“It Just isn’t Cricket”

I came across an interesting website about Juvenile Law and it got me thinking. If children can be committed to a state prison like the California Youth Authority, and pick up strikes, and be required to register as sex offenders for life, it only seems fair that these same kids should be afforded the same protections that adults receive in adult court. In other words, kids should have the right to bail as well as the right to a jury trial. It was reported that in 2005, out of approximately 21,000 petitions filed in Los Angeles County, only about 57 ended in a court finding that the allegations are “not true,” the juvenile court equivalent of not guilty. Now the statistics can be misleading as many juvenile cases can end up in court ordered informal probation under Welfare & Institutions Code section 654, or 725, or even Deferred Entry of Judgment for felony cases under Welfare and Institutions Code section 790.  The Los Angeles Times wrote that the bulk of the blame belonged to panel lawyers who plead their clients out too often since they are under paid receiving approximately $350.00 flat fee per case.   For a court appointed panel lawyer, this could mean possibly getting paid less than someone working for McDonald’s if the case is complex and is handed from the start all the way to the conclusion of a trial.  The Times concluded the flat fee resulted in lawyers not wanting to go to trial. I don’t think the panel lawyers should get all the blame for the high conviction rate. In fact, I know one of the panel lawyers at one of the juvenile courts is very committed toward his profession. However, I do agree they are underpaid. In fact not all families afford to retain experienced private juvenile attorneys. This one juvenile lawyer I read about won his last three trials in a row as well as had one clients case he got dismissed declared factually innocent. Now getting back to the LA Times article, I don’t recall reading anything about the problem that juveniles are only receiving court trials. I am sure that has a lot to do with the conviction rate as well. Kids should have a right to a jury trial. There is just too much at stake.

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As you probably have read, we like to keep you up-to-date with things in the Spanish Property market. 2007 was not a good year for a lot of agents and many have fallen by the wayside in the flat property sales market.

As we start 2008 there are signs for optimism as AMLA, The MLS dealing with Spanish property for sale has announced record visitors for the first two weeks of the year.

Costa Blanca Property and especially Moraira property and Javea property have shown double-digit increases in visitors.

The proff of the pudding though is whether these visitors or ‘browsers will turn into buyers. It was confidence in the global mortgage market that made purchasers wary in the second half of 2007. Many came to look but left without purchasing. With interest rates in both the USA and possibly UK on the decline there may now be confidence returning to investors looking to cash in on purchases at the perveived ‘bottom’ of the market cycle. 

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It had to happen at sometime. Maybe it was the downturn in the Real Estate Market that has shown that the power of the internet is starting to usurp the value of the Real Estate Agent service. Whichever is true, the Flat Fee MLS has emerged and is here to stay.

The Flat Fee MLS is a merger of ideas, taking the ability to list on a property on the MLS with the FSBO method of an individual property owner selling their house without a Real Estate Agent. MLS listings have  in recent years always been the bastion of the agents. The increase in internet use has meant that to get good exposure for a property then an MLS listing was almost essential.

Now we are seeing the emergence of brokers ’selling their birthright’ for a flat fee, allowing the individual the access to the MLS through their brokerage but not offering any other service.

In hard times  it is something that may spread!

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The holiday industry in Spain provides the majority of income to the coastal areas of the Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol etc. A good chunk of this goes to private villa owners who rent their properties to holiday makers through the summer months

Spain Rentals are big business. So its no surprise that the Estate Agent Association AMLA is getting in on the act. The Spanish Property MLS is set to launch a sub domain for villa rentals Spain. The site differs from most because it has the ability for property Agents and Owners to market their holiday vill using video as well as the normal photo layout.

AMLA, who recently also launched their community & property forum and video sub-domains intends to market heavily to attract Costa Blanca villas owners and Costa del Sol Properties where video production facilities are available at low rates,    

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Leading on from the last post regarding how to repair your credit yourself, I though I would give another bit of info that I found regarding self credit repair 

Once you get into doing a bit of research regarding self credit repair you will find that there are some good and some bad sites. Some will promise the world saying that you can get a clean credit repair….but it will cost $x. What you end up with is $x worth of more debt and nothing gets done about your credit rating.

It may take a bit longer to achieve with doing it yourself, but look at it like a learning curve. Self credit repair will at least give you peace of mind for the future that you know how do deal with these institutions.

So dint get taken in by promises of things you know cant happen….not without the help of an illegal hacker and opt for the self credit repair route

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AMLASpain, The Spanish Property MLS, has said that its goal for 2008 is to achieve authority status on google for Spanish Property. Having added in the last two months a Spanish Property Forum & Community forum, Video facilities for property marketing, a sub-domain for holiday & villa rentals in Spain AMLA believes it has put all the ‘cards in a row’ to achieve its aims.

‘In association with the Spanish language site AMLACasas  we hope to attract an ever-increasing share of the domestic market towards Multiple Listing. Future goals then include launching a property MLS in the UK for the UK domestic property market. We can undercut the advertisers like Rightmove by 75% and offer back-office software to boot. I think we will find customers.. 

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Credit or credit score can become an ugly word if you are not careful. It is not so easy keeping your credit perfect and in a world that relies on the ins and outs of the credit agencies it is easy to find yourself with a negative credit ratings without even knowing it.

The fact is that whether its a mistake or a case of stolen identity a negative on your credit report can mean doom for anyone trying to get a home loan or car loan.

Enter the Self Credit repair Kit.

The self credit reapair kit gives you all the instructions and forms to do ….’exactly what it says on the tin’

Most people dont realise that it is a legal right for you to be able to challenge anything that you find on your credit report. not only do they realise that they can…actually knowing how to go about it is another matter entirely.

This is where the self credit repair kit comes into its own giving you all the necessary guidance as to what forms to fill in and where to send them along with helpful downloads.

So if your credit has taken a bash and you want to put it right, this is a great place to start.

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Ouch…even that play on words was pushing the limits for me!

They are all around us… we look at them all the time…but rarely do we see them.. What am I talking about?

The advertising board…..no not the poster that we see, the actual board that its pasted onto. Alcom Aluminium is the new board on the block. Its a new composite replacement for both the dibond and multipanel boards that you see…or dont see all around us.

There is a revolution in the materials used to make these boards, outstripping the guarantees and european standards that are currently in effect. The VKD Group are the leader in this field strtch the boundaries of composite plastics.

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Sitting in your armchair…cup of tea on the table next to you…warm fire, glowing in the hearth…dont you just love christmas shopping! Allneedsandwants takes away the stress of shopping…the barging , the nightmare of parking…and god forbid the crush of the sales.

The online shopping mall is I hope, here to stay and I have to cinfess I am not quite sure where all those people, who crush into the town centres in their SUVs wasting time, gas and their own patience, have been for the past…five years. 

You can search for pretty much anything, get an amazon discounter, delivery to your doorstep.

Like I said at the beginning…dont you just love the shopping season

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