A friend of mine accepted an offer to leave a CPA firm where he was a practic ing. Low level tax professional and joined a private company. Completely unrelated. After resigning he told the partners where he was going and there was no drama.
Unbeknownst to the young man who had resigned company he was joining was a client of the CPA firm. The young man that had never done any work on this client nor had any interaction and connected with the company like completely unrelated means to his work.
The partner received from the CPA from called the CFO of the private company where the young man is joining. I was not party to this call, but I understand partner made a stink about the CFOs taking someone from the firm. It is extremely noteworthy that the young man had never done any work or even exchanged a single email with the partner working with this company. They knew each other's names but had never been in the same room together or officially introduced.
The next day the CFO owned the private company received a certified letter. Not threatening but including documentation from the young man 's employment agreement which states it cannot compete. Generally speaking, leaving a CPA firm to go work at a private company is completely legal and in no way considered competitory.
After another day, the young man's offer letter was rescinded officially in a formal email by the private company.
This seems like a textbook case of tortious interference in my opinion.
I welcome anyone's thoughts or advice on this matter. This is a Virginia case involving a regional CPA firm, a private company and a young 25-year-old man trying to move on with his career. The poor guy is now left unemployed.

Due to health issues and lack of transportation, I never worked any job during college. These issues have been put behind me now. I have 150 units and a good GPA (3.88) but no work experience besides VITA. I'm graduating this spring and plan on recruiting as a graduate for a staff or associate accounting job in the fall. I'm going to look for a part-time job and study for the CPA exams in the meantime.
How can I explain why I didn't work in college? Should I just mention my previous health issues and lack of transportation? Put that information in a cover letter? Any advice would be very helpful.

Hello, Reaching out for a little advice- Current Fed employee loans discharged in December 2022 received the smiley face and congratulations letter..removed from my credit February 2023..perfect timing closed on my house in April 2023 and they even provided a letter prior to being cleared to close stating the debt was paid in full..A very happy moment for me and my family. Fast forward today I receive a bill for 2K? I am not sure what to do at this point I had over 120 payments no issues all paperwork submitted no hiccups…and now this…is anyone else going through this and do I just resubmit my PSLF application once I speak to a representative from Mohela?? I am just not sure what to do at this point. Thank you in advance for any advice you can provide.

Hoping some of you can assist me with this quagmire.
I have recieved a letter from hmrc about suspected non declared rental income.
I live in my own mortgaged home with my wife and baby since 2017. We had my sister and brother in law move in with us due to their personal circumstances just before covid and to help them out I did not request any contributions for the household costs etc during this time.
Then from late 2021 when they both got back on their feet they started as way of paying us back for looking after them during a very tough time. They started covering my monthly mortgage amount with us covering all other expenses for the household (I have very low loan to value and monthly mortgage is circa £450per month but market rents in similar houseshare situation would be double this with bills on top for houseshares here locally). Also later on my sister started covering gas and electric bills and c.tax as well since they both work full time and my wife is a stay at home mum with just me working.
We all get along and tbh it's working well we have a large house and enjoy the company and don't mind them staying as long as they want to since they are able to save up for their own home e.g. like a child moving back in with parents but this tax headache was unforeseen.
I never thought this would be classed as rental income as was just helping out my sister but seems hmrc is of opinion this should have been declared. Never had to deal with anything like this tbh as I earn via salaried employment which is taxed through paye.
I have done some research and there is the rent a room scheme I believe if this is classed as renting that I would qualify under in our case and the mortgage payments would equate to less than the 7.5k tax threshold but not sure if when they started also paying bills if that would also be included which would take it over and I'm assuming I owe tax on this portion. I make all the payments and they reimburse me so is no profit.
Also not sure about if I will need to do a tax return to cover this, and if so is a backdated one allowed for the prev tax yrs, is an accountant required for this or is this something I can sort out myself bearing in mind this is already making me quiet worried/stressed.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated TIA

So I recently submitted 2 years tax returns to a lender that came back and told me the business only profited 36k for each year 2023 and 2024. Honestly it came as a shock to me since I drew about 90k from the business and thought that would show up as income. It doesn’t. So the lender came back and was like “thats not enough to get a loan” which was heartbreaking to hear. Since I’ve busted my ass for 5 years and built a very successful restaurant. Brought my credit to the high 700’s and have about 50k in saving for a payment and closing costs. I am single so there is no other income for the loan.
All these years I was suppressing profits to lower my tax burden, I have been my own worst enemy as it was awful for applying for a mortgage. Everyone I have talked to since has said how hard it is for business es owners to get mortgages. After all this the lender mentioned there is a “bank statement” program where I can use the last 12 months of bank statements and my draw as an income but they only use 50% of your draw to apply for the mortgage and tends to yield a higher rate, but, he also says it is heavily based of credit score and mine is decent at 777.
So we are going to apply to the “bank statement” program to see where I land with the pre-approval. I had a talk with my CPA and told him for year 2024 I want to show as much profit as possible and plan for a heavy tax year so I can qualify for a conventional loan with a hopefully decent rate. I am a first time home owner but don’t really qualify for a FHA currently as that requires 2 years tax returns.
Has anyone here gone through this? Any small business owners that have had to navigate these waters to get a conventional mortgage? Can anyone offer some insight or thoughts? I’m 46 this year and time is somewhat of an issue since she’s getting older and I want the home for her.
Not sure if I should use the “bank statement” program at a higher rate or try for a higher tax year, hopefully showing 60k profit for a conventional loan and a lower rate, presumably. I’m opting for a conventional which will be higher up front costs but lower rate over time or the “bank statement” program at lower cost upfront but higher mortgage rate. All presuming.
Hoping for a 300k loan.
I’d really appreciate any help as I’m lost.
Thanks.

Welcome back to the Fallowveil trailer park, where the crack addicts have all seen aliens, the Witch is the glue holding the community together, and it’s been a whole six years since our last meth lab explosion. I never met you, but rest in peace Jones. I’m Mason, and I’ll be your janitor guide to the weirdness.
So I’ve talked about Jennifer, my paranormally sexy, but terrifying neighbor who lives with a married couple, strips under the name “Red Jenny,” and possibly eats people’s souls. She’s just the tip of the iceberg here in this town. I could go on and on about my neighbors. I have to do an entry on Trista the nocturnal hippy (maybe) vampire at some point. I have a feeling she’ll get a kick out of it. We’re actually pretty friendly, since we're both night shift workers. Frankly, she’s a bit too on-the-nose though. Pale girl, windows all blocked during daytime, only out at night, weirdly strong for such a skinny little person, drinks a mysterious fluid from a hip flask that she refuses to share, I mean… she’s either a vampire or a weird healthnut hippy and she dresses like she’s both. We’ll get to her eventually.
For now, let’s talk about the old “Schroeder Slaughterhouse.” The place has been a center piece of the town since it was created. It brought jobs to workers and brought lucrative meat processing trades into town, elevating it to more than just another ‘corn town.’ It’s also got horror stories going all the way back to its construction. Some say it’s been cursed by the devil himself.
I want to talk about this one because Trista talked me into going to one of Petunia’s barbecues last weekend. Not sure why she’s suddenly friendlier with me, but I’m not complaining. She couldn’t come with me of course, being a (probably) vampire and all. But hey, depression only gets worse in isolation. I should ask her out some time. Being a vampire might be fun…
So anyway, I went to Petunia’s cookout. Petunia herself looked up and actually cried out loud and power walked up to me to give me a hug. “Ahhh! I’m so glad to see you outside Mason! The neighborhood misses you!” I'm ninety percent sure that was a lie, but whatever. It’s comforting. I returned the older woman’s hug.
“Thanks Petunia. Couldn’t stay away from your cooking forever.” That got a few chuckles. To my surprise, a lot of my neighbors came up to shake hands with me. I was confused until one of them, a guy named Fred, who lives next door to me, leaned in to say “sorry about that friend of yours that died.”
So that’s what’s happening. Everybody heard about psycho Moe and how he’d dragged me to a strip club where he planned to go on a killing spree. Now they’re playing nice. That’s probably the only reason Trista’s being nice to you too. These people don’t really care about you. You’re worthless.
‘You know what, brain? You’re a real bummer. Now shut up while I try to be social.’ I shot back at my own conscience.
I finally worked out how to respond to Fred after a few seconds of awkward silence that made us both uncomfortable. “He wasn’t really a friend. Just a roommate once. The guy was messed up.”
Fred nodded sympathetically, rubbing at his mustache “Well sure. But that’s a heck of a… situation?” He replied.
“Yeah. I guess it is…” I tried to look thoughtful so nobody could see me rolling my eyes. “But hey! I think Red Jenny took care of it.”
Fred’s eyes widened at that. “No shit? Did he get… did he get a private dance?”
We were both interrupted by a silky smooth voice with a southern twang. “Glad to see you’re okay Mason. Try not to bring any psychopaths to my place of business, alright? It’s got plenty. Our poor bouncer had to headlock that guy.” She said all of this without even glancing towards us. Just sort of talking at the air as she sauntered by. She was glorious as ever, somehow making comfortable sweats look like a sexy bold fashion statement. Jennifer. Red Jenny. I hushed up as she stepped past us, and as she did, she cast a glance my way… and she winked.
Fred and I sat there partly struck dumb for a moment. That woman hardly spoke to anyone.
“Bouncer my ass.” Fred whispered to me. “That chick’s some kind of monster, I’m telling you. What did you see? She offered him a private dance didn't she?”
A few weeks ago I would have jumped at the opportunity to tell Fred everything I could about what I saw, but for whatever reason, I was less enthusiastic at the moment. “Yeah, she did, but I’m not really sure what happened. I was kinda stupified by the guns. She probably got a bouncer to help her, I really don’t know.”
“Never get a private dance from Red Jenny. Some say that’s a warning from wives, but the rest of us know it’s a warning from above. Something ain’t natural at that place.”
“I dunno Fred. But she works hard. I don’t want to badmouth her. Even if it was true, the guy she got was a wannabe killer. So she saved people.”
“Yeah, but how!?”
“I dunno man.”
Fred seemed to figure out I didn’t want to talk anymore about it by then. “Sorry, man. Must have been scary, either way. But hey! We all know you were asking around about Fallowveil’s spooky stories! Guess what!? A bunch of people who used to work at the old slaughterhouse are here! They’re all swapping stories by the grill! You should go listen!”
That piqued my interest. I used my phone to record as much as I could. I think I remember the rest. Now that I’ve looked at all my notes and stuff, I think I can provide a decent history of Fallowveil’s Schroeder Slaughterhouse. At least according to some of the people who worked there, as well as some who’ve lived here longer than me.
Most of the history came from a man named Willard Graves. He’s notorious for being really nasty when he’s drunk, and being one of the oldest people living in the trailer park at the age of 68. When I arrived at the bonfire where the group of workers had gathered, they were all swapping stories.
“I once felt a presence in the women’s restroom!” Said Polly Bucharest. “I was a floor manager in 2007. I was sitting in the stall there doing my business, nobody came in or out, but suddenly I just felt it. I got real freaked out. Like… goosebumps and everything. And feeling that way sucks in the bathroom. So I tried to hurry up and kicked open the stall so I could run to the sink… and the ‘shadow man’ was just standing in the corner. I saw him out of the corner of my eye. He was just there, standing. When I turned to look, he was gone!”
“I saw that thing too! The shadow man!” Said Peter Swanson. “Damn thing was standing up in the corner, on the catwalk out in the main floor. Same thing. I was working, one of the cows didn’t go down right away, and I was leaning down to stun it again, then I felt real uneasy all of a sudden. Real scared. Finally I noticed the shadow up there!”
“That happened to me in the break room!” Said Juan Esposito. “I was eating lunch when I felt it. Then there was a shadow of a man, I think, in the corner of the room.”
“It was more of a shadowy blob on the wall for me,” said Polly.
“Any of you guys see the weird bird?” Asked Carlos Sanders. “I saw it once. End of my shift, back in 09. Me and a few of the boys saw it. You were there Juan! You remember?”
“I remember. I’m not really sure though, Carlos. That one might have been a vulture.”
“We see vultures round here all the time! That wasn’t a vulture! No clue what it was. Just some big flying shadowy thing that appeared at sundown and flew off after a while.”
“Lots of people said they saw a strange bird. That’s part of why some people think it’s cursed” claimed Jane Lopez. “I never worked there, but my husband used to tell stories. Some people say it’s an omen. If you see the bird over the slaughterhouse, something bad might be about to happen.”
“I remember the stories, Mama.” Said her son, Martin. “I worked the floor for three years. I never saw a creepy bird. I wonder if Papa was just telling stories again?”
“Maybe, mijo. But lots of people tell stories about that place.”
“How about the one cow that Mr. Kurt takes, like… once a week? Anybody know what’s up with that?” That was Juan again.
“No! And none of us can figure out where the cow goes either! It’s creepy!” Poly replied.
That’s when Willard loudly cleared his throat. Willard was a tough looking old bastard. Usually sporting a frumpy tank top, a grumpy face, and a bottle of something in one hand. “Y’all didn’t work there as long as I did,” he grumbled in his raspy old voice. He kept his head and eyes lowered, like some old cowboy trying to be dramatic. “Y’all know who that shadow even is? I know the ‘sh’tory!”
We were all interrupted by a shout from a very angry Petunia, who was a few yards away manning the grill. “DAMN IT Willard! What did I say!? One beer! One!”
“I only had one! I ‘sh’wear!”
“You’re slurring! If I catch you sneaking any more drinks I’m not giving you any ribs or any cookies!”
Willard’s tough old man act crumbled as he went wide eyed at the mention of cookies. “Alright, alright, I’m sorry Petty…”
“PETUNIA!!”
“Petunia! I won’t have anything else to drink!”
“Damn right! Last thing we need is you making an ass of yourself again!”
Willard sighed as we all hushed a few guffaws. “Anyway,” he said after an awkward pause. That shadow? Any of you know who it is?”
“One of the dead owners?” Said someone.
“One of the dead workers?” Said someone else.
“Nah, nah. It was the FIRST owner. The ghost of Heinrich Schroeder. The builder and owner of Schroeder Slaughterhouse!”
“How do you know?”
“I mean… I don’t, but that’s the oldest story I know about the place. Don’t any of you younguns know about the history there?”
“I don’t. Please tell the story!” I called from outside the circle of former Meat Processing workers, causing some of them to glance awkwardly at me.
“Well alright then!” Willard said with a grin that had less than a full set of teeth. “The place was built way back, right after the Civil War ended, when a bunch of immigrants from Germany started migrating to Nebraska, mostly to Omaha. But one feller…”
“Why did Germans come to Nebraska?” Asked a kid who’s name I didn’t know.
“What? I dunno. They just did. Hush. So this guy saw our little town of Fallowveil and its lush fields. He was in the sausage business before, but figured he could set himself up a slaughterhouse to process cows raised locally. Old Fallowveil was superstitious though. They were always wary of outsiders.”
“Why?” The kid asked.
“They just was. Everyone was after the war ended. Things changing fast, bunch of black folks are citizens and building themselves North Mainstreet, and Fallowveil’s weird. We all know that. Always has been.” Nobody could disagree there. “So. Since they were wary? They didn’t want to let Shroeder build. Supposedly you can find old documents with the town's rejection letters to Shroeder hidden away in the office of the old building. He tried for months. Then, with no explanation at all, they suddenly sold him an unused parcel of land. Nobody knows why, and that’s where a lot of folks think the devil’s curse began. They say Shroeder made some kind of deal with a demon to get them to sell the land to him. They’re the ones that made him follow their rules. Everyone remember the rules?”
“Hell, I had to follow those rules,” said Polly. “Most were pretty standard health and safety measures, but some were downright bizarre. 1. No loud noises in the back of the building. 2. One cow will be selected by the owner for personal reasons and won’t be slaughtered with the others. 3. Keep the blood drains clean at all times, but no specialized detergents. 4. Never agitate the animals. 5. Manure will be transported offsite. 6. Anyone caught past the fence line of the old building will be fired immediately…. There’s a bunch more that are all basically fcc regulations, only these days there’s extra.”
“It’s worth it!” Juan piped in. “The work we do there now got us awards! We make some of the best meat in the country! Pay is good too. No offense, friends, but we’re thinking of moving into a house, soon!”
Petunia cried out. “Ahhh Juan! That’s so wonderful! You’ll have places for your baby!” A bunch of others offered Juan their congratulations. There were also expressions of sadness. Thanks to Petunia? This neighborhood is really tight knit.
“We’ll miss you!”
“When do you leave?”
So on and so on. Juan’s a nice guy. I never got to know him, and I kinda wish I had now.
“Good to hear that place is finally shaping up!” Willard said with a small smile. “Maybe the curse on the place is lifting! Back when I worked there, safety and cleanliness were shit. All them extra rules about keeping the place clean, and the cows cared for, they weren’t there back then. Just the weird shit about noise in the back, staying away from the old building, and one cow being taken away every couple of shipments.”
“Can I ask a question?” I asked as Willard trailed off, lost in thought.
“Did you ever work in the place, new guy?” Asked Juan.
“No. I’m just curious about Fallowveil’s spooky stories. Lived here for a while, and heard em, but now I’m asking around.”
“Whatcha want to ask?” Willard wondered.
“Why is the old building even still there? The place where you all work is the building in the front, right? New building with state of the art equipment? Why keep the dilapidated old building from the 1860s? Anybody know?”
“Ah. That’s an interesting question. I’d guess nobody here knows that answer, right?” Willard replied. There were nods all around. “Nobody alive today worked in that building. Hell, it was fenced off and boarded up when I was a kid. Nobody really knows why it’s still standing. We all have our guesses. Some think it might have something to do with the devil’s curse. Some say the owners hope to cash in on its historic value. Not sure how. The place is a wreck. So it just sits back there.”
“And they’ll fire anyone who gets curious,” Polly added.
“Exactly. That’s one of the rules. Stay away from the old building. But anyway. Let me get back to the story. The old building, that’s the slaughterhouse built by Heinrich Shroeder. He ran the place for about twenty years. Lot of the newly freed black folks would work there. Nothing too nefarious went on back then, but all the same, everyone felt uneasy working there. Just like now, workers swore they saw ghosts. Place gained a reputation for being haunted. That only got worse over the years. Then came the ‘incident.’ I don’t remember the exact year. But at some point some kind of fire broke out in the slaughterhouse. It was after hours so there were no workers there at the time, but there was a herd of cows waiting there overnight. The fire only affected the inside of the building, but it still spooked the cows. They stampeded out of the pen and the next morning the town had cows everywhere. When the people searched the slaughterhouse, they found that not much of the equipment was damaged at all. Somehow some small section of the floor had lit up. And in the middle of it? They found the charred bones of Heinrich Shroeder.”
“What? How?” I asked skeptically. “You know how hot a fire has to be to melt off everything but bone? I don’t. But I know it’s pretty hot.”
“Oh I know. That’s part of the mystery. Nobody knows what happened. It was like some little explosion of heat just burned everything in this one spot on the floor, including Shroeder. The whole thing is unsolved. A mystery. Maybe it was arson. Maybe it was some sort of accident. Who knows? Anyone who works there could tell you though. That place is cursed. Our theory was, Heinrich went back on whatever deal he made to get the land, and the devil came to collect. Either way, the whole town was in shock. Shroeder’s family buried him at Kugler Mill Cemetery, then sold the place and moved to Omaha to be closer to family.”
“Who bought it next?” Asked the kid that kept asking questions.
“Local man named Jefferson. Man was a former slave owner who had a lot of trouble turning a profit after the war.”
“Also a horrible racist!” Petunia added from the grill. “You left that part out one time.”
“I did not! I didn’t think I had to say it! I said he owned slaves! Of course he’s racist!” Willard shot back.
“Just messing with you, you old cowpoke.” We all stopped to chuckle.
“ANYWAY. Jefferson was no great boss. Lot of stories about cruelty to workers and animals if the stories I once heard are true. He kept the name “Schroeder Slaughterhouse to keep some locals from realizing it was him. That’s how he hired a bunch of black folks. There were lots of accidents. Almost everyone who worked there left missing a limb, like me.” Willard held up his hand, and I noticed for the first time that he was missing two fingers on his right hand. “They were still using old band saws. Only took one wrong move” he added thoughtfully. “So Jefferson took over, but he kept all the weird old rules. Nobody knows why. But the place wasn’t a great place to be. Another fire broke out, this one was the Jeffersons son getting drunk on the floor and lighting a lantern. Three workers died there. There were other injuries, and shitty safety standards. One other stampede occurred, which was caused by the equipment falling apart cuz they never bothered with maintenance. You get the idea. All the while, everyone kept hearing tales about the ghosts. They eventually got the idea that the “rules” had something to do with the ghosts. People swore when they were louder in certain parts of the building, they were more likely to feel uneasy. We all know that story.”
“The Shadow” several people said in unison.
Willard nodded. “People thought it was the ghost of Shroeder. Made the rumors about a curse seem more real. The Jeffersons ignored their employees' discomfort for years. Then in the in 30s, another tragedy struck. The owner, Edgar Jefferson, personally came to oversee the installation of a brand new state of the art meat grinder to produce ground beef for local businesses. He was standing nearby, even though the construction crew told him to move away. He was bragging to news outlets and investors about his new machine, and how he wasn’t affected by the depression at all, and then, out of nowhere, a small earthquake hit. The meat grinder came loose from its crane and landed right on top of Edgar. He died immediately. Right in front of the terrified crowd.”
“No way.” Said someone from the crowd.
“Y’all can look this one up if you want. Library is bound to have the old papers. I heard this story from my very first boss. He was just a kid at the time. Said his dad witnessed the whole thing. One second Edgar was boasting, next, he’d been turned into meat jelly.”
“Please don’t ruin the barbecue, Willard” called Petunia.
He just rolled his eyes at that. “To make matters worse, the Jefferson’s local estate mysteriously caught fire a few days later. Nobody could find a cause. Nobody died, thankfully. The remaining Jefferson’s were spooked after that. They sold the slaughterhouse as well as four different cattle farms in town, and moved out of the state.”
“Who was next?” Came the child.
Willard ignored him. “The next person to buy the land was an industrialist who wanted to stake a claim on small town businesses. Rick Manson. He owned a restaurant in California. He bought up the cattle farms and built a new state of the art slaughter house right next to the old one. He was held up by world war 2, but when that ended, he got the place up and running. Nobody knows why he didn’t just tear the old building down and build on top of it. He was the first owner to leave it be. Supposedly, things started out decent under Manson. He brought lots of decent paying jobs raising cows and working in the slaughterhouse, and he kept the rules and added more for safety. Ran it like that for a good thirty years. That’s about when I started working there. Late seventies, early eighties. I can say without any doubt, that any good things people said about Rick Manson? They were lies. The man was a tyrant of a boss, at a time when we actually knew what hard work was.” I felt everyone else groan with me when Willard said that. “The guy used the cheapest equipment he could find and barely ever did maintenance. He also kept hiring immigrants to work the floor. The injury rates were incredibly high, and whatever workarounds higher ups thought they could get away with, they did. A lot of that was on the farms. The local farms were soon forced to use growth hormones, cheap corn feed, and other shady tactics to fatten the cows up faster. They made every effort to turn the small town of Fallowveil into a bigger meat processing plant. We all suffered for it. People died working in that place. Even more people lost fingers. And nobody ever held Manson accountable. Let me remind you, the place was still unbelievably haunted. The shadow was seen by everyone. People started seeing the weird bird too. Everyone was also pretty sure the owners were doing some kind of satanic rituals in the old building at night. There were stories about lights and weird sounds. The story me and my fellow workers believed was that the one cow that got selected and separated every now and then? They were sacrificing it in the old building.”
That proved a bit too much for me. “Wait… hang on. The place is already a slaughterhouse. Cows die there daily. What’s so special about this one cow? Do others not count?”
“Oh how am I supposed to know? You wanted to know what the stories were right? That’s all we got, nobody actually knows what’s going on in there. All we got are guesses. All we know is that someone always showed up, maybe once a week, and picked out a cow, and lead it away. We’re busy workers so no, none of us ever really saw where it ended up. We’re pretty sure it wasn’t put back on a truck. There’s no hidden field that we know of where they’re keeping them. So where the hell do these cows go?”
“I mean… I don’t know. Do they still do that?” I asked.
Juan answered me. “Yes. I’ve seen it happen. Mr. Kurt is the man who picks the cow. Once a week he picks a cow and leads it away from the others. Usually toward the back. Whenever we ask him where the cow went, he would just say ‘that’s private.’”
“Who the hell is Mr. Kurt?” Willard asked.
“He’s basically the general manager. He’s there everyday.”
“What about the new owner? ‘Antoora’ or however you say that?”
“Antuara. We don’t know. Nobody but Mr. Kurt has met him. It’s really strange. Kurt just says Antuara is a bit of a recluse.”
“Wouldn’t the FDA want to know what was happening with these cows?” I wondered.
“All the paperwork is done. The FDA has been here multiple times. They know one cow gets taken, and… they’ve signed off on everything. So I guess it’s nothing illegal.” Juan concluded with a shrug. “It’s really weird.”
“Huh. That place is just a giant old mystery. Does it ever end? You all know what happened to Mr. Manson?”
“Didn’t he die in a fire?” Asked Polly.
“Not just him. My last boss was the one that noticed this. But right before Mr. ‘Antoora’ bought the place ten years ago, it got bought up by a bunch of corporate goons. They wanted to compete with places like Tyson meats. They bought it after Manson's car was found exploded… with him in it, of course. That’s three different owners who were hit by fires, and two that were killed by fires. But that’s not all. Polly? You worked as floor manager while those corpo guys ran the place right? You remember why they ended up selling?”
“I was never told, actually. You and the boys had your stories, but I always figured it was our numbers. We weren’t doing as well. People weren’t going to local butchershops. I know there was one death…”
“It was another fire. And from what I hear it was ruled as an arson! To this day it hasn’t been solved. There were three deaths like that. And a meat packing plant in another state burned down. Not all of those were ruled as arson, but it’s a hell of a coincidence, wouldn’t y’all agree?” Willard said with a grin as he searched everyone’s faces. He had everyone enraptured by his mystery.
“It’s like the place really is cursed. Whoever owns Shroeder slaughterhouse… catches fire?” Said someone.
“Sure seems that way.”
“But Antuara is different. All the equipment is new, and he trained all of us extensively. We take breaks. We’re required to take breaks. And we clean everything. Then there’s the farms he bought. They don’t use any growth hormones or cheap feed. Hell, Mitchel Farm has enrichment toys for them. If the place was cursed, I have to hope it’s lifted now.” Juan spoke with conviction.
“But you still see the shadow and the bird, right? And nobody knows what happens to the one cow?” Willard said simply.
“Yes. That is true. Mr. Kurt has said he’ll look into the things that are causing our discomfort. But what can anyone do about a ghost?”
“Like I said. That place is cursed by the devil. Years of cruel practice, spilled blood, and bad deals. The owners get burned, the workers suffer, but it just keeps churning out meat. And of course, it’s here in the town of Fallowveil, where witches roam free…”
“As do old assholes” added Petunia
“The woods have a monster, the Hotel is in the damn Twilight Zone, and everyone’s seen something unnatural. The place is still cursed, mark my words. Unless they tear that old building down, it’ll probably stay cursed.” With that, Willard concluded his story. He raised a bottle of beer to his lips, but before he could drink, Petunia appeared and swatted the bottle right out of his hand.
“What the hell did I tell you Willard. No more god damn beer!”
“Sorry Petunia.”
The rest of the day was nice. I ate food, hung out with neighbors, played some horseshoes, drank some beer. It was great. The circle of meat packing workers had a few more tales, mostly about the Shadow showing up to scare people, or a weird thing someone saw around the old building.
I wasn’t sure what to think, really. I’ve never actually been to the place. I know that working in a slaughterhouse sounds like a really depressing, dangerous, and messy job that I never ever want. That’s for sure. I had no idea missing limbs were so common.
I looked up some of the stuff Willard said. It seems he wasn’t embellishing much. There really were owners who died in fires and one who got squashed by his own equipment. I can see where belief in a curse comes from. Interestingly, Juan was right too. Fallowveil has received awards for its high quality beef in recent years. The stuff is so good that some of the food network shows have started showing up to do segments and visit local restaurants. Mostly Nerd Burger. Nerd Burger is incredible. The Spicy² burger is hands down, the best burger in the universe and nobody will tell me otherwise. I didn’t even realize it contracted with Antuara meats, but there you go.
I shared all of this with Trista later that night, and as a result, we went on adventure together. I wonder if it was a date? She wore her regular clothes. Try to imagine a sixties Hippy who got a makeover from a goth. She wore a sarong around her waist that would dance around her legs, with the breeze. It was black as pitch, with a few flowery designs sewn in. She halos wore a black hand made tank top, black knee high boots, and her stoner beanie hat that read “total witch.” Seriously. How else can I describe that other than Hippy/goth or Hippy/vampire. She’s weird, and she’s really skinny, but damn it… she’s really pretty. And a lot of fun to hang out with. She might have supplied us with something to smoke that may or may not be legal in this state so I’ll say no more there.
But anyway, we were chatting after sundown, and I told her all about the stories of the Slaughterhouse. “Ugh. That place. Look at me. I’m a hippy. I can’t call myself a vegan, but I still morally oppose the meat industry.”
“Why can’t you call yourself a vegan?”
“I… have a specialized diet.”
“What’s that mean?”
“None of your business, jerk!” She socked my shoulder playfully, which made my whole arm go numb.
“Ow! You are like 140 pounds, max. How are you so damn strong?”
“Maybe you’re just weak. So the slaughterhouse is cursed? Wanna go see it?”
“I… like… Right now?”
“Sure! You don’t work for another hour, right? The hotel can manage without me if I’m late by a few minutes. Come on! I hear you’re more likely to see weird things if you go at night!”
How could I say no? So I drove us to Antuara Meats, formerly known as the Schroeder Slaughterhouse, and got a look at it for the first time in my life. The main building is pretty unremarkable. Just a factory type building next to a big field. We pulled into the parking lot and got as close to the fence as we could, so we could see what we really wanted. The old building.
“Christ. Why is it still standing? Place looks like it should be condemned.” Trista said as we got out and peered through the fencing.
“Yup. Boarded up windows, overgrown ivy everywhere, everything one needs to make a nice creepy atmosphere.”
“How romantic!” She quipped. I’m glad she couldn’t see the confused blushing I did after that. “It definitely smells like blood and rot around here.”
“It does? All I smell is… I’m guessing that’s cow poop?”
“No. It’s metallic. Smells like old blood.”
“You are such a vampire.”
“Har har.”
“Seriously, I don’t smell blood. I can’t see much. It’s too dark.”
“Not much to see. Though I think I see the cow.”
“The cow? What cow? And no way in hell can you see out here. There’s clouds out!”
“Eat your vegetables Mason. It’s good for your night vision.”
“Vampire says what?”
“Nope.”
“So you see a cow? A live cow? Where? Maybe I have a night vision app or something. I dug my phone out of my pocket.
“Yeah, there’s a cow standing out behind the old building. Maybe a hundred yards.”
“I don’t care how good your night vision is, how could you see that far?”
“Will you give it a rest? Not my fault my eyes adjust better than yours.”
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to be an ass…”
“It’s okay Mason, I’m mostly messing with you. There is a cow there though.”
I held up my phone and zoomed as far as I could with the night vision on. She was right. A loan cow stood in an open field behind the slaughterhouse. There were no fences back there, so I wondered if it had gotten loose and just wandered its way to the spot. “Huh. You’re right. There’s totally a cow there. It’s not on the property either.”
“So… you found the missing cow. But I gotta ask. You doing okay? That shit with the Red Nights club was crazy. Anyone would be messed up after that.”
That annoyed me. I’m not sure why. “You think I’m messed up?”
“Well, yeah, that’s why I hang out with you. We’re both messed up. But like… this is seriously messed up. Not fun messed up.”
“Is that the only reason we came out here? Did Petunia put you up to this?” I turned toward her.
“Yes. But no. Petunia is worried about you. And so am I. You’re one of the few regular friends I’ve got. And someone almost shot you.” I saw genuine concern in her violet eyes. She stood there, twiddling nervously with her hands, only partly illuminated by the nearby streetlights, making her pale complexion shine. A strange gust of wind kicked up and blew her wavey Raven black hair prettily across her face.
‘Oh fuck. You’re getting feels. Stop that. You’re just lonely, and she just feels bad.’ I wrestled with my thoughts for a moment before replying. “I’m sorry. Maybe I’m just burying it. I’m okay. At least I think I am. Maybe I'm still processing.
“Uh. Hold that thought, Mason. The cow is gone.”
“What?” I looked back and held up my phone. There was no cow in the field anymore. “Where? How? There’s nowhere for it to go!?”
“I didn’t see anything. It was there a minute ago, now it’s just gone. Wow. That’s creepy. This place really is cursed.”
“Could it have fallen in a hole or something?”
We actually spent a few minutes searching for a trace of the bovine, but we didn’t find anything. There’s no way the thing ran off in just a minute. So what the hell happened to it? It just vanished. Both of us felt a little unsafe after we reached that conclusion. So we headed home and then went off to our respective jobs. Now here I am. A fully grown cow disappeared before my eyes at a haunted slaughterhouse, and somehow I’m still more concerned with whether or not I should ask Trista out or just enjoy her friendship. But that shit is my business.
I did a bit more reading about the slaughterhouse. police have been called to the place over the years, and they found nothing. There’s even been people that signed papers and got to enter the building legally. There was even a ghost hunter once. They didn’t really find anything interesting either. There’s something weird about that place though. No doubt about it. It’s brought tragedy, creepy stories, and delicious hamburger to our town for generations. Given how delicious locally raised beef is? I'm cool with the place doing whatever it’s doing.

Conventional Loan
Credit Score: 755
Purchase Price: $612,000
Loan Amount: $581,400
Estimated Interest Rate: 7.575%
Can someone explain what all this means to the pea brain buying a house. First Time home buyer, and need to know if I'm being taken advantage of lol NJ BTW
https://preview.redd.it/fkmga5vxy2yc1.png?width=740&format=png&auto=webp&s=66679892f12212635b6c4aaa75fe2159506f346d

Help with my first home. Does everything seem normal? I’m in Georgia with 7.1% interest rate. I took away the loan officers name just in case.

RKT reported a robust Q1'24 with total revenue of $1.384 billion and EPS of $0.11, surpassing analysts' expectations significantly.

Key Metrics

Revenue	$1384M
Operating Expenses	$1085M
	Net Income	$291M
Earnings Per Share	$0.11
Cash and Cash Equivalents	$861410M

Segment Performance

• Direct to Consumer (revenue - $1094M, profit - $344M) - The Direct to Consumer segment derives revenue from originating, closing, selling and servicing predominantly agency-conforming loans, which are pooled and sold to the secondary market.
• Partner Network (revenue - $170M, profit - $114M) - The Partner Network segment supports our marketing and influencer relationships, and our mortgage broker partnerships through Rocket Pro TPO.

Business Highlights

• Generated Q1'24 total revenue, net of$1.4 billionand adjusted revenue of$1.2 billion. Adjusted revenue exceeded the high end of guidance range, and year-over-year growth accelerated for the third quarter in a row
• Reported Q1'24 GAAP net income of$291 million, or$0.11per GAAP diluted earnings per share and adjusted net income of$84 million, or$0.04per adjusted diluted earnings per share
• Delivered Q1'24 adjusted EBITDA of$174 million, the highest adjusted EBITDA in two years
• Rocket Mortgage generated$20.2 billionin closed loan origination volume, a 19% increase over the same period the prior year
• Gain on sale margin was 3.11%, a 72 bps increase over the same period the prior year
• Total liquidity was approximately$8.9 billion, as ofMarch 31, 2024, which includes$0.9 billionof cash on the balance sheet, and$2.6 billionof corporate cash used to self-fund loan originations,$3.4 billionof undrawn lines of credit, and$2.0 billionof undrawn MSR lines of credit
• Servicing portfolio unpaid principal balance, which includes subserviced loans, was$511 billionor 2.5 million loans serviced as ofMarch 31, 2024. The portfolio generates approximately$1.4 billionof recurring servicing fee income on an annualized basis
• Rocket again gained market share during the quarter. In Q1'24, both purchase and refinance market share expanded, showing double-digit percentage growth on a year-over-year basis
• Our home equity loan product continues to fill a need in the market and resonate strongly with clients, offering a solution for those who may want to tap into their home's equity without impacting the lower rate on their first lien mortgage. In Q1'24, home equity loan volume grew more than 3.5 times over the same period last year, setting a new record
• In April, Rocket Mortgage unveiled Rocket Logic, our patented AI-driven technology platform. Rocket Logic powers our front-facing client interactions and back-end processing, and currently includes capabilities such as Rocket Logic Docs, our intelligent document processing platform; Rocket Logic Assistant, our virtual assistant supporting team members for client interactions; and Rocket Logic Synopsis, our centralized client repository
• In April, Rocket Mortgage announced Rocket Logic Synopsis, a tool used by our client-facing team members across mortgage banking, TPO, client operations and servicing. With AI doing the work behind the scenes, Rocket Logic Synopsis transcribes and tags client interactions, and logs client preferences for communication method, time to be contacted, call purpose, sentiment and more
• In April, Rocket Mortgage launched a pilot for a voice generative AI feature that enables clients to make instant modifications to their verified approval letters by simply using their voice, giving clients a meaningful edge in today's fast-paced and competitive housing market
• In April, Rocket Homes launched Explore Spaces, a first-to-market visual home search experience, that allows users to instantly stream photos based on features that are most important to them, such as kitchens with marble counters or backyards with lush lawns
• In March and April, Rocket Mortgage received numerous accolades from industry outlets. Rocket Mortgage was recognized by Forbes as 'Best Lender for Flexible Mortgage Terms,' 'Best Online VA Lender' and 'Best Refinance Lender for Flexible Mortgage Terms,' and by TIME as 'Best Mortgage Lender for Digital Refinance' and 'Best for Low Down Payment'
• Rocket Community Fund, a partner company, announced a combined$550,000in new funding to protectAtlantahomeowners and renters from displacement
• Rocket Community Fund recently launched the Make It Home program inCleveland, an extension of the successful program inDetroit

Guidance

• Revenue (next period): $1.075 billionto1.225 billionM

Expectations: BEAT
Analysts estimated an average EPS of $0.01 for Q1'24, but RKT achieved $0.11, marking a substantial positive surprise. Revenue estimates averaged $1.02 billion, while actual revenue was $1.384 billion, also exceeding expectations.

Okay, so I need some help. I'm just completely at a loss here and am so confused. I did what everyone said to do at the beginning of March and applied for PSFL and IDR and I cannot get an answer on what to do.
I am a teacher that has worked at a qualifying school for the 10+ years. I consolidated my loans through Mohela and turned in the paperwork for PSFL back at the beginning of March. I also went ahead and filed for the IDR plan because I cannot afford the 600ish dollar per month payment. I was pre approved for a 0 dollar payment (yay for being a poor teacher)
About 3 weeks after I applied for PSFL I got a letter from Mohela stating that I did not turn in my portion of the PSFL loan that I sign and I had only turned in the portion my employee signed. Okay, Honest mistake.
Around the same time I also get a letter stating that my proof of income was not the right paperwork. I haven't done my taxes in two years so I read that you can turn in a letter pretty much self reporting your income, family size, etc. and in most instances they will accept that. On a side note, I do find it odd that this paper I submitted didn't count for me but counted for my wife and we literally submitted the same paper for my wife and she was approved for the 0 dollar payment for IDR.
I received the letter about the incorrect paperwork for PSFL and IDR just before April first. I wasn't sure exactly what I needed to do so I called Mohela and actually got in touch with them. I was instructed to resubmit my PSFL paperwork with my signature and turn in a copy of mine and my wifes last paystub for the IDR. However, because it was going to take another 3 weeks until the IDR could be approved they did a forbearance for me and that meant my next payment wouldn't be due until May 2nd.
Well over the past week I have been trying to contact Mohela (without success) because I still haven't been approved for the IDR or PSFL. Just kept saying status pending. I have been trying to get in touch with them before the PSFL stuff was transferred over to studentaid.gov, but that obviously didn't happen. I logged in today to student aid and it now says that I do not qualify for the PSFL because one or more of my loans are in forbearance.
So, I'm not sure who I need to call to talk about the PSFL application now. Is it being denied because I am on the temporary forbearance? It's all so god damn confusing. Not to mention my payment of 600+ dollars is due today so I have to pray I can finally get through to Mohela to get another forbearance. It's really disheartening because I'm watching teachers all around me have their student loans forgiven and here I am just stuck in limbo.
Plz help

TLDR; Company flew me and wife out, gave us verbal and email salary offer, sent us with realtor, offer on house accepted, then said they can only pay 65% of what was quoted because position had been filled (before flying me out). Then tried to buy company I work for.
Received a call from a recruiter I had worked with before, she said she found the perfect position for me, but I'd have to relocate. She told me the pay was low 200s, so I said sure let me talk to them. We had a video interview and they loved me. Told me to book flight to come out to see them with my wife.
Within an hour the owner is texting me asking what my wife does for work so they can help find her a job, tells me I can use his condo which sits empty for 6 to 12 months if needed so we can get the lay of the land and find the perfect house.
Over the next week they email me their benefits package price so I can compare apples to apples. They tell me to figure out what moving costs would be and closing costs on my home so they can put together a relocation package. He also connects me with a realtor to show us some houses while we're out there.
So we get in town, go to a crazy expensive steakhouse. Next morning I meet the owners son (he's taking over the business) at the office, he goes over an org chart with me, tells me who will be reporting to me, takes me on a tour of the building, introduces me to people as "he's going to be moving here and over all of the accounting department." He takes me to a conference room and introduces me to the "Current CFO" (I assume the outgoing one who is retiring as he was recruiting me for CFO), but no , dude has only been there a week and lacks all of the experience that they were specifically looking for with me. Strange I think. I meet with the owners son again and ask him about their week old CFO if they were recruiting me for that, he says "oh yeah we filled that but still want you probably as the VP of finance, we will create a position for you."
He takes me outside where his dad is waiting to take me to the condo and meet the realtor to go see houses (realtor was picking up my wife at hotel to meet at condo.) I tell him I need a salary amount so I know which range of houses to go see. He says "Your base will be around $200k and then $40k or so of bonus potential".
We go see houses, put an offer in on one. Realtor says to call loan agent to get pre approved. Loan agent gets the name of the guy I'll be working for and says "oh yeah he's my good friend, he was the best man in my wedding". Asks if I have an official offer letter with salary, which I do not. He tells me to ask for one, but says he will call him as well. So I text the guy and he emails me a spreadsheet showing the salary workup he has, which matches the prior amounts. Loan guy calls back saying he talked to his friend and he confirmed the numbers, so we are approved for the loan on the house we offered on.
Saturday comes and wife and I decide to go take in some tourist sites in the city. I get a text from recruiter asking me to call her. She says that I'm asking way too high of a relocation package (they offered to pay for full move and fees, I didn't ask), she also says I am being ridiculous expecting to use the condo for 6 to 12 months. I indicate that the condo was offered to me within hours of our first call. She says "oh thats not the story I got." At this moment we got a text from realtor that the offer on house was accepted and he needs earnest money before we leave town. Recruiter says she will circle back with the ownership and get an offer letter from them ASAP.
An hour later, owner son texts asking if he can call me. He calls and acts all weird, he says they can only pay me 65% of what they quoted, because the CFO role was already filled. I called him out on his BS and asked why they wasted my time bringing me down for that role if they already filled it with someone who didn't meet the "required skills". So I told him thanks for wasting our time bringing us down with zero intent to hire us. And even a bigger thanks for lying about the salary so we could get our heart set on the perfect house for us, only to have to walk away from it.
I get home, send them my expenses so they can send me a check (they did send it), along with the biggest F*** you email ever. Basically told them that this is a Tommy Boy situation where the dad has built a great company and now silver spoon son can ruin it. I asked why they hired someone who had ZERO of the required skills.
He sent me a generic reply and stated that I lacked the necessary skills for them to have made me any offer. LMAO! Recruiter got a great laugh out of that.
So I figured I'd never hear from them again.... as they say on TV.... BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!!!
Flash forward 2 weeks and the owner of the company sends me an email that "I just was contacted by a company in (region I had visited) and they want to explore buying the company" (Owner is actively selling, has a few who will probably make an offer soon). I laughed and knew immediately who it was. Replied to him "Tell them no thanks. They were recruiting me for their CFO and flew me down under false circumstances and lied to me all weekend, not an ownership group that you want taking over your business."
I'm sure part of their reason for that email was to make sure I admitted to my boss I was exploring leaving. So I owned that immediately. He doesn't care, he's about to sell for millions and knows I need to look out for myself and my family.
Curious if I hear from them again or if they're really done being a thorn in my side.

Hi All,
I got audit letter last month on April 6th. I just noticed the letter was generated on April 1st. My CPA is working on the response but am I late in replying audit? The letter says “respond within 30 days of this letter”. I am worried. Any idea what’d happen if the IRS receives response few days late?
Thank you for your time

Hi everyone,
I am 23 years old and in 2020 I lost my job due to Covid and ended up with $60,581 in debt - $46,845 credit card debt, and $13,736 in personal loans (I just checked my credit report today to confirm these numbers)
I was irresponsible I racked up debt and I was considering filing chap 7 last year, so I was told to stop paying on everything, I struggled to save money to pay the lawyers, ended up not filing and all my accounts got charged off. This is my fault and I accept responsibility for it.
I have been employed about a year and I make $57,782.40 - which after taxes and 401k I bring home $3400 - my bills are about $1500 - this is my car payment, insurance, phone bill, gas, wifi, rent to my parents since I live at home (I pay wifi and phone bill bc I work for telecommunications company and get a discount)
This leaves me $1900 a month before food, monthly payment on taxes (I owe 5k$) savings, student loan payment, groceries, maintenance such as my gym membership etc.
I considered filing for CHAP 7 June 1st, (I get 3 checks in May, so I’ll have an extra 1700 so but because it is based off the last 6 months it’ll look at my income from 12/1 to now, and from 12/1 to 3/5 I had a second job that puts me way over median at $70,647.24 median in NC is $60,061 I believe.
If I wait to file until September 1st that additional income will not be factored and I should be under median to file chap 7.
However I’ve gotten a few letters from collection agencies trying to collect on the debt I owe and I have until the middle of May to respond. I’m nervous that if I wait I will get sued before September, and if I file bankruptcy I will have to do a 13, and I’m nervous they’ll take majority of the money I have left which will put me in a tight spot.
I don’t mind paying my debt off and I’d be willing to settle with the debt collectors and make reasonable monthly payments to make good on my debt, but I don’t want to be in the whole while paying my debt. Especially since life happens and I have no savings to cover any emergencies if they happened.
I’m seeking advice on what the best route to take would be because I feel like I’m way in over my head and it’s starting to affect my mental health.

Hello Reddit!
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Over the past decade, I’ve filed more than 9,000 requests on a wide-range of subjects and more than 100 lawsuits against government agencies to compel the release of records. An FBI officer called me a "FOIA terrorist" while the DOJ labeled me part of a "FOIA posse." Documents I brought to light have made history and fueled controversies, revealed horrific abuses by intelligence officers, uncovered secret photographs of rap music’s holy grail, and even forced former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff to submit a sworn declaration stating that Trump doesn’t mean what he tweets.
I also write a weekly newsletter called FOIA Files, that brings readers behind the scenes as I battle government agencies, challenge their culture of secrecy, and unshroud documents they would prefer never saw the light of day. The last few editions looked at the Fed's response to Fed transparency, a missing Obama letter, and an FBI agent's reaction to the Mar-a-Lago raid. I still have many more requests out, and new documents constantly pouring in.
Ask me anything!
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Edit: Thanks for joining me in this AMA session! Feel free to sign up for my newsletter for exclusive weekly drops of new FOIA documents at https://www.bloomberg.com/account/newsletters/foia-files or send tips to tips2@bloomberg.net

i still have to see what the real offer is but they sent a letter saying they will drop my payment from 485.11 to 335 and my rate from 24 to 12.5.
is this company good to lend from/worth looking into? i already have a loan with one of the worst companies from what I've heard.

My review is too long to post on Google or Yelp so I’m leaving it here in hopes it could help someone before they waste a week of their life like me:
Re: carmax in Irvine, CA
If you have literally any other option, don’t use CarMax and especially not this location. Let’s get into it:
I started off with CarMax 2 Tuesdays ago. I wanted to see what their offer was for trade in on my current vehicle. I received the highest offer of 3 vendors from them, so I was very pleased. I had 7 days to cash in the offer so I began looking for a trade in vehicle.
I booked a reservation to test drive a car that I was pre-approved for online. My husband booked another one at another location and we had one other we were looking at outside of carmax. The plan was test drive each, decide which we liked best and proceed with trading in our vehicle, either for one of the two vehicles we were test driving, or for cash if we preferred the other vendor’s vehicle.
The Thursday of that same week was my first test drive, at this location. I had spoken to a salesperson who let me know they gave an express option that means I wouldn’t have to do the paperwork if I just upload my drivers license and insurance online. I do so. I arrive on time, 6:00 as scheduled. My husband and baby are with me. I walk in the front and I see a tv that shows my name on it in queue. Great! They must have it ready for me as promised! We stand there for awhile and finally someone notices us, and comes up and confirms that we have our reservation and someone will be with us soon but if we’d like to view the car, it is in the lot, 3 aisles back, pulled to the side. He points and we’re on our way. We wander to where he described and the vehicle is nowhere to be found, we wander the lot a bit more checking out every vehicle of the same type, maybe it’s this one? Nope. This one? Nope. Finally we’re cold, the baby is cold, we decide to wait inside. As we approach the front - there it is! Pulled up front. Not where he said. Ok, fine, he didn’t realize it was pulled up for us already. We go inside after checking it out and mention to him, hey it was actually up front. He doesn’t apologize or anything he just says, well they pulled it up for your appointment. …..that’s not what you said 10 mins ago my guy, but ok. He says, “we’re still waiting on a salesperson but they will call you as soon as they’re ready. We have you in the system so it should be any minute now.” It’s 6:30 now, and I’m a little annoyed but say ok, we’ll be waiting in the waiting area. 6:45 rolls around and the baby is getting hungry, we decide this guy up front hasn’t been too helpful so let’s ask the business office. We tell them we were supposed to have an express pickup (not realizing that express pickup is for purchased cars. Not test drives. But that isn’t what the salesperson said on the phone, and I don’t work here - how would I know anything other than what was told to me). Finally they call a salesperson, the guy I spoke with on the phone. He says, I’ve been waiting on you guys! …excuse me what? It’s 6:50. We were here at 6. We checked in. Twice. His response, “I can’t believe I didn’t see you.” ….is there no check in system that someone can mark this person is here?! Your system is really just stare at the door and try to decide if this stranger walking in might be my appointment?? Really??
I’m frustrated and I should have just left at this point but we waited this long, so I test drive the vehicle. The salesperson is pushy despite me letting him know that I am not planning to purchase the vehicle today, I have 2 more test drives and then I will decide.
Skipping over the other tests drives (one was at Costa Mesa and I gotta say if you’re set on buying from CarMax, GO THERE! Great experience there). We finally on Saturday decide on this first vehicle. Being that I was frustrated with my in person experience, I decide it is better to purchase the vehicle online. That’s the appeal of CarMax, right? No dealing with pushy sales people, buy online, pick up in the store. I fill out the application with mine and my husband’s information, as we were cosigning, get approved for a loan at a lower rate than expected - amazing! Upload all my documents. Write in my loan company, payoff amount I received from them for a 15 day payoff, and my account number. I receive a call from a rep saying they received everything and they will verify my payoff and as soon as that is done I can schedule my express pick up and trade in. Nice! I go to bed Saturday expecting to pick up my car on Sunday.
On Sunday, I receive a call that they can’t verify my payoff information. They think it’s likely because it’s Sunday and they’ll be able to get it Monday when the banks open. No problem, that makes sense.
On Monday, I receive a text that they were unable to verify and require a 10 day payout letter. I find that strange, since I have my account info, but these things happen so I get a letter from my lender upload it as requested. A couple hours later I receive a call from the finance department. “You incorrectly wrote the name of your lender in your application, so we need to redo the application.” ….huh? The rep says he sees on my letter that it’s America’s First Credit Union but I wrote American something something idk — I never even heard of this company. I said there’s no way I wrote that. I don’t even know of that company. Perhaps if it was a drop down menu or something, “choose your lender” I could have accidentally chosen that but it was not a drop down menu, it a type-in box. i def wrote my correct lender. someone on their end clearly made a mistake. But these things happen, we’re all human. We go through the application over the phone so he can redo it. We get to my husbands info and I’m told he has to give it himself. He’s at work. He says he’ll call back. I tell him 5:15. He calls at 3:15. I remind him he said 5:15. He apologized and said he’d call then, 5:15 rolls around, no call. I text saying we’re ready. He replies that he’ll call shortly. Finally at 6:30, he calls, we go through all the information AGAIN because apparently he can’t save an application in the middle. He tells me at the end, great news! You’re approved! But none of the options are what I chose originally, they are $50 more a month, 3-4 percentage points higher in interest. As I’m asking how this is possible he says, wait I refreshed and there’s this lower option available! He tells me the cost - $492 per month. Im tired at this point this has been an all day back and forth, I say fine. He says, all we need is your husbands license, we have everything else, once you upload that tomorrow we can get your express pickup set up. Finally! We do so and let him know over text,’which he confirms.
Now it’s Tuesday. Express pickup day. It’s 3pm and I I haven’t heard from anyone. I try to text. I get no reply. I call and sit on hold for 35 mins. Finally someone picks up and informs me I am not set up for express pickup because I am missing documents. But no one has let me know I am missing docs. No call, text, or email. they say they need our social security cards and references. Once we do that we can pick up after 5. So we upload those immediately, and I receive a text confirming my express pickup request and time.
5pm rolls around, we get to CarMax and the original sales person I had last Tuesday for the test drive sees us walk in. We tell him we’re here for our express pickup. He pulls our account up and sees that we do not have an express pickup. But he’ll arrange it for us. He’s informed by his sales manager that he can’t make arrangements based on the docs we have already uploaded online. We need to start over. We give him all the information AGAIN (4th time now). Get on his computer and print documents. Even though I BROUGHT DOCS WITH ME because I knew things wouldn’t go smoothly, he couldn’t accept the ones I brought. They had to be printed from his computer for some reason?!? They have everything they need after an hour, hour and a half or so and the manager is reviewing it. She asks my husband, how long have you been at your job? He says 2 months. His last job was 5 years but they went out of business. Do they need that info? No, no, she says. Let’s us sit there for another 20 mins while she “reviews our documents.”
Then she comes over and tells us that she can’t approve us because my husband’s employment needs to have been AT LEAST 6 MONTHS. Doesn’t matter that his previous job was 5 years and also doesn’t matter that we LITERALLY GAVE THEM THIS EXACT INFORMATION ALREADY 4X OVER THE COURSE OF 4 DAYS.
We blew up, stormed out and agreed this was a blessing in disguise - we don’t want to finance or deal with the repair shop of a company that is so disorganized, disjointed, and frankly shady. We drive our original car off and decide it wasn’t meant to be.
Then today, I receive a text:
Hello, this is Eden with the CarMax Transaction Support Team. I see you selected the insert car name here, great choice! I wanted to let you know that I am reviewing your order details and will reach out as soon as possible to provide an update. If you have any questions, feel free to text here or call me at 770-734-1130 and ask for Eden.
Yeah. 2 days after declining us over information they had the whole time they tried to start over and act as though this was a brand new order I just placed!!! So that motivated me to share my experience.
Save yourself the headache. Buy a car literally ANYWHERE else. And if you’re going to sell your car to them…. Go to Costa Mesa where their staff at least is actually friendly, knows what they’re doing, honors appointments, and are extremely helpful.

So thanks to a lot of advice on here, I was able to get a consolidation loan through One Main and took all of my credit card / high interest loans into one "affordable" payment. My credit score went from a 560 to a 660 (Vantage and FICO) since February (90 days makes me super happy). Then I get home from work last night - super happy that Credit Karma showed my last collection removed, and I have a certified letter for a garnishment from a place in Washington (I am an Idaho resident). So one, super embarrassed at work today because I am not sure who all knows. And two, we sent off our information for a mortgage application yesterday. This garnishment isn't a collection on any three of my credit reports, obviously. And its only for $611 (original debt is listed as 443.35). I am honestly not even sure what this debt is for - but am hoping for the quickest resolution with the least amount of "residual" effect. Any advice on this or anyone that has had this happen ASAP.

I'm sorry if I seem all over the place. Please be nice and don't rip me apart for being an idiot. I'm already stressed beyond my mind. An adjuster who ignores my calls and emails for weeks at a time, not knowing what we are doing, has been a stressful eight months.
So we've contacted a home insurance litigation lawyer and we are hoping he will accept our case. Until that... I'm wondering if someone can help me. Our insurance is stating that they will only cover our housing up to August of this year because construction repair should be finished by then is what they've estimated. We're still arguing with them regarding the settlement. And we just agreed on the scope of work last week. They sent a letter to us stating that construction should be finished in August in February. But regardless of the fact that we just agreed on the scope of work, they are not changing the date of August. I asked the General contractor to write us a letter stating that construction will not be done by August but he is refusing until we sign a contract with him, but we can't sign a contract for something we may not be able to pay.
During the appraisal period, are we entitled to have our apartment's living expenses covered by our insurance? Probably not.
The lease they approved was only for six months the shortest lease available. After August, we would still have two months left in our lease that we would have to pay. I know that construction will not be done by August. There is no way for a hotel because it's too expensive, and insurance will never approve it. The only option I see is not to sign an extension on our lease because they may not approve the extension. And there is no way I can afford to pay the rent of the apartment plus the loan on the house. I think my family and I will just have to go back to living at our house regardless of its dangerous state because we don't have the money to rent an apartment out of pocket for those 2 extra months.

Medical Debt Summons - MN
I recently received a summons for some older medical debt. I was previously making payments on the medical debt, but stopped when I was switching banks, I called the the debt place and asked to receive an invoice since I didn't recall the last one I had received, I think they mentioned on the phone how they had sent one out previously more than a year ago.
Time goes along and I don't receive the invoice, and I forget to set up the automatic payment.
So I receive the summons, and I just feel stuck in what I should have in the letter back to them. I could probably pay off a chunk of the debt and ask to see if they are willing to work on a schedule again, or should I plan to take out a personal loan just to get rid of the debt fully. I tried to search on here and on the internet for some kind of template for a response to a summons but couldn't find anything. Is this something that I should plan to consult with a lawyer with even though I plan to arrange to pay it off anyways.

Hi everyone,
I have some questions about my UK student loan and the legal implications of not being able to pay it anymore. I'm currently living in the US and working as a public defender.
Here's the situation:

• Started uni in 2007.
• I have a £32,000 student loan from the UK (Plan 1)
• Been living abroad since 2014 (US).
• I've always made my repayments on time until recently. I also had a Plan 2 but paid it off during less hard times money-wise.
• Due to financial obligations (child support) and medical bills, I can no longer afford the monthly payments.

My questions are:
If the Student Loans Company (SLC) sues me in the UK for non-payment, how will they serve me since I'm abroad?
Which court would likely hear the case initially? What happens if they get a judgment against me but don't try to enforce it in the US? Does the debt expire after a certain time?
Can UK statutes of limitations apply to my situation?
If sued in the UK, can I file for bankruptcy there even though I live in the US? Does this apply differently since the loan would be considered "foreclosed" on?
Does my plan outlined below seem like a sound approach? Are there any legal steps I'm unaware of that I should take?
(A thousand apologies it's so lengthy, but as with my work in criminal law, I like to have a well planned strategy.)
Thanking you kindly, in advance.
My plan
Known stages - From researching their procedure via FOI

1. I not acknowledge SLC communications.
   1. Receive letters and emails reminding me about my noncompliance.
   2. Arrears delegated to transcom to collect. I don't acknowledge the debt to transcom.
   3. Transcom runs into someone in the legal field who makes sure they're following every relevant local statute on debt collection practices, while avoiding acknowledging the loan. If they don't meet the (honestly pretty onerous) requirements, there are quite a lot of remedies available in local court.
   4. Transcom gets bored, fails to collect, I start hearing from SLC again with pestering letters.

Next the possibilities bifurcate.
Ideal scenario 1. SLC sends me letters forevermore. 2. Eventually I move house and they get returned to sender. 3. Wait for local statute of limitations to expire. Being careful to not acquire money or property that isn't protected under local debt collection statute. 4. If they pester me after SOL expires, I'd just remind them it exists. 5. If I'm still feeling angsty about not fulfilling a contact years in the future.. Once my children are grown up, and I don't have obligations there or child support, I'll just pay off the entire balance, in a year or two, as voluntary repayments.
Less ideal scenario 1. SLC decides to litigate against me and forecloses on the loan. Once I am aware it is foreclosed on, I would retain local counsel to attempt to settle. SLC has never settled for less than their balance, but I also don't see evidence they've foreclosed (foreclosure flips it to regular debt so it makes sense they'd want to maintain their privileged debt status in the UK.

1. Either as a means of me finding out about foreclosure or after me finding out, I am presumably served with either the complaint if direct filed to local court or a UK summons if they go foreign judgment enforcement as a route.
   
2. If it's a UK judgment they seek, I'd be in a bind as I've never studied British contract law. So my instinct would be to try to seek affordable local counsel or put up a pretty basic pro-se response just articulating my objections. There are a number of objections I understand that could be made under UK law that might not be applicable in the US. I know there's been legal debate about court enforceability from the UK legal community, but it's all untested.
   
3. If they sue me in the US and/or try to enforce the UK judgment in US court, I'm much more confident about what I'd do. Essentially, try to settle, then commence legal scorched earth. Every possible and defensible motion, brief, appellate process etc is utilized. Consistently offer a settlement throughout. There's a fair bit of "there" in terms of debtor protection statutes, their whole mess of constant ex-post-facto term and conditions modifications, etc etc. Suffice to say, I believe I could make it cost (even with their lawyer being the cheapest bargain basement guy, a lot more than the value of my debt).
   
4. If despite this, they don't settle and I lose and have a local judgment against me options are - I declare bankruptcy. I don't borrow at all since my student loan, so it'd trash my redundant good credit but that's about it. SLC gets $0 - I allow SLC to garnish my salary.
   

Via local metrics, courts only can garnish a percentage of my disposable income, not my entire income. That is to say, with five children, two child support payments and a very expensive autoimmune condition, very little money I have is viewed as "disposable" in local courts.
I (out of curiosity) ran the algorithm they use, and my maximum court ordered repayment is actually about half of what I pay to SLC. So, I would then be following the terms of the judgment and still be paying less. If I did get into significant hardship with these payment levels, I'd take the bankruptcy route later.

TLDR: I completely lost track of a student loan for over 18 years. It went into collections probably 15 years ago. Seemed to disappear, hasn't been on my credit report, everything else in my name is in good standing, 800+ credit score. Now the collector just my state tax return. What are my options?
Background:
When I was younger (~18) I was a mess with my finances, never understood anything about finances, just tried to put things out of my mind(kind of a POS). One day my parents gave me an ultimatum go to school or move out; I had no where to go, so, I choose school. With a semester just around the corner, no major decided, generally disinterested, and no money. We went looking for some loans. Not knowing anything of what I was really getting into, I signed whatever forms were put in front of me.
Fast forward to today,I try and be much more on top of things. Got married, have two pups, managed to buy a home, work a solid job for 14+ years, cars paid off. I'm still paying off some regular old student loans which are all in good standing. We're working on fixing up our home; Just living normal life. When, last week, I got a notice of 'intended set-off'. I barely remember the name on the letter but it's a collector for the old loan. I haven't done anything with it ATM. The loan was originally from NJ HESAA, I have no idea what the original amount was but I think it was chunky.
I have no idea what the best course of action is from here. Any advice would be helpful.
TBH I don't care about the state return, if I could get it back that'd be neat but I'm more worried about this counting toward a payment or something and bringing this back to life. If that's even a thing.
Thank you very much This is a throw away account so I'll be checking back periodically but wont be getting alerts.