Settled: For-Profit Fundraisers Made 172 Million Robo-calls

Ruth Bates

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As of 3/06, there are only 14 homes for sale in Aptos. The lowest priced home is 209 Park in Seacliff which does have an ocean view, asking $960,000 for a 2 bed, 2 baths, 1180 Sq. Ft. home. The highest priced is 546 Beach Drive, asking $6.8 Million. There are only 2 condos for sale ($615K, $799K), and 2 townhomes for sale ($950K, $1100K). In the past 30 days, 12 homes have sold. The lowest price was $794,000 for 359 Moosehead, 3/2.5/1532SF, 21 days on market, and the highest sale was $5.8M for 1118 Via Palo Alto, 2 days on market. Median List Price past 30 days is $1,195,000 and Median Sales Price is $1,495,000; that is 35% above list. Crazy! It is still very much a SELLER’S MARKET. So, if you are preparing your home for sale and want to increase its value, or just want your home to look nicer on the outside, here are some tips. 1) Conquer the yardwork. Whether you do it yourself or pay someone to do it, do it. 2) Improve your landscaping with a raised garden bed, planter boxes, or vertical gardens. 3) Add some hardscaping features such as a paver patio, a retaining wall, a gazebo, boulders, edging, pathways or walls. Outdoor kitchens are all the rage with todays outside entertaining needs. 4) Add a coat of paint to the exterior, or change it up with a new exterior color. 5) Doors endure a lot of wear and tear; a new front door can really improve fi rst impressions, enhance security and be more energy effi cient. 6) Add a front porch; more outside space is a good thing. 7) Enhance the lighting, use LED lights and motion sensors, add string lights to make your outdoor spaces cozy and inviting And for those of us planning to stay here in Aptos, here is a cost saving tip. Water heaters alone can account for around 12% of your home utility bill. Heating to higher than 120 degrees will cause your water heater to use too much electricity, turn it down from “very hot” to just “hot” and save some money. ———

For anything Real Estate, call me today and Get Results With Ruth!

CALIFORNIA NEWS Settled: For-Profit Fundraisers Made 172 Million Robo-calls

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra joined the Federal Trade Commission, and a coalition of attorneys general, secretaries of state, and state agencies from 37 other states, in announcing settlements against for-profit corporate fundraisers Associated Community Services, Inc. and Directele, Inc., as well as multiple corporations and individuals affiliated with them.

The settlements come after an FTC multistate investigation revealed that ACS and Directele violated both federal and state laws by engaging in illegal telemarketing practices and by making misleading statements to potential donors in order to solicit charitable donations for the fundraisers’ nonprofit clients.

“When someone finds it in their heart to donate to a charitable cause, they should be able to trust that their donation is in safe hands,” said Becerra. “These corporate fundraisers not only deceived the public by lying about how donations would be used, they also repeatedly harassed California donors through millions of abusive robocalls. These settlements include important injunctive relief to ensure that these bad actors are no longer able to deceptively fundraise or engage in illegal telemarketing tactics.”

“Deceptive charitable fundraising can be big business for scammers, especially when they use illegal robocalls,” said Daniel Kaufman, Acting Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The FTC and our state partners are prepared to hold fraudsters accountable when they target generous consumers with lies.”

These settlements are the result of a 2019 multistate investigation that revealed that ACS and Directele deceptively solicited donations on behalf of nonprofit organizations, violating both federal and California law.

The investigation found that ACS and Directele knowingly deceived the public by lying about how donations to their nonprofit clients would be used, keeping for themselves as much as 90 cents of every dollar donated.

They led donors to believe that the entirety of their contributions would go towards supporting particular programs — such as housing homeless veterans or helping children with cancer — when often only pennies on the dollar were spent on those programs.

ACS and Directele also falsely assured donors that their donations would benefit “local areas” or be used “nationwide,” when in fact the referenced programs — if they existed at all — were available in only limited geographic areas, not local to donors.

The investigation also revealed that ACS and Directele generated the vast majority of their fundraising through abusive and repetitive robocalls, violating the federal Telemarketing Sales Rule and significantly impacting California’s residents.

Combined, ACS and Directele placed more than 172 million fundraising calls into California over the course of four years, with the majority of those calls being robocalls employing “soundboard” technology, which plays prerecorded messages to potential donors and responds to questions and comments with prerecorded audio clips.

The Telemarketing Sales Rule prohibits the delivery of prerecorded messages soliciting donations to a charity from individuals who have not previously donated to it, and also prohibits the delivery of such messages to prior donors, unless the call promptly provides the donor with a means to opt out of future messages.

Both ACS and Directele repeatedly violated these provisions of the Telemarketing Sales Rule.

Under the terms of the settlement, Directele and its corporate affiliate, The Dale Corporation, will cease operations and dissolve (ACS and its corporate affiliates having ceased operations in or around September 2019). In addition, permanent injunctive relief will be entered by the court against the defendants, prohibiting them from: • Fundraising or providing fundraising services to any nonprofit organization; • Initiating or assisting others in initiating robocalls; • Engaging in abusive telemarketing practices; • Making misrepresentations regarding goods, services, or donations; • Violating California state law; and • Violating the Telemarketing Sales

Rule.

Further, judgment of more than $110 million will be entered against each defendant, but partially or completely suspended due to an inability to pay.

The funds being surrendered by the defendants will ultimately be distributed to one or more legitimate charities that support causes similar to those for which the defendants solicited.

Becerra has taken numerous actions to protect California donors. In January 2021, he secured a multistate settlement against a deceptive veteran charity, Healing Heroes Network, Inc. and its former directors, resolving allegations that the nonprofit engaged in deceptive charitable solicitations.

In July 2020, he announced a lawsuit against the animal rescue charity, Little Love Rescue, for misleading donors and unlawfully soliciting donations. That same month, he announced a $7 million settlement against the Lithuanian Assistance Foundation, resolving allegations the organization’s officers and directors improperly transferred charitable assets to members of the board, their relatives, and employees.

In May 2019, Becerra and the Federal Trade Commission secured a $1.8 million settlement against Help the Vets, Inc. for misleading donors about its cause and defrauding donors out of millions of dollars in donations.

He reached a multistate settlement with VietNow National Headquarters, Inc., a charity that falsely claimed to help veterans; and he sued two bogus charities, Wounded Warriors Support Group and Central Coast Equine Rescue and Retirement, for pocketing the proceeds of charity raffles that were supposed to benefit veterans. n

•••

A copy of the settlement with Directele Inc., The Dale Corporation, Nikole Gilstorf, and Antonio Lia is at https://tinyurl.com/settlement-directele.

Copies of the settlements with Associated Community Services, Inc., Community Services, Inc., Central Processing Services, Inc., and Richard “Dick” Cole are at https://tinyurl.com/settlementass-comm-serv-more; with Community Services Appeal, Inc. and Barbara Cole at https://tinyurl. com/settlement-comm-serv-appeal; with Robert W. “Bill” Burland and Amy J. Burland at https:// tinyurl.com/settlement-burland-burland; and with ACS Senior Managers Scot Stepek (https://tinyurl. com/settlement-stepek) and John Lucidi (https:// tinyurl.com/settlement-Lucidi).

“COVID Update” from page 7

When 1,300 doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine came in, it was targeted for migrant workers, truck drivers, homeless individuals discharged from hospitals and jail inmates who could be hard to reach for the second shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. Another group targeted for the one-shot vaccine is elders who are homebound and unable to get to a clinic.

Hall recommended people signed up on MyTurn.ca.gov to be notified when there is a slot for a vaccine. That system will take effect April 1.

In the meantime, your best option is to check santacruzhealth.org and the vaccine button to see what’s available and who is eligible.

Kaiser Permanente, for example, has received a large allocation of vaccine and is offering slots to people who are not Kaiser patients.

CVS, RiteAid and Walgreens each has a website to check for availability. On Friday, CVS had availability only in Bakersfield, RiteAid asked questions to determine eligibility and Walgreens referred people to MyTurn.ca.gov.

But availability can change at a moment’s notice.

Even for Hall, supplies remain an issue.

“Clinics are planned this weekend,” she said. “They will only happen if we receive our allocation.”

The state contract for Blue Shield as vaccine administrator is supposed to address these issues.

Santa Clara County balked at signing the contract, saying their system was working but Hall felt positive after her first meeting March 9 with Blue Shield.

She said county health staff have juggled vaccine logistics with big providers such as Dignity Health and Sutter Health to share county doses when necessary to avoid canceling clinics.

With Blue Shield taking on this role, “it will free us up to concentrate on vulnerable populations not covered by other providers,” she said.

Another change by the state, earmarking 40 percent of vaccines for ZIP codes with the lowest Healthy Places Index score, hasn’t affected Santa Cruz County because

Data Problem

As for statistics indicating vaccines are sitting in inventory, Hall attributed this to a data problem because the vaccines “are actually allocated.”

Newel, who voiced concerns about spring break travel, reminded people that after a trip, you must self-quarantine for 10 days.

She said the county is aligned with the new state guidance for adults and youth sports, allowing baseball, softball, cheerleading, volleyball, kickball, and doubles pickleball, tennis and badminton outdoors.

Asked if a small dinner party could be hosted safely, Newel said a small party without face coverings in a private home could be safe “as long as everyone is vaccinated.”

She also cited new federal CDC guidance on grandparent visits. That guidance allows fully vaccinated grandparents to see their grandchildren indoors without masks or physical distancing provided that none of the unvaccinated family members are at risk of severe COVID-19.

A new issue being raised at school districts is the federal requirement for six-foot distancing for desks, exceeding the three-foot requirement specified by the World Health Organization.

Research is scanty on how much distance is protective and Indiana changed its requirement to three feet. An MIT study this summer concluded distancing rules are based on outdated science and factors such as ventilation and occupancy and exposure time made a difference.

The six-foot distancing requirement is why most public schools are offering hybrid instruction, with half the students on campus and half online, rather than bring all students back at the same time. Private schools that have smaller class sizes have brought all the students back because they have enough space to meet the distancing requirement.

To schedule a vaccine appointment, visit santacruzhealth.org or sign up at the state website, https://myturn.ca.gov. n

Photos Courtesy of Dignity Health

••• As of March 12

Age

90 and up: 55 • 80 to 89: 59 • 70 to 79: 40 60 to 69: 27 • 50 to 59: 4 • 40 to 49: 4 30 to 39: 4

Race/Ethnicity

White: 109 • Latinx: 67 • Asian: 15 Black: 1 • Amer. Indian/Alaskan Native: 1

Underlying Conditions

Yes: 149 • No: 44

Gender

Male: 91 • Female: 102

Skilled Nursing/Residential Care

Santa Cruz Post Acute: 20 Watsonville Post Acute: 18 Pacific Coast Manor: 14 Hearts & Hands Post Acute: 8 Sunshine Villa: 7 • Aegis: 4 Maple House 1: 4 • Valley Convalescent: 4 Watsonville Nursing Center: 4 Montecito Manor: 3 • De Un Amor: 2 Dominican Oaks: 2 • Driftwood: 2 Hanover House: 2 • Maple House II: 2 Paradise Villa: 1 • Rachelle’s Home 1: 1 Rachelle’s Home II: 1 • Valley Haven: 1 Westwind: 1

Total: 100

Not at a facility: 92

COVID Cases by Town

Aptos: 735 • Ben Lomond: 105 Boulder Creek: 135 • Capitola: 415 Felton: 138 • Freedom: 940 Santa Cruz: 3,528 • Scotts Valley: 383 Soquel: 323 • Watsonville: 7,848 Lauren King, RN (from left), Jacqueline Sedgwick, MD, and Robert Chen, MD — from Dignity Health Medical Group–Dominican — prepare vaccines at the Harbor High School vaccination site. Unincorporated: 231 Under investigation: 242

Total: 15,023

Source: Santa Cruz County Public Health •••

Editor’s Note: Would you like to share your family’s COVID-19 story? Email Jondi Gumz at info@cyber-times.com or call 831-688-7549 x17.

EMPOWERING STUDENTS TO SHAPE THEIR FUTURES WITH CONFIDENCE.

“Housing Grant” from page 13

“Since the loss of redevelopment agencies statewide in 2012, we have seen a significant decline in the amount of funding available for these critical affordable housing projects. This is an incredible win for the City of Santa Cruz,” Economic Development Director Bonnie Lipscomb said.

The Local Housing Trust Fund program award is intended to provide matching funds to local and regional housing trust funds dedicated to the creation, rehabilitation, or preservation of affordable housing, transitional housing and emergency shelters.

A total of 33 applicants competed, requested $117 million when $57 million available. Santa Cruz finished in joint third place with five other jurisdictions out of the 17 jurisdictions awarded.

“A typical affordable housing project relies on a complex web of funding sources. With three City-led projects representing more than 200 units of affordable housing in the pipeline, this new funding source is coming at just the right time,” Housing & Community Development Division Manager Jessica de Wit said. n Kirby School is an independent college preparatory day school in Santa Cruz for grades 6-12.

Find a place to belong in our intellectually curious community. Join us at an upcoming virtual Admissions event to learn more about our exceptional college prep program and individualized instruction.