assign someone to it who pays for it? I imagine all the utilities chip in in't it? Because it's think all the utility rate players chip in. I guarantee you there's a charge on my bill every month for eight one one locates. Maybe not so clearly marked like that, but no, but it's buried in the rate you know. So here, what do you right now?

What you want is acknowledgment that you didn't do anything wrong, So this homeowner is not blamed. Correct. I think you've documented enough. Do you think that if you just go ahead and and just fill the hole back up? Do you just going to back fill the hole? But but I don't think that's the end of it. No, But but I don't see how they can blame her for anything, even if, by the way, you have a fear that if something goes wrong with the system, they're going to go

to that neighbor and say you did some landscaping and did damage. Yeah, and the and the complaining party might be Highland's ranch community. Well, if I were you, I would take out my cell phone and do a selfie video. I was digging here. They failed to locate. They located it after I popped a line and almost killed myself. I am documenting this so the homeowner is not blamed for not doing it properly. I would be done with it. I think you're overthinking it. I really, I really think

you're overthinking it. Go with a sure thing Denver's Best roofer Excel Roofing dot com. You don't pay a cent until you're content. Time for an insurance checkup free, no obligation. In comparison, call Compass Insurance paying too much your coverage at dozens of insurance companies find out now three O three seven seven to one. Help. You'll think you're his only customer when you choose Frank durand the real estate Man dot com to list your home with Remax Alliance three

oh three nine two zero sixteen twenty two. Hey, I'm Tom Martino. You're troubleshooter. So I have a really important text question here. What is the financial benefit of paying off a mortgage early if I have the money, compared with investing the extra money in stocks or bonds. So let's let's analyze it. You have a mortgage on one hand, let's say that one hundred grand. Let's say and you have one hundred grand to pay it off. Should you pay it off? Or should you invest it. There's a very

simple answer to that, interest rates. It's all in the math. If you're paying more on your mortgage, then you can make in investments. Then you go for you pay it off if you're paying more, if your mortgage is costing you more than the opportunity, so the opportunity cost is what you need to look at. So let's say you could make ten percent on your money and you're paying six percent on your loan. Well, obviously you would

invest the money. And some people will say yes, but that's not entirely true because you're not sure if you can make ten percent and there's no sure investment. Therefore, maybe I should pay off my house. Now that's true. If you can't make solid investments to meet or beat that mortgage, then obviously you should pay off your mortgage. And in fact, paying off a mortgage is more than just math. It's security because you can always retap it if you need to. All right, so we're running out of time.

I'm Tom Martino. Remember I want you to call three oh three Martino three oh three six two seven eight four six' six for help, information and referrals. You leave your name and we will get back to you remember, save all your problems for me.