dannlaw.com

Foreclosure Defense | Ohio | Chicago | New Jersey | Oregon | New York

Cleveland Office
216-373-0539
Cincinnati Office
513-951-7124
Columbus Office
877-475-8100
NY/NJ Office
201-355-3440

Attorney Marc Dann calls on General Assembly to change statute of limitations for rape, sexual abuse

In the News

By

Former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann recently asked the members of the Ohio General Assembly to eliminate the criminal statute of limitations for rape and extend the civil statute of limitations for sexual abuse. Atty. Dann who led efforts to strengthen the state’s rape, sexual abuse, and sexual predator laws as both a member of the Ohio Senate and Attorney General cited the sexual abuse scandals that have roiled the Catholic Church, U.S. Gymnastics, Penn State, and the Ohio State University as reasons why reform is needed now more than ever.

Following is the letter he sent to Speaker of the House Larry Householder, Senate President Larry Obhoff, and all members of the GA in early June:

June 3, 2019

President Larry Obhoff

Senate Building

1 Capital Square 2nd Floor

Columbus OH 43215

Speaker Larry Householder

77 S.High St. 14th Floor

Columbus OH 43215

*Sent via electronic mail

 

         Re:            Criminal and Civil Statutes of Limitations for Rape

 

Dear Mr. President and Mr. Speaker:

I write to you today to express my support for legislation that will eliminate the criminal statute of limitations for rape in the state of Ohio. Like the current and former attorneys general who registered their support for this proposal earlier this week, I devoted much of my time as Ohio’s AG to ensuring that law enforcement had the resources needed to pursue, prosecute, and incarcerate offenders.

While I applaud the AGs for their advocacy on this important issue, anyone who truly cares about the victims of this heinous crime knows we must do more than erase the criminal SOL. We must also extend the civil statute of limitations to 20 years so that victims have the time they need to hold their rapists and their rapists’ enablers accountable for the pain and suffering they have caused.

I first learned about the terrible physical and psychological pain victims endure in 2005 when I led the effort to pass Senate Bill 17 while serving as the Ranking Member of the Senate Civil Justice Committee. After hearing harrowing testimony from women and men who had been sexually abused as children, both the Committee and the Senate unanimously passed the bill which contained a provision that extended the civil SOL to 17 years.

Unfortunately, in one of the ugliest and most destructive displays of the negative impact big money donors can exert in the state’s pervasive “pay-to-play” culture, the nation’s multi-billion-dollar insurance companies placed the pursuit of profits ahead of the interests of victims and succeeded in stripping the civil SOL extension from SB 17 when it reached the House.

Today, 14 years after that shameful act of legislative malfeasance, the need to significantly extend the civil SOL in more urgent than ever before. A fact underscored by the sexual abuse scandals that have roiled the Catholic Church, U.S. Gymnastics, Penn State, and the Ohio State University. In each of these cases as well as many others, powerful officials and administrators looked the other way as innocent boys and girls were abused. And, in many of these cases those boys and girls, who often did not come forward until years after they were assaulted, were left with little opportunity to obtain the justice and just compensation they deserved because the civil stature of limitations had run out. In effect, they have all been victimized twice: by their rapists/abusers and by a political system held captive by the insurance industry and institutions that vigorously oppose legislation that would hold them accountable.

Fortunately, Representatives Kristen Boggs and Tavia Golonski are taking up the work I and my Senate colleagues of both parties began in the Senate in 2005. They have promised to introduce a bill that will address both the criminal and civil statutes of limitations. Extends the civil SOL to 20 years and tolling it until a child victim turns 18 years of age will represent a monumental step for victims and impose much-needed accountability for those who committed monstrous acts and those who knew what was happening but chose to look away.

It is my sincere hope that the current and former AGs who registered their support for eliminating the criminal SOL will join me in advocating for victims past, present, and future.

Sincerely,

Marc Dann

By

If you or someone you know has been victimized please contact DannLaw by email or call 216-452-1028 today.

Buca di Beppo, Earl of Sandwich, Planet Hollywood, Chicken Guy, Mixology or Tequila Taqueria Data Breach
The Earl Restaurant Group just announced that that cyberthieves gained access to debit and credit card information of 2,000,000 people who visited Buca di Beppo, Earl of Sandwich, Planet Hollywood, Chicken Guy, Mixology or Tequila Taqueria restaurants in the United States between May 23, 2018, and March 18, 2019.
According to cybersecurity experts, the stolen information can be used to create counterfeit cards to purchase high-priced items from other retailers. This breach affected all Buca Di Beppo locations in Ohio; Chicago, IL; and New York City, NY as well as the Earl of Sandwich and Planet Hollywood locations in New York City.
Along with contacting DannLaw by email or phone, if you believe your credit or debit card information has been compromised we recommend that you carefully review your credit and debit card statements from the past year for any odd charges you didn’t make. Contact your bank or credit card issuer if you find suspicious activity, so you can get a new card and account number.
Kona coffee mislabeling scam
Growers in the Kona region of Hawaii have filed suit against the stores/online retailers listed below alleging they have been labeling and selling non-Kona coffee as Kona coffee for years.
As a result of this alleged fraud, consumers who purchased the mislabeled coffee have been overcharged. The amount consumers overpaid could be significant based on their coffee consumption. We are preparing to seek financial compensation for anyone who has been victimized by the mislabeling.
Retailer/online outlets include: Kroger’s, Walmart, Costco, Amazon.Com, Bed Bath & Beyond, T.J. Maxx, Marshalls Albertson’s, Safeway, Pacific Coffee Inc., Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc., Hawaiian Isles Kona Coffee, Cost Plus/World Market, Boyer’s Coffee Company, Inc., Java LLC, A Copper Moon Coffee, Gold Coffee Roasters, Cameron’s Coffee.
Wells Fargo Loan Modification Scam
Wells FargoThe scam artists at Wells Fargo strike again. This time the bank enticed homeowners to apply for trial mortgage loan modifications even though they knew the borrowers had little if any chance of being offered a permanent modification. That didn’t matter to Wells-the lender simply wanted people to make additional, higher payments as they moved toward foreclosure.
Wells sent its latest victims a letter of apology and a check for $300. We believe homeowners deserve much more. If you or someone you know were involved in this incident contact us today so we can evaluate your situation and determine if you are entitled to financial compensation.

By

Since July 2, 2018, the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) has allowed the state’s 200 deputy registrars to charge people obtaining or renewing driver’s licenses or state-issued I.D.s a $1.50 lamination fee even though the registrars were no longer producing—or laminating—the cards on site. As a result, an estimated two million Ohioans have been charged $3 million for a service that was not performed.

Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio, told the Columbus Dispatch the registrars should not be pocketing the fee. “Clearly, the registrars should not be charging for something they are not providing … that’s not fair. Many of us don’t think about a buck fifty, it’s not a big deal. But it is a big deal when you think about being charged extra fees for no reason. We want to spend our money on what we expected.”

Attorney Marc Dann, founder of the Cleveland-based consumer protection law firm DannLaw agrees with Ms. Turcer. And, if the messages that have been pouring into the firm’s Facebook page are any indication, so do people who paid the bogus fee. “We posted an item on our Facebook page asking anyone who has renewed their license or state I.D. since last July to contact us,” the former Ohio attorney general said. “The response was overwhelming. Those who paid the fee were outraged. They want their money back and they want the state to stop ripping people off.”

Today the legal team at DannLaw took the first step toward recovering the unwarranted fees by filing a class action suit against the BMV in the Ohio Court of Claims. The suit asks the Court to award anyone who paid the lamination fee $1.50 plus interest. The complaint may be read/downloaded here:Madyda Alexander 2019 03 19 Complaint – Lamination Fee INITIAL DRAFT (002)

“While the dollar amount on a per-person basis may be small, there’s nothing trivial about the BMV allowing the registrars to pocket $3 million for doing nothing,” Atty. Dann said. “If everyone shrugs their shoulders and says ‘it’s only a buck fifty’ does that mean it’s ok for the state to grab five dollars or ten dollars from its citizens? Where do you draw the line? At its core, this case isn’t about the $1.50, it’s about holding government officials accountable for their actions. That’s the best way to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again.”

According to Atty. Joe Romano of Bay Village, Ohio who is serving as co-counsel on the case the overcharges stem from the fact that in order to comply with federal regulations the BMV itself rather than the registrars began producing and mailing the licenses and I.D. cards last July. “Apparently, and this is something we hope to learn more about as the case progresses, neither the deputy registrars nor the staff at the BMV noticed that people were still being charged the $1.50 lamination fee even though the registrars weren’t laminating a darn thing,” he said.

By

In a pleading filed on Wednesday, February 14, former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann has asked the Ohio Supreme Court to order the release of documents related to the Ohio Public Employee Retirement Systems (OPERS) $300,000,000 investment in hedge funds managed by Glouston Capital Partners, LLC. Dann is seeking a Writ of Mandamus from the Court because OPERS and Glouston have repeatedly refused to comply with public records requests submitted by investigative journalist John Damschroder.

The pleading and documents may be viewed by following the links below:

Damschroder, whose interest in the funds was spurred by reports of the high costs and low returns associated with the state’s hedge fund investments, began filing public records requests with OPERS in June of 2018. Pension system officials were slow to comply and the materials they did provide were heavily redacted including those related to Glouston-controlled single-investor funds Ohio Midwest 1, Ohio Midwest II, Ohio Midwest III and Equity Opportunities. Glouston claimed the redactions were justified because they either involved trade secrets or were protected by confidentiality agreements between the firm and OPERS.

Unsatisfied with Glouston’s response, especially because some of the redacted information was posted on the company’s website and there was no evidence that the confidentiality agreements the firm referenced actually existed, Damschroder resubmitted his public records request on November 15, 2018. Neither OPERS nor Glouston has responded.

In the meantime, Damschroder became concerned that corruption had crept into the investment process when he learned that the Securities and Exchange Commission imposed a $100,000 fine on an Ohio fund manager for violations of the SEC’s “pay-to-play” rules. The Commission noted that persons associated with the fund had made campaign contributions of nearly $50,000 to Ohio’s Governor, Treasurer, and candidates for governor. The SEC Order also noted that the Governor and Treasurer were involved in the decision-making process for the investment of Ohio public pension monies.

The unjustified refusal to turn over public documents combined with the existence of possible corruption motivated Damschroder to reach out to former AG Dann. Ironically, both Dann and Damschroder played key roles in unraveling the Coingate scandal that rocked Ohio government in 2005 and 2006. At that time, the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation refused to release records related to the BWC’s decision to invest more than $50,000,000 in a rare coin fund managed by Republican Party official and major donor Tom Noe.   

Eventually the Ohio Supreme Court ordered the BWC to turn over the documents which revealed a web of corruption that sent Noe to federal prison, cost a number of state employees their jobs, and led to Bob Taft becoming the only governor in Ohio history to plead guilty to crimes while in office. Dann is seeking the Writ of Mandamus on the basis of the Court’s decision in the Coingate case.

Both Dann and Damschroder are concerned about the parallels between the Coingate affair and the Glouston-managed hedge funds—a concern intensified by the fact that Glouston has invested money in Drive Capital, a private equity fund co-founded by Mark Kvamme, a venture capitalist who is close to former Gov. John Kasich. Kasich recruited Kvamme to move from California to run JobsOhio in 2011, a position he left a year later.

“You would have to be blind to miss the similarities between the two situations,” Dann said. “Any time a government agency works this hard to keep secrets you just have to wonder what they have to hide. Maybe it’s nothing, maybe it’s something, but the public has a right to know and we’re going to fight to protect that right.”

By

Jose Aguilar lost his home and his family when Wells unjustly denied their application for a mortgage loan modification. DannLaw is helping him fight for justice.

This morning our client, Jose Aguilar was featured on the CBS Morning News. Jose lost his home to foreclosure when Wells Fargo unjustly denied his application for a mortgage loan modification.

This story puts a very real human face on the damage Wells and other banks and mortgage servicers do when they cavalierly and callously abuse borrowers. As you can see, families and lives are often destroyed. Wells’ solution: throw a few bucks at a person like Jose and walk away.

Well, Jose decided the few dollars Wells offered is not just compensation for the destruction of the life he and his family once enjoyed. We are both humbled and proud that he chose to empower DannLaw to help him fight for justice.

This story shows why we do what we do, and why we will never stop fighting for people like Jose…

https://www.cbsnews.com/…/wells-fargo-loan-modification-er…/

Read the transcript of the story below…

Wells Fargo says a computer glitch is partly to blame for an error affecting an estimated 500 customers who lost their homes. The giant bank filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission last month, revealing it incorrectly denied 870 loan modification requests. About 60 percent of those homeowners went into foreclosure.

Legislators, housing advocates, regulators and most importantly, the people who lost their homes – people like Jose Aguilar – are asking how this happened.

“It’s been very hard for me. It’s something I wouldn’t wish upon anybody,” Aguilar told CBS News correspondent Anna Werner.

These days, Aguilar can only drive by the home he and his family lost to foreclosure three years ago, the small ranch house in upstate New York where they wanted to raise their children.

“I used to look there and see how many times my kids and I used to run up and down, ride our bikes,” Aguilar said.

He said the problems began when he and his ex-wife found mold in the house. He tried to remediate it himself but fell a few months behind on the mortgage payments. So the couple asked their lender Wells Fargo to modify their loan to lower their monthly payment.

“At first they told me, ‘OK, you know, you might be able to qualify for a loan modification,'” Aguilar said.

But he said then came the delays – weeks, then months – waiting for a decision.

“Then the whole process just started all over again. And then it got to the point we were a year behind,” Aguilar said.

Finally, Wells Fargo turned them down.

“What was your reaction, I mean, after all that time?” Werner asked.

“At that point I just gave up,” Aguilar said.

He and his wife split up. The house went into foreclosure. With the hit to his credit, Aguilar said he found no one would rent to him.

“At that point my son and I had to move to the basement of a friend’s house and we stayed there for three months, and we had nothing. We had a couch and my son had a bed,” Aguilar said, choking up with emotion. “I felt worthless. I felt like I had let my family down.”

Then in September this year, nearly three years later, he got a letter from Wells Fargo. “Dear Jose Aguilar,” it read, “We made a mistake… we’re sorry.” It said the decision on his loan modification was based “on a faulty calculation” and his loan “should have been” approved.

“It’s just like, ‘Are you serious? Are you kidding me?’ Like they destroyed my kids’ life and my life, and now you want me to – ‘We’re sorry?'” Aguilar said.

Wells Fargo now said that “calculation error” on loan modifications affected 870 customers over an eight year period, customers who either were denied loan modifications or “were not offered a modification in cases where they would have otherwise qualified.” About 545 of those customers ultimately lost their homes to foreclosure.

At least some of those people got a check from Wells Fargo along with the letter. In Aguilar’s case, it was for $25,000. But his attorney Marc Dann said that doesn’t begin to cover his total losses.

“So how do you think they came up with the amounts of money that they handed out to people?” Werner asked.

“That’s what we want to find out. We want to find out what went wrong, how it went wrong,” Dann said.

Alys Cohen is with the National Consumer Law Center.

“The question is, how did this happen? Aren’t they supposed to check their computer programs regularly to make sure they’re accurate?” Cohen said. “This is clearly more than just a simple computer mistake.”

Wells Fargo declined to do an on-camera interview. The company could not say how much money it expects to pay out in remediation to customers. But Aguilar said it’s not just about money.

“I want Wells Fargo to know that there’s people out there with feelings and families that try hard to pay their bills and survive. We’re real people, we’re not just money,” Aguilar said.

Wells Fargo said it plans to work with each of those customers to reach a resolution. The bank is also offering no-cost mediation. Meanwhile, non-profit groups and some legislators are pushing for more answers.

By

Lodging company data breach exposes hundreds of millions to identity theft, consumer fraud

DannLaw, one of the nation’s leading consumer protection law firms, is urging victims of the massive Starwood data breach to immediately take steps to both protect their personal information and preserve their right to seek financial compensation from the Marriott Corporation, Starwood’s parent company.

Last week Marriott announced that sensitive information belonging to 500,000,000 million people who used the company’s Starwood reservations system has been accessed by cybercriminals. According to the company the hackers copied names, addresses, dates of birth, passport numbers, email addresses, phone numbers, and encrypted credit card information from the Starwood reservation system. The company admits that the perpetrators may be able to overcome the encryption and use the credit card numbers.

“Starwood had a legal, ethical, and moral obligation to protect the information they obtained from consumers,” Atty. Marc Dann said. “The company utterly failed to meet those obligations and now as many as 500 million people are at risk of having their identities stolen and their credit damaged or ruined by cyber criminals. They must be held accountable for their actions.”

Atty. Dann noted that Marriott, like other companies that allowed customers’ personal data to be compromised, waited months to reveal that the reservation system had been hacked. “Even worse, cybersecurity experts agree that the company missed multiple opportunities to detect and/or prevent the breach since it occurred in 2014,” the former Ohio Attorney General said.

Those experts include Andrei Barysevich, a researcher with the security company Recorded Future Inc., who told the Wall Street Journal that a small breach the company suffered in 2015 should have set off alarms. “With all the resources they have, they should have been able to isolate hackers back in 2015,” he said. Instead, hackers mined the company’s reservation system for nearly four years.

“As a result, what could and should have been a minor problem has become one of the largest security failures in history,” Atty. Dann said. “Whether willful or careless, it appears that Marriott violated a number of consumer protection laws, and that means victims may be entitled to substantial compensation.”

Anyone who used the Starwood system to reserve a room at one of the following properties in the past four years may be at risk:

  • Sheraton Hotels & Resorts
  • Four Points by Sheraton
  • Westin Hotels & Resorts,
  • W Hotels
  • Regis, Element Hotels
  • Aloft Hotels,
  • The Luxury Collection,
  • Tribute Portfolio,
  • Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts, and
  • Design Hotels.
  • Starwood-branded timeshare properties

“Anyone who believes their personal or credit card information has been stolen should visit https://answers.kroll.com/, the website Marriott set up to deal with the problem and take advantage of the opportunity to enroll in WebWatcher for free,” Atty. Dann said. “But please, do not agree to any waiver or release the company offers via email, regular mail, or via phone. The last thing a victim of the company’s carelessness should do is surrender their right to hold Marriott accountable at a later date.”

Atty. Dann also urged anyone whose data may have been compromised to arrange a free consultation with the firm’s highly experienced legal team by calling 877-475-8100 or by completing the form that may be accessed at  https://docs.google.com/…/1FAIpQLSfWi22blTFnoe5fLD…/viewform “We will be happy to walk people through the steps they need to take to preserve their rights under the law.”

Finally, Atty. Dann suggested that potential victims take the following steps to protect themselves and their families:

  • Marriott is notifying impacted consumers by email. The email will come from [email protected]. When other companies provided notifications in this manner, cybercriminals sent fake emails asking individuals to provide information about themselves by providing links to fake websites or impersonating someone trusted. The email being sent by Starwood will not contain any attachments or request any information from consumers and links will only take recipients to the breach web site.
  • Check credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion and look for any unauthorized entries or accounts.
  • Place a free credit freeze on your files. A credit freeze makes it harder for someone to open a new account in your name.
  • If you decide against a credit freeze, consider placing a fraud alert on your files. A fraud alert warns creditors that you may be an identity theft victim and that they should verify that anyone seeking credit in your name really is you;
  • Change your login information on your Starwood accounts. If you used that same username and password on other sites, change those as well;
  • Consider placing alerts on your financial accounts so your financial institution alerts you when money above a pre-designated amount is withdrawn;
  • Beware of potential phishing emails; don’t open email messages or attachments from unknown senders and do not click on any unknown links. Fraudsters will frequently send coercive and misleading emails threatening account suspension or worse if sensitive information is not provided;
  • Remember, businesses will never ask customers to verify account information via email or phone. If in doubt, contact the business in question directly for verification and to report phishing emails and phone calls; and
  • Be on the lookout for spoofed email address. Spoofed email addresses are those that make minor changes in the domain name, such as changing the letter O to the number zero, or lowercase letter I to the number one. Scrutinize all incoming email addresses to ensure that the sender is truly legitimate.