Money Making Schemes

Nagesh answers:

No, it is not illegal if you are indeed the person who bought something and did not pay for it. It is customary business practice for creditors to send monthly statements to debtors stating the balance of money owing. However, creditors are not legally obligated to send out statements. It is the debtors’ responsibility to be aware of money they owe and to pay the money immediately.

If creditors are not paid, they have the right to recover their money by legal means. One of these means commonly used is to refer the matter to a collections agency. If you are NOT the person who made the purchase and it is a case of mistaken identity, you will have to prove that you were not the person involved.

If I understand what you are saying, you have no documents in your possession concerning the relevant transaction. I recommend that you obtain a copy of your credit report from one of the credit reporting agencies (Equifax or Transunion). The report will show the name of the company that has reported the delinquent account. This could refresh your memory about making the purchase or confirm that you did not do so.

Your next step would be to contact the collections agency and either agree to pay the money owing or prove to them that a case of mistaken identity exists. Try to be cooperative with them as this will help you to resolve the matter quickly. After the matter is resolved, you have to contact the credit reporting agency again to ensure that your credit report is amended.

It is up to you now to do all you can to re-establish your creditworthiness.

Good luck!

Nagesh answers:

What A republican who stone walls the press and refuses interviews!

Ignore the smoke and mirrors, the real power in the GOP is who controls the billionaire money, since it can now legally be funneled to any candidate. A candidate can always buy the supporters he needs, when he has the bagmen in his pocket.

Nagesh answers:

Most people in your position turn to credit cards. (Seriously!).

You might try to find someone who will give you an arts grant. Your state government probably has an arts granting council, and there may also be local arts support organizations. Many corporations also have arts grants (usually administered through their public relations departments). But unless the grant is especially designated for new artists, the odds are almost zero that you’ll get one–they tend to like established, reliable artists for their money.

If you do go for a grant, the key is to read the grant application guidelines over and over and make certain your application meets every single point of those guidelines–in detail!

Now, the only other possibility would be to find private investors who would buy “shares” in your project. This is a situation where there are some legal issues, so consult with an attorney or at least a banker if your friends and family are kicking in $100 per share, to make certain you keep records and handle the cash legally.

(I had friends who invested in the film “Chattanooga Choo-Choo” starring Barbara Eden. Never heard of it? That must be why they never got their investments back!)

Nagesh answers:

“Winning” at auction is the equivalent of exchanging contracts. At that point most of the work is done, even in a normal transaction. There are some legal formalities that have to be completed, but nothing that is particularly onerous or time consuming.

In a “normal” transaction, with a chain, the delay between exchange and completion is often down to everyone wanting to exchange ASAP (so everyone is committed) but then everyone having to wait until all parties are ready to move.

Most auctions require completion within 28 days, and if you have the money ready you could potentially complete within a day or two.

Remember, that you are legally committed to the purchase if you win the auction. You should therefore have already done your searches, survey, etc.

Nagesh answers:

Seeing as though you are not of legal age to work yet, you can look for odd jobs in your neighborhood…maybe you see if a child down the street needs a babysitter, maybe you rake leaves for an elderly man/woman. One way that I earned money at that age was helping my aunt with her catering company, so one suggestion could be to check with family members to see if there is anything available like that. There are things you can do, but you have to be willing to look for it since you cannot legally apply for a job for another year. Good luck.