Today I was invited to sit in on the Sacramento Valley Paralegal Association’s monthly CLE luncheon. I was unable to attend, so I sent my right-hand person, Erin Sierchio. Here is her recap of the event:

Nearly 20 SVPA members attended today’s Sacramento Valley Paralegal Association meeting, which was held in the conference room here at Parasec’s Sacramento office. The featured speaker was Gregory Axten, CEO of American Geotechnical, who gave an unexpectedly interesting presentation on "Diagnosing Soil Problems."

Mr. Axten is a civil/geotechnical engineer with more than 37 years of experience in the fields of soil engineering, foundation engineering, geology, materials engineering and hydrology. He has acted as an expert witness for problem analysis and dispute resolution in nearly 100 trials.

One of the interesting tidbits that Axten discussed was the impact landscaping, and trees in particular can have on soil and therefore on structures built nearby. Tree roots can lift foundations and slabs as well as create soil shrinkage so it’s important to consider this when planting them near structures. When determining where to plant trees, Axten suggested that we estimate that the roots will grow to extend out from a tree at a distance equivalent to the tree height, and simply trimming a tree will not stop the roots from growing!

Axten also discussed common indicators of structural problems, such as cracks and separations, slope movement, wall tilt, soil features, seepage and poor drainage. Axten was able to illustrate – in layman’s terms – how analyzing soil samples, investigating damage, and running field and laboratory tests can help determine what caused specific structural damages. It’s his keen eye and expertise in identifying these problems that have led people from the legal community to seek out his assistance with cases.

The IRS recently ran a very successful amnesty program which ended October 15, 2009, for individuals who have been maintaining offshore accounts to avoid US taxation. The hope was that citizens would voluntarily come forward to report their accounts rather than the IRS having to track them down at significant taxpayer expense. As a result of the program, nearly 7,500 citizens and residents came forward to report their offshore accounts. The amnesty provided said individuals with an incentive for reporting any illegally hidden assets, including a significant reduction to any unpaid taxes and penalties, and the removal of criminal penalties and/or prison time.

Of the citizens/residents that voluntarily came forward, the dollar amounts associated with the hidden assets varied from accounts as small as $10,000, and as large as $100,000,000. The IRS did not estimate how much tax income would be generated as a result of the program, but they were very pleased with the program’s turn out.

The benefits of the program are not limited to the individuals who have come forth thus far. As the IRS has time to process these accounts and speak at length with the individuals, they are certain they will be able to identify additional offshore account holders who did not come forward. For example, CPAs, investment advisors and others who have participated in helping citizens to hide their money off shore. As these individuals are identified, more offshore accounts will be identified and the monies will become available for taxation.

Another benefit is that the taxpayer will now be in the system for each year from now forward. Depending upon the number of tax avoiders found during this amnesty program and the follow up searches, that could be a significant addition to the state and national tax rolls for years to come.

If you have an offshore account that is hiding income and did not sign up for the amnesty program, all is not lost. The IRS is considering extending the program but has not made a decision yet. Also, there are other programs available to help you mitigate the penalties involved. Contact your CPA for assistance with bringing your offshore accounts into tax compliance.

It’s a beautiful Thursday afternoon and I just finished speaking at the Santa Barbara Paralegal Association (SBPA) luncheon in sunny downtown Santa Barbara. The event marked the association’s annual meeting, during which they held elections for next year’s officers and listened to me speak for an hour on “Legal Ethics and Corporate Officer Fraud.”

There was a great turnout at the event, with somewhere between 35 and 40 members in attendance. The group was very friendly and I didn’t catch a single person sleeping during the presentation. I’d love to think that it is because of the quality of my presentation, but I can’t quite be sure.

The meeting was held at the Santa Barbara Bank and Trust Community Conference Room, which is a beautiful facility and perfect for meetings of this type. Sandwiches and salads were served, the elections went smoothly and the results announced after the presentation. The results of the election should be posted on the SBPA website (www.sbparalegals.org) in the near future. I can guarantee they haven’t had time to update the site just yet!

I want to extend a warm thank you to this great association and group of paralegals for a very warm welcome as well as for their attentiveness and questions. I look forward to having the opportunity to speak with SBPA again soon!

On October 8, 2009, California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown brought suit against six businesses and eight individuals all of whom were involved in scams perpetrated against small corporations and LLCs in the state.

Parasec has been working for at least the past couple of years to get the word out about these ongoing scams and will continue to try to warn our clients about the potential for being deceived by these clever scam artists.

All of the scams involve similar tactics, including the mailing of official-looking documents warning that if the forms are not returned with payment by a certain date, the companies will risk loss of their corporate or LLC status with the state of California. The fees requested in the scams have ranged from $195 to $239.

The forms all carry official-looking seals and come with titles such as: “Compliance Annual Minutes Board,” “Annual Review Board” and “Corporate Filings Division.” Sometimes these perpetrators claim that they will prepare the corporate minutes in return for payment, but the Attorney General has found that when this is the case the documents prepared are insufficient to qualify as legitimate corporate minutes.

While these cases are certainly a step in the right direction towards containing these scams, please stay alert because there are many other companies perpetrating similar types of scams. The scams are apparently quite lucrative and require very little effort. The warning we printed in the latest issue of our Alert resulted in numerous calls from our clients regarding documents they had received from companies similar to these.

Give us a call if you have ANY questions about documents you may receive. It is better to be safe than sorry, especially in these tough economic times. Any correspondence you receive from us will be clearly labeled with either Parasec or Paracorp on the documentation. If you don’t see our name, it’s definitely not from us. We’re happy to help make sure you don’t get caught in one of these scams!

If you do receive any solicitations of this nature, the California Attorney General is interested in seeing the material. Here is the information about where to file complaints:

Attorney General’s Office
California Department of Justice
Attn: Susie Lorden
110 West A Street, Suite 1100
San Diego, CA 92101
PHONE: 800-952-5225
Email: piu@doj.ca.gov

If you notice any changes in the writing style in this latest issue of the Alert, it’s because my assistant, Erin Sierchio, took on the job for me. After years of writing our newsletter with little assistance and only one short break, I’ve finally found the perfect person to tackle this major task. Erin has a degree in English and has been with Parasec now for over a year. During her time with us, she has educated herself about what we do and she is now able to handle the vast majority of the writing requirements.

A new program called the 2009 American Recovery Capital Program has been rolled out under the direction of the Small Business Administration. This program will provide interest-free loans of up to $35,000 to small, private businesses. The specific purpose of the program is to offer companies experiencing financial hardship a source of capital to pay principal and interest on existing debt so they can utilize their cash flow to support the business and maintain company jobs.

These loans will be available until September 30th, 2010 - unless the money runs out sooner. Some of the criteria which must be met in order to qualify include:

1. The company must be a minimum of two years old


2. The company must be private and for-profit


3. The company cannot employ more than 500 employees


4. The company must be able to show a current financial hardship

A financial hardship can be identified in a number of ways, but could include a significant decrease in revenue, total sales or working capital.

For more information about the details of the program, go here. You can also call to talk with a representative who is knowledgeable about this program from 8am to 9pm EST Monday through Friday. The number is 866.947.8081.

• Indiana Corporate Compliance


• International Corporate Compliance, Inc


• Papillon Global Marketing, LLC

As in many other states, these notices indicated that businesses were required to pay a record-keeping fee of up to $150 and implied that the notice was from a legitimate government agency. A number of people have acknowledged that they were mislead by these letters and sent in the requested money. A hearing is scheduled to determine if damages will be awarded to the victims of the scam.