Bloomfield Chamber

Green Funeral Information

Most states do allow individuals to act completely on their own -- or with the help of funeral "midwives" who are now available in many locations. But there are rules about how people may proceed. And a few states throw up roadblocks to acting independently, requiring that a funeral director handle the disposition of a deceased person.

Prepaid Funerals

If you are interested in setting aside a fund of money to pay for your final arrangements in Bloomfield, a more prudent approach may be to contact a bank or savings institution to set up a Totten trust -- an account earmarked to pay for your final arrangements. Unlike money applied to traditional funeral prepayment plans, the trust funds are easily transferred or withdrawn if need be and you have complete control over the money during your life.

Planning Your Funeral or Memorial Service

Whatever final arrangements you make in Bloomfield, you have several options for covering costs: You can pay everything up front, set up a payment plan, or simply decide what you want and leave enough money for your survivors to pay the bills. There are reasons to be wary of plans that have you pay for everything in advance, however, so be sure you're dealing with a reputable provider of goods and services and carefully document your arrangements for your survivors.

Income Requirements for Roommates Vs. Married Couples

Unfair as it may seem, in most states and cities the law preventing discrimination based on familial status does not protect single people from being treated differently than married people.

Transferring a Lease to a New Tenant

You can pawn off your lease -- or assign it to another person -- and thereby avoid being responsible for any damage for which the assignee fails to pay. But you will still be responsible for any unpaid rent, unless you get your landlord to expressly relieve you of that possibility.

How to Deal with a Pet Too Large for the Lease

If you need to end the lease, bring your lease with you and ask the manager to write "Terminated" on it, date it and have everyone sign. That way, you will have proof that you were not evicted -- important information in a tight housing market. Your next prospective landlord is sure to check.

Being Refused an Apartment Because of Criminal Record

Only certain kinds of discrimination, such as that based on race, ethnicity, religion, family status and disability are recognized as illegal. Many states and some localities have added others -- such as gender and sexual orientation -- but convicted felons are not now on any state's list.

Tenant Law Information

A month-to-month tenancy can usually be terminated for any reason that's not discriminatory. For example, you may not be evicted because you're a member of a certain race, religion, sex, ethnicity, and so on. And the termination must not be retaliatory -- because you complained about unfit living conditions to a building inspector, for instance.

Property Damage Law

If your neighbor is using the fence -- that is, if his property is also enclosed by it -- both of you are responsible for taking care of it. He cannot cause it to rust without paying up at least a share of the damage. If the fence belongs totally to you, your neighbor is in even deeper trouble. He single-handedly is ruining your property. First, do nothing on your side of the fence to make matters worse.

Noise Level Laws

Most cities have noise level laws prohibiting prolonged noise over a certain decibel level. Check your city's ordinance either online, at the local public law library, or by calling the city clerk. Then, measure the noise: You can purchase a meter at a local electronics store or ask the police or city noise agency to measure the noise for you.

Land and Tenant Law Information

As unsatisfying as it felt in the past, your first line of defense is still your landlord. Have another chat. Restate the specifics of the music problem. And point out that you can hardly be expected to intuit when your neighbor is taking a shower.

If the landlord refuses to intervene, you have a couple of other possible courses of action.

Land Use Legal Information

Are the pine trees truly unsound and likely to fall? If the trees are indeed dangerous, someone has to act quickly, before injury occurs. Pool damage and removing a downed tree probably isn't your greatest concern; insurance would step in to pay for at least part of that.

Estate Protection Law Information

Your best bet is to gather other offended neighbors together and write an ordinance, then lobby your local lawmakers to pass it. Unfortunately, this can be an onerous process that stirs up much in the way of personal politics and backbiting.

Neighbor Law Information

Where is the tree? If it is on your father's property, he will likely be responsible for the tree removal cost all by his lonesome. But if the tree straddles the property lines, then the neighbor is a co-owner and is responsible for sharing the cost of upkeep and removal if necessary.

Property Protection Law

It is true that in some states, you could lose property if you've given up the use of it for five to seven years, and if the neighbor were to go to court to get a judgment to that effect. This is called prescriptive easement. However, giving permission to the neighbor to use the property "defeats" a claim of adverse possession.

Property Law Information

Your lender will probably tell you a date by which you need to find a buyer, close the deal, and pay the lender the amount you owe it. Or, if you can't sell your house for the full amount owed, your lender may agree to accept less, in what's called a "short sale".

Real Estate Business Law Information

One possibility is simply to negotiate a delay on the closing on the house you're selling. You may have to compensate the buyers for any losses or inconvenience this causes. And the buyers may simply say no, for example if the rate lock on their mortgage loan will expire by then.

Rejecting Full-Price Offers

It's perfectly legal in most states for the seller to reject a full-price offer, or indeed any offer (unless the reasons are discriminatory). The exception is that in certain states, sellers must accept a full-price, "clean" offer -- that is, one that comes with no contingencies, such as the sale being conditional upon financing or approving the results of a home inspection.

Legal Disputes about Residents' Cable Fee

If the owners voted, you're probably stuck with the decision. As one of the owners in the association, you sign up for what the majority wants. On the other hand, if the board made the decision, you may be able to successfully challenge it based on whether the new rule is reasonable for the residents as a whole.

Legal Information about Tenant Eviction

Every state has procedures for serving defendants who are hard to find or crafty at avoiding the process server. You're lucky that the server was able to find the husband at work. When process servers can't physically locate and approach a defendant, they often use an alternate system, known as posting and mailing, colloquially referred to as nail and mail.

Tenant Disputes

An unauthorized occupant is, theoretically, nothing other than a trespasser, and your state has ways to get rid of those -- beginning with a call to your local police. There should be no reason, legally, why you and your tenant can't change the locks to keep out a trespasser.

Court Preparation Information for Landlords

When you do land in court, you will need to convince the judge that the damage was not there when the irate tenant moved in, that you have spent reasonably for needed repairs, and that you followed your state's procedures for itemizing deductions and refunding the balance of the deposit.

Dividing Damages between Departing Cotenants

If both tenants were on the rental agreement, both are responsible for leaving the place clean and undamaged. Best of all, it is not up to you to attempt to divine who did what when. That is courtesy of a legal principle known as joint and several liability. It simply means that any one of your two cotenants may be required -- by you or a judge -- to pay for all the damage and even all the rent. How the two cotenants split up the responsibility and the attendant bill is between them.

Pet Protection and Tenant Law

Giving up a cat is never easy -- but cat allergies are no joke. Your tenant was fairly warned. You made it plain in your ad that pets were not allowed, so she was legally bound by this rule unless you did something that would make her think you'd changed your mind.

Landlord Legal Information

You do not come across as an ogre; increasing the rent some after five long years seems to be a reasonable move. But first check your own lease to make sure that your landlord didn't specify that any subleasing by you could not be for an amount higher than the rent you pay (or would pay for that portion of the space you're subleasing).

Cable Fee Disputes between Tenants

While this cable idea was not yours from the get-go, you might want to pretend it was.There are likely economic incentives for embracing it warmly. When the current tenants move out, you will be able to charge a higher rent based on network-ready cabling.

Landlord Law Information

If the unpainted and unclean conditions are genuine health risks, you should certainly take action. Call the health department and describe the situation. Depending on the agency's workload and the severity of the problems, you might get some action. If you're worried about deteriorating lead-based paint, by all means call.

Tenants' Security Deposits

It is not a good idea to mix a tenant's security deposit with your other money or spend it as you wish. Legally speaking, it is not your money: A security deposit belongs to the tenant until it is later refunded or applied to cover unpaid rent or damage beyond normal wear and tear.

Term Lease Legal Information

When a fixed term lease ends, that's it. You can, of course, send the tenants a polite note reminding them of the approaching end of their time on your premises, but California state law does not require it. (Other states do require 30 days' notice even with a fixed term lease.

Going to Court

If you decide that you don't have the time or inclination to represent yourself and you want to hire a lawyer to handle your case, there are several ways you can minimize your stress and maximize your chances of success. Read on to learn more information below.

Gap Insurance for Your Car

Gap protection -- which is often referred to as insurance, though it is actually a debt cancellation agreement -- is designed to cover this difference between auto value and auto loan. Before you pay for gap protection, though, consider how a gap occurs and how you can close it.

Buying Car Insurance

If you are at fault in a car accident, liability insurance pays for the damages that you cause to someone else. It does not pay for your own damages. There are two kinds of liability insurance: bodily injury and property damage. Learn about the different types of automobile insurance coverage and how to cut costs when insuring your car.

Automobile Service Contracts

Sometimes service contracts are worth the extra money, but often they're not. To determine if a particular contract is worth the money, carefully consider the following aspects like the cost, length, and coverage.

Buying a Used Car

Before you hit the used car lots and classified ads, you should get an idea of the make, model, and year of car you want. Getting a good deal on a used car involves both negotiating a good price and taking steps to make sure the car is reliable.

Buying a Car

Before you step into a dealership, decide which car you want to buy. Or, at the very least, narrow your choices down to just a few. There are many ways to comparison shop outside of a dealership.

Joining an Investment Club

Investment clubs can be fun, educational, and profitable -- should you join one? Before you can decide if joining or starting an investment club is right for you, you have to know something about how they operate.

Green Investing

"Green investing" is often used interchangeably with "socially responsible investing" (SRI), but SRI has a broader focus in that it embraces companies that have a positive impact on society, not just the environment. Here are some of the options for building a green portfolio.

Long-Term Care Insurance

Insurance companies advertise long-term care insurance as a necessary protection against the high cost of care, but is it really a good investment? Remember that you may never need long-term care at all, or you might not need enough care to collect much in the way of insurance benefits.

Choosing a Prescription Drug Plan

If you qualify for Medicaid, you will be automatically enrolled in a Part D plan. However, you may switch plans if you find one better suited to your needs. Before you contact any agency or counselor for help choosing a Part D plan, read on the article to get more information.

Medicare Managed Care Plans

Medicare managed care plans fill the gaps in basic Medicare, as do medigap policies. However, Medicare managed care plans and medigap policies operate in different ways. Medigap policies work alongside Medicare to pay the bills: Medical bills are sent both to Medicare and to a medigap insurer, and each pays a portion of the approved charges.

Medicare Managed Care

For many people, the most important factor in choosing a Medicare managed care plan is whether the doctors, hospital, and other providers they already use and trust are in the plan's network of providers. If your hospital or doctors are not in the network, you will have to find new doctors, which is never an easy or comfortable process. Also, you might have to use a hospital that is more distant from your home.

Medigap

Before you buy a medigap insurance policy, consider not only the services covered, but the amount of benefits and the monthly cost of the policy. Also pay attention to two other factors: how much premiums may rise in the years to come and, assuming you are willing to pay those premiums, whether you will be allowed to keep the policy.

Getting the Most from your Health Insurance

There are a number of federal laws that govern your health insurance. These laws address everything from interruptions in coverage to coverage for newborn babies to mental health coverage. Read on to learn more about any of the following laws and your health insurance benefits work for you.

Social Security Benefits

Four basic categories of Social Security benefits are paid based upon the record of your earnings: retirement, disability, dependents, and survivors benefits. Read on to learn about the different types of Social Security benefits and how they are paid, including retirement, disability, dependents, and survivors benefits.

How to Diversify Your Investments

When it comes to investing in Bloomfield, savvy money managers advise that you spread your money around -- that is, "diversify" your investments. Investment diversification protects your money from adverse stock market conditions.

Personal Finance for Women

Though men and women are more similar than different when it comes to managing money, there are a handful of personal finance challenges that are unique to women. So for these women, here's how to manage your money, survive divorce or widowhood, and plan for retirement.

Avoiding Credit Card Debt

Credit cards, if used unwisely, can lead to a mountain of debt. If you charge more than you can afford, make low monthly payments, or pay late, you may be headed for trouble. Learn how to use credit cards wisely so that you don't get buried in credit card debt.

How to Clean up Credit Report

To clean up your credit report, you'll need to order copies of your report from the three major credit bureaus, review the reports for inaccuracies or old information, and then ask the credit bureaus to correct the information. Clean up your credit report so you can get the loans you need.

How to Make a Budget

If you want to keep your spending under control, it's essential that you make a budget. A budget allows you to get a handle on the flow of your money -- how much you make and how much you spend. With that information in hand, you can make intelligent choices about what to buy with your hard-earned cash. A realistic budget is your best weapon against overspending.

Personal Finances 101

Each of us has our own particular relationship to money. Some want as much of it as possible and devote significant time and energy to its pursuit. Others prefer to live simply on minimal resources. Perhaps most of us fall somewhere in the middle, wanting to live comfortably without sacrificing the quality or balance of our lives. No matter what you want your money to do for you, learning the basics of money management will help you make it happen.