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March 2010
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Why Are You Getting This Newsletter?
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FDA Investigating
Fosamax-Related
Femur Fractures
If you saw the recent ABC World News report showing the frightening femur fractures that some women who have been using the bisphosphonate drug Fosamax (alendronate) to fight osteoporosis are now suffering, you won’t soon forget it.
ABC’s Richard Besser, MD, explained the drug may “limit…bone’s natural ability to protect itself from stress.” He continued, “In 2008, the FDA raised the issue with Merck” which, more than a year later, “added information on the package insert” warning of the possibility of “low energy femoral shaft and subtrochanteric fractures.’”
Still, Besser noted, the agency has “never made an effort to inform the public or doctors across the country who are prescribing this drug of this possible side effect,” but said it is “looking into reports of the fractures.”
Free Legal Advice?
Yes, at Kraft &
Associates we are glad to provide our clients
and friends with free information on a variety
of subjects. If you want details about how to
lower your automobile insurance rates,
Texas Workers' Compensation law or
Social Security Disability claims, please
contact us and we will send you any of these
brochures without charge or obligation. |
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Suite 1300
2777 Stemmons Freeway
Dallas, TX 75207
(214) 999-9999
(817) 999-9999
(800) 989-9999
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FOR THE RECORD |
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Dallas-Fort Worth Foreclosure Rate May Be Artificially Low
The Dallas Morning News recently ran an interesting and somewhat disturbing article about the decrease in local foreclosures in 2009. The good news is that the number of foreclosures dropped in 2009 from previous years. But the bad news is that this drop may have been artificially induced by strategies employed by financial institutions. Here are excerpts from the article:
Dallas-Fort Worth area home foreclosures for 2009 fell to their lowest level in three years. But the almost 12 percent drop doesn’t mean that fewer North Texans are threatened with losing their homes. Indeed, the number of D-FW homeowners with a loan in default is at a record high, and foreclosure filings continue to grow. Actual foreclosure sales have fallen, though, because many lenders are negotiating longer with borrowers and delaying foreclosures for months, a close look at the data shows.
“There are an awful lot of problem loans out there that should be foreclosed on and are not,” said George Roddy, who heads Foreclosure Listing Service of Addison, which tracks foreclosures in 19 Texas counties. “Perhaps they think if they delay long enough, the situation will work itself out.
”Yes, foreclosures are down, but it’s artificial.”
Last year, lenders sold 18,637 homes at foreclosure auctions in Dallas, Tarrant, Collin, Denton and Rockwall counties. That’s down from 21,174 forced sales in 2008 and 19,102 in 2007, according to a Dallas Morning News analysis of Foreclosure Listing Service’s numbers. More than 65 percent of the loans on foreclosed homes were made between 2005 and 2009. The average loan balance was about $130,000.
Along with avoiding the bad publicity from throwing thousands more homeowners out of their houses, lenders postpone taking ownership of the property because it can cost them. By some estimates, it costs a lender $50,000 to foreclose on a home.
Recent reports showed that the ratio of Texans behind on their mortgage payments has risen to more than 10 percent for the first time. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, about 6 percent of homeowners with loans at the end of 2009 had missed three consecutive mortgage payments. Even in cases where borrowers are that far behind, many mortgage companies – spurred by government programs – are attempting to modify the debt and avoid foreclosure.
So far, there’s no indication that foreclosure filings and home mortgage payment delinquencies will decline in 2010. So far this year, home foreclosure filings in the D-FW area are up 22 percent from the first quarter of 2009. About 15 percent of Dallas-area homeowners with mortgages owed more than their house was worth at the end of 2009, according to a new report from First American CoreLogic. That makes them much more likely to walk away from their homes if they’re caught in a cash squeeze.
If you have questions about foreclosure, debt collection, or other aspect of consumer law, including consumer bankruptcy, please contact our firm. We'll be glad to visit with you, with no obligation on your part.
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YOUR INFORMATION |
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Report:
Congress
Should Focus on
Curtailing
Medical Errors,
Not Patients’
Rights
According to an update of the National Practitioner Data Bank released recently, fewer medical malpractice payments were made on behalf of doctors in 2009 than any other year on record. This contradicts claims by some that medical malpractice litigation is to blame for rising health care costs. Last year was the fifth consecutive year the number of payments has fallen, and the sixth straight year in which the value of payments has fallen. In contrast, U.S. health care costs have increased every year since 1965, the earliest year for which such data exist. Numerous studies have found that injuries and deaths caused by medical errors dwarf the number of actual medical malpractice payments. For example, the Institute of Medicine found in 1999 that 44,000 to 98,000 people die every year due to avoidable errors. Subsequent studies have estimated even higher casualty levels.
You can read much more about this report in Public Citizen’s detailed analysis.
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| FEATURED
EMPLOYEE |
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Daryl Greene
Office
Services Manager
E-mail:
dgreene@kraftlaw.com
Mr. Greene joined our firm in 1995, after
he worked for a number of years in the automobile repair business. Mr. Greene
has responsibility for all office services, supplies, and equipment at our firm.
He deals with the many vendors who work with us.
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| FEATURED
CASE |
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Reasons to
Contact a
Lawyer After
Any
Auto
Collision
Recently
attorney
Nicole
Collier of
our firm
received a
frantic
phone call
from her
daughter, who
had just
been
involved in
a car wreck.
She was
still at the
scene in the
middle of
the road
when the
other driver
came up and
accused Ms.
Collier's
daughter of
hitting her,
when
actually
the other
driver
had
improperly changed
lanes.
The
daughter
said she did
not feel
pain at the
moment and
there really
wasn't much
damage to
her car -- a
busted side
mirror and a
dent in the
side panel.
Ms. Collier
immediately
instructed
her daughter
to call the
police and,
if safe, to
take
pictures of
her car and
the other
driver's car
as they sat
in the
middle of
the street.
The police
arrived and
took a
statement
from each of
them. The
other driver
admitted to
the officer
that she saw
the daughter
in the lane
next to her
but her lane
was about to
end so she
tried to
move
over anyway. The
officer
enlightened
her on the
law
concerning
safe lane
changes and
gave his
opinion that
she was
responsible
for causing
the wreck.
However, the
officer told
them that no
report would
be made
because
neither
driver said
they were
injured.
Ms. Collier
asked her
daughter to
get the
officer's
name, badge
number, and
precinct, as
well as his
business
card, in
case she
needed to
call him in
the future.
Ms. Collier also
suggested
that her
daughter
write down
everything
that
happened as
soon as
possible, in
case she
needed to
reference it
in the
future.
A
few days
later, the
daughter
woke up with
a stiff back
and ended up
seeking
medical
treatment
that she
still gets
today. Ms.
Collier's
daughter
learned that
her vehicle
only had
$600.00 in
property
damages but
she was
still
injured.
Not
all of us
have a
lawyer to
call at the
time of a
car wreck,
and not all
injuries are
apparent at
the moment
of the
wreck. However if
you are in a
car wreck,
you should
follow these
instructions:
make sure
you are
okay, call
the police,
take
pictures,
move your
car out of
traffic,
seek medical
treatment as
soon as
possible,
and write
down
everything
you remember
about the
wreck.
If you have
been in a
car wreck,
no matter
how big or
small,
please don't
hesitate to
call Kraft &
Associates.
We're Easy
To Talk To.
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| HOW
CAN WE HELP YOU? |
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Our law firm has helped thousands of clients
over the years. Sometimes clients who use
our firm for one type of case may not
realize that there are other legal problems
we could help them solve.
We handle
most types of injury claims — including
automobile collisions, "slip and fall"
cases, injuries suffered as a result of
defective products, injuries resulting from
inadequate security, medical malpractice
claims, nursing home negligence claims,
prescription drug injuries, and many others.
We invite you to call us about any
serious injury to see how we can help you.
Kraft & Associates also represents people
who have been denied their Social Security
Disability benefits. We can help at the Initial
stage, the Reconsideration stage or the Hearing
stage.
Our law firm also represents people who have immigration
problems of any kind, whether family-based
immigration or employment-based immigration.
Our firm can help you understand your rights under
Federal and Texas consumer protection laws and
assist you with stopping creditor wrongdoing,
obtaining compensation for wrongful acts by
creditors, or with correcting your credit report. We
can also help you evaluate your options and decide
whether a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy case
might be your best option. Most clients can protect
all of their property, income, and assets in a
bankruptcy case, and obtain the "fresh start"
promised by the United States Bankruptcy Code.
Please feel free to call us with any
legal questions you may have. If we cannot
represent you, we will attempt to refer you to
another attorney or to a government agency that can
help you. There is no
charge or obligation for that first phone
call.
Kraft & Associates is
a federally designated Debt Relief Agency under the
United States Bankruptcy Code. We assist people with
finding solutions to their debt problems including,
where appropriate, assisting them with the filing of
petitions for relief under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. |
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Disability Lawyers, P.C. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Personal Injury,
Automobile Accident, Car Wreck, Wrongful Death, Social Security Disability,
Immigration, Bankruptcy, Consumer Law.
DISCLAIMER:
This newsletter is presented by Kraft & Associates for
informational purposes only, and not as legal advice.
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