Jesse’s Story of the Day – Jesse Jones Seattle

A nationwide scam has made its way to Washington. It’s known as the jury duty scam and the criminals use scare tactics to lock up your pocketbook.

Jury duty is just something we all have to do and now con artists are cashing in on that civic responsibility.
It’s a phone scam that costs victims hundreds or thousands of dollars.

“I’ve heard that it’s been happening all over the United States,” said Sergeant Cindi West, with the King County Sheriff’s Department.

West said this all starts with a call that appears to be from a legit government agency.

“They’re actually spoofing our phone number. It looks on there like it says the KCSO. At times they’ve actually used actual names of people that work here,” explained West.

The scammers claim you missed jury duty and if you don’t want to go to jail, you’d better pay up fast.

“We would never ever call somebody at home and tell them that they have a warrant for their arrest. They need to pay something. Generally if they did have a warrant for arrest, we’d go pick them up. We wouldn’t give them advanced notice,” said West.

It’s that fear that makes this so crime so successful. And these guys are good. Just ask Sergeant West’s mom.

“Somebody called my mom. She has been my mom my whole life so she knows better than these things. But he scared her and he actually had her second guessing herself whether it was true or not,” recalled West.

Don’t worry, West called the guy back and gave him a piece of her mind. Soon after, he’d moved on with a new number and probably a new victim. That’s why police have such a hard time stopping this.

“You’ve got these phones that people pick up in probably a 7-11, they pay $50, have so many minutes, they’ll use it until it runs down and then they’ll change the number. How do you track that?” asked West.

Don’t EVER give money or financial information to someone over the phone. But really, if these guys call – just hang up. If you’ve fallen victim, file a police report and contact the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission.

Do you have a story you want me to check out? Call 1-844-77-JESSE (53773) or send me a message here. I’ll be part of KIRO 7 Eyewitness News most weekdays at 5:15 p.m. You can also check out my Facebook page and click here to follow me on Twitter.

When Oliver Meek hired a company to replace his roof he never expected the work would lead to him needing to replace his lawn.

“Now at this point it’s pretty much dead,” explained Meek.

Meek went through Sears which hired a sub-contractor to do the $14,000 job. There were issues from the start when the contractor removed the old roof and used Meek’s front yard as their dumpster.

“They had placed down a small tarp and just had the debris falling down onto there,” said Meek.

By the end, Meek said his entire lawn was covered with shingles. His contract included cleanup but didn’t give a specific timeframe. The debris pile sat for days as Meek continued to call Sears. Finally, a crew showed up and removed the pile but after 8 days in the summer heat, Meek’s lawn was dead. Sears offered him $250 for repairs but bids from landscapers were coming around $2,000. That’s when Meek called me.

“If anybody is going to help us you can always count on KIRO 7,” said Meek.

We contacted Sears and it started the process all over with Oliver so now he’s going to see green.

“They saw the pictures and the damages and they agreed to pay out,” explained Meek. “I have a feeling if I hadn’t contacted you guys who knows how long it would have taken to get this resolved.”

It’s important to know that when you contract a job through big retailers like Sears they sub-contract the job. This means you’ll be dealing with a entirely different company so the retailer has no idea if things go wrong. This means it’s up to you to keep good notes and if any issues pop-up you’ll have to work it out with the retailer.

It’s quiet in Chelan. The lake is still and many of the stores in town are slow. That’s because high season is over, ending well before it should have. Wildfires from this summer left financial scars on the region and now business owners need your help to heal.

“It’s going to be really important to see all of our people come back here and visit the way they normally would,” said Robyn Skaar, owner of Willow clothing store.

Skaar knows about fire and rebuilding. Her store burned four years ago and her town almost did this year.

“It was frightening i have never been a part of anything like that before,” recalled Skaar.

According to the Chelan Chamber of Commerce, businesses had their biggest month cut short.

“There’s definitely a drop in revenue in august and we may not be able to make it up in the fall but we can try,” said Lacey Lybecker with the Chelan Chamber of Commerce.

25-miles north of Chelan is the town of Brewster. It was hit during last year’s fire season and was deeply impacted by this year’s blaze. Shan Miller owns Sweet T’s, a clothing and specialty shop. She said some retirees who lost their homes in the fires have left for good.

“I’m not sure all of them are rebuilding. I don’t know. I haven’t seen a lot of the people again,” said Miller.

The request from businesses here is simple – please visit again.

“The fires touched part of our community but it’s still green. The skies are blue and the lake is fabulous and it’s the best time of year to come out here,” said Skaar.

If you’re interested in donating to the wildfire relief effort, visit the Okanogan County Community Action Council website for more information.

Michelle Hancock does the books for several businesses and she’s not one to be scammed.

“I’m always the one going, no! No first and then let’s prove why it’s legit!” laughs Hancock.

Hancock knows when an IRS agent comes knocking without calling first it’s probably a scam. Well, that’s exactly what happened. She found a note from an IRS agent on her front door.

“Without any notice at all! Why would they do that without ever trying to call you?” asked Hancock.

When she contact her accountant, Hancock realized she wasn’t alone in her skepticism.

“She said, no, it’s a scam. In fact, their office has been getting called about this lately,” recalled Hancock.

The IRS has warned about fake agents stopping by your home to collect. Recently, a few Midwest neighborhoods were visited by someone posing as an agent trying to steal from homeowners. In Hancock’s case, the note from the agent said it would be two days before she could talk to anyone so she drove to the IRS offices in Everett to find out the real deal.

“I showed the reception people the card and said does this person work here and he said yea,” recalled Hancock. “I said, well, why wouldn’t you have called? Like just one phone call, I would have even arranged to meet you at the house, if you wanted to see the house.”

The IRS dropped by Hancock’s house because her return was missing a form, not because she owed money.

“I got frustrated at just how upset I let myself get. And then I thought, well how many other people does this happen to,” expressed Hancock.

So are these visits a waste of taxpayer money? That’s up to you to decide.

Michelle says the IRS employee told her they agents were trying to get out in the field more. If an agent shows up at your door, ask for their badge and ID. You don’t have to let them in without a search warrant. They may just want to clear up a paperwork issue. But as one report said about this kind of situation, if the bear has you in their mouth, say nice bear!

Do you have a story you want Jesse to check out? Call 1-844-77-JESSE (53773) or send me a message here. I’ll be part of KIRO 7 Eyewitness News most weekdays at 5:15 p.m. You can also check out my Facebook page and click here to follow me on Twitter.

If you’ve ever been in the Magnolia, Ballard or Fremont neighborhoods in Seattle, you’ve probably seen beat up and worn down RV’s parked on neighborhood streets. They serve as homes for some — eyesores for others. And for one Seattle man, a legal headache he couldn’t shake for years.

I met up with Rick Davis one Saturday morning at a tow lot in Seattle. We were there to watch the auction of a motor home, one that represents 26 feet of hell for Davis. I was bidding on it to get it off the street for good.

“It’s been a nightmare,” declared Davis. “It’s actually kept me awake a few nights concerned about, particularly my credit.”

Five years ago Davis legally sold this RV but the new owner never registered the vehicle in their name. As a result, Rick has been getting parking tickets and towing bills for years.

“The burden of proof is on me to prove it’s not my vehicle. And that I’m accountable for the impound fees and if there’s a loss when they sell it, I’ll be paying that difference as well,” explained Davis.

Davis was even once blamed for a hit and run accident. When he went to the address of the incident to investigate, he was shocked by what he found.

“My RV was parked in this neighborhood, nice neighborhood. They had curtains and sheets and towels in the windows and there was a generator underneath the vehicle,” recalled Davis. “They were living there. I was shocked to see it. What really shocked me was that this was encumbering a neighborhood and also it was in my name.”

Andrew McConaghy lived above Davis’ RV. It may be gone now but a new one has taken its place.

“To have people who are camping on the side of the street, who have their trash just thrown out the side of their RV onto the sidewalk,” explained McConaghy. “I think that’s really what’s at the core of what’s really destroying and diminishing the neighborhood.”

We found there are thousands of RV’s not properly registered statewide, some 20,000 at last count. The City of Seattle believes more than 30% of its unsheltered population lives in cars or RV’s. Fixing homelessness is just a part of repairing the divide between RV’s and the neighbors where they park.

City response Catherine Laster/Director Human Services, Seattle

“I think we’ve seen significant impact in being able to connect people to permanent housing so that you know, they have some place other than their vehicles to live in,” said Catherine Lester, Director of Human Services for the City of Seattle. “We also recognize that for some people, living in their vehicle is a choice and it’s something that they’ve articulated that they want, they consider that their home.”

RVs at the auction can sell for as little as $1, no towing fees included. Davis’ nightmare is going for more and eventually I win with a $200 bid. Now with the help of Lincoln Towing, we’re going to have the RV destroyed.

The city told me it’s trying to fix this issue. I plan to stay on it and will update you. If you have more information on this subject, drop me a note.

A local family built a home on a piece of land they say the government knew posed a serious hazard but did little to stop it from happening. Now the Orting family faces selling the property back to the government at a $50,000 loss. Unsure of their next move, they called KIRO 7’s Jesse Jones for help.

Anita Gilderoy’s home should have never been built. The problem is all tied to the Puyallup River that runs right next to her property. When Pierce County gave the previous owner approval to build the home, it had evidence the river was expanding through the entire neighborhood. However, when Gilderoy bought the home the county never informed her of this.

“It should have been red flagged and it should not have gotten to this point,” exclaimed Gilderoy.

This all began in 1991 when the county started planning to let the Puyallup — a once highly channelized river — to flow naturally through this valley and over Gilderoy’s street. Hans Hunger, with Pierce County Public Works, said after major flooding the county questioned why it was spending millions of dollars repairing levees to protect some of the homes.

“It’s apparent to us that we are fighting a losing battle. It’s costing us more than the infrastructure than the homes are worth,” said Hunger.

That’s when the county began looking into landowners who were willing to sell, if the budget allowed. It even approached the previous owners of Gilderoy’s property in 1996.

“They were not interested because he felt he could make more money by dividing it into four lots and building homes on them,” explained Hunger.

Unfortunately, no one stopped that owner from doing just that. Then, in 2003 a GeoEngineers report paid for by the county put Gilderoy’s property in a severe channel migration zone or CMZ. Cygnia Rapp, a geomorphologist, explained a CMZ.

“The CMZ is an area that encompasses where a channel has been historically and where it will move in the future,” said Rapp.

Rapp said the Puyallup River has the potential to spread throughout the entire valley which includes Anita’s property.

“The county had information that clearly showed moderate and severe hazard from channel migration though out the area and west of Needham road,” said Rapp. “It would seem that permitting structures after 2003 is highly problematic.”

The owners of the property got a permit to build on the property in late 2004. The moratorium took place in 2005 and Gilderoy’s house passed its final inspection in spring 2005.

As for Gilderoy’s flood insurance through FEMA, the government used old maps and didn’t account for CMZ’s when rating the flood hazard so it labeled the property as a zone C – low to moderate risk.

With all this history, Gilderoy feels the county should do more for her. She paid $425,000 during the height of the housing boom but the county is only offering her fair market value of $355,000.

“I have no reason to believe we should be held at fault for buying this property when they didn’t have to disclose any of that information,” said Gilderoy.

I even found instances where the county council offered to buy a property above fair market value. Despite this, it won’t budge on Anita’s offer.

“If I start offering more to one person because of their individual circumstance how much am i forced because of fairness to offer it to everybody,” said Hunger.
Now the county says it will not rebuild the levee closest to Gilderoy’s home.

“I’m telling you Anita, I’m not going to extend the levy. I’m focusing my energy on purchasing these homes,” said Hunger.

So for now Anita will sit tight, trying to stem off the headwaters of government and an ever reaching river.

A West Seattle woman was stuck in her apartment for weeks, unable to get out because the elevator in her building broke. When she couldn’t get her landlord to help, she called me.

Cell phone pictures taken by friends are Marcia Jensen’s window to the outside world.

“I miss the mountains, I miss the water, I miss the boats,” exclaimed Jensen.

Jensen depends on pictures of her Alki neighborhood because she’s can’t leave her apartment. She’s wheel chair dependent, lives on the third floor and for four weeks the elevator has been broken.

“To get groceries, to get mail, to take out the trash, just the simplest things you don’t even think about,” explained Jensen.

Property managers told Jensen they were working on a solution but days turned into weeks. She filed a complaint with the Department of Planning of Development. It issued a violation but nothing changed.

State and federal law requires landlords to provide reasonable accommodations for residents with disabilities. For example, Jensen either needed a way to get in and out of her building or temporary housing. Managers weren’t offering either so Marcia contacted me.

“I needed help! I had to find somebody to help me,” exclaimed Jensen.

I called the property management company and within 24-hours Jensen was relocated to a hotel room.
But when she returned home the elevator continued to break down. Managers still weren’t hoping so I decided to go looking for the property manager, Alfred Anderson. I called him, stopped by his office twice and finally tracked him down leaving Jensen’s apartment. He promised things were being taken care of but wasn’t forthcoming with details.

I knew the fair housing act requires landlords to handle issues like this so I sat down with Patricia Lally, the director of the Seattle Office of Civil Rights for more information.

“There’s really no excuse to not know what is required of land owners,” said Lally.

Lally can’t say much about Jensen’s case because it’s under investigation but does point back to the law.

“The law is fairly clear. The people with accommodations, their needs must be accommodated if they’re reasonable,” explained Lally.

I called the building owner who blamed the elevator company for repair delays. In the meantime, the elevator in Marcia’s building is back up and running – for now.

“Everybody is paying rent for a working elevator when they move in. This is what they contract for and they’re not getting it,” said Jensen.

The attorney for the building owner told me he’s glad the elevator is working. He said along with putting Marcia in a hotel, the property management company also made a trip to the grocery store and helped with a load of wash. Marcia agreed that happened but it was only for one of the times the elevator broke down.

The city said it could take two to four months for its investigation. If it decides the owner was in the wrong, it will work with both parties to agree on a settlement.

When it comes to the privacy of medical records, many assume HIPAA protects them. I found there are numerous ways your information can be made public and not all of it is illegal.

Caren Dacumos learned her medical information can be seen by anyone just because of a financial dispute with her doctor.

“It’s really devastating when they told me oh, people can just open up your case and look up your information on line, what you’ve been seen for, your diagnosis,” said Dacumos.

Dacumos’ specific diagnosis was disclosed here in court filings.

“When they open the case they’ll see all my information there, probably they can even steal my identity, they can look up what I was seen for which is ridiculous,” explained Dacumos.

According to Dr. Deborah Peel, founder of Patient Privacy Rights, court documents are just one of the places where your information can be easily found.

“All of the people who hold your records, now control when they’re used and when they’re sold. We don’t even have a chain of custody. We don’t even know how many places it goes and who’s sold it and who’s used it,” explained Dr. Peel.

Dr. Peel said as patients we often sign our privacy rights away just to get treated. Even your prescriptions are a lucrative business.

“All 55,000 pharmacies in the United States sell our prescription records every night,” said Dr. Peel.

Dr. Peel said this all began with HIPAA, the law that’s supposed to keep our medical information private.
One year after becoming law special interests got involved and watered down the rules.

Washington is one of 33 states that sells patient information and for $50 per year you will get info that includes age, sex, diagnosis and procedure codes. Christopher Burgess, a computer security expert said that makes a hacker’s work easy.

“If it can be stolen and married up with protected identifying information or personal information, it can be married together to create what criminals call fulls and it can be sold for approximately a $1,000,” said Burgess.

According to Harvard, a single trip to your doctor could mean 18 different groups, from billing to medical coding businesses to information clearing houses, accessing your information. All of these groups can be hacked or even a careless act can jeopardize your information.

“A urologist had his laptop stolen out of his vehicle and he had over 2,900 patient records on his laptop. They include their medical information, their personal identifying information and it was unencrypted,” said Burgess.

Here are a couple of things you can do. Go to Patient Privacy Rights and check out its resource documents. There’s an opt out for the American Medical Association data base-because it sells information and a complaint form if you believe your HIPAA rights have been violated.

“I just want it to be an eye-opener to everyone out there,” said Dacumos. “They should not post online your diagnosis or your phone numbers, where you live. They can phish for your identity there,” said Dacumos.

Now, Washington state law does not allow you to “opt out” of the sale or sharing of your medical records.
So ask your doctors how they use your data and be diligent with the security of your personal information.

As for Caren’s case – – she went through all of this and her case was dismissed with prejudice – so they can’t come after her again. But her information she’s still dealing with her personal information being made public.

If you are looking for ways to save cash at the grocery store using apps is a great way to go. I enlisted the help of Jen Dotson who runs Thrifty Northwest Mom. It’s one of my favorite websites that provides all kinds of value. Use the site, it will save you time and money. Here are the apps she believes are the best.

Favado: It lists the grocery store deals matched up with coupons and store sales to give you the bottom line for prices. You can then type in various items such as milk, eggs, etc. for the stores of your choice and it will compare prices. It’s an easy, fast way to see which store has the best price on boneless, skinless chicken that week for example.

ibotta: It’s a site that provides excellent rebates and deals. Consumers sign up and then complete a task such as watching a video which unlocks the rebate. After that you buy the product take a photo of the receipt and press send. Ibotta will then send you a rebate check.

Checkout 51: Each week, Checkout 51 will update with new offers. Just pick the offer you like, buy it at any store and upload the receipt. With Checkout 51All you have to do is pick the ones you like, purchase them at any store, and then upload a photo of your receipt. Get 20 bucks in rebates, they’ll send you a check.

Snap by Groupon: It works about the same as ibotta and Checkout 51. It allows you to shop at any store and you can earn more bucks by referring friends.

Happy shopping everyone!

You’ve taken to Facebook asking me to look at grocery prices in the region. Last week I showed you the best apps to save you cash. Now, with requests from viewers, I’m doing a price check between Costco and WinCo.

Jen Dotson from Thrifty Northwest Mom is a shopping expert who adores her Costco. She’s even come up with the Costco Price list. It’s a guide to see what kinds of deal you can get at the store.

Theresa Marie–wanted us to check the basics – milk and eggs.

5 dozen eggs
Costco – $9.89
Winco – $9.87

2 Gallons, 2% Milk
Costco – $4.49
Winco – $5.16

Carla Ayers asked us to check meat prices.

Lean Ground Beef
Costco – 88% lean $3.79/lb
Winco – 85% lean is $3.18/lb

Pork Chops
Costco – Bonless $2.99/lb
Winco – Bone-in $2.38/lb

Finally, Kym Davis asked about toilet paper.

Charmin Ultra Soft Toilet Paper
Costco – 36 rolls – $21.99 ($.61 cents/roll)
Winco – 24 rolls – $11.97 ($.49 center/roll)

An additional tip – Costco and Winco are often located pretty close together. In Everett it’s just three-tenths of a mile difference. In Bellingham it’s a little more than a mile. In Puyallup it’s about five miles. So use the savings power at both stores and save lots of money.

I want to know how you are going to save cash buying groceries for Thanksgiving Dinner. Check out Facebook and let me know what you want me to price check or put in our master Thanksgiving Dinner shopping list.

Also, check out this list of things Jen says you should never buy at bulk stores.

Often when there’s a home break-in, victims have no idea who’s behind the crime. Imagine learning it’s your mortgage lender. I found it’s happening to thousands of people in Washington state but with the help of an attorney, they’re fighting back.

It’s difficult enough to sort through your deceased parents memories. John Bund is doing that and fighting the mortgage lender for their home.

“I’m really angry about it,” said Bund.

Bund was locked out of the home after he told the bank he would miss two payments. He caught up and was still locked out.

Jesse explains the state law that is meant to keep you protected. Watch the video above.

With significant increases in property values, homeowners in western Washington are feeling the pinch. But how do you know if your assessment is accurate or fair?

First time homeowner Sheldon Joseph should be excited to see the value of his investment going up. Instead, he’s more concerned about what it could mean for his taxes.

“As a new homeowner to get these surprises and not really get an explanation as to why,” said Joseph.

Joseph’s house is in a pretty remote area of Auburn, on one-tenth of an acre and backs up to power lines. Despite all that, the value has gone up nearly $20,000. Joseph isn’t the only facing these increases. A King County website that analyzes the housing market shows an $85,000 increase in median home values in the last two years. Windermere Real Estate’s Chief Economist, Matthew Gardner, said 2013 is when people began to believe in the market again.

“The price growth being something we’ve seen coming out of the trough,” said Gardner. “They’ve been lagging behind for several years. So we tend to find that the real value is generally speaking far higher than the assessed value. So there’s some catch up and the trouble is when you find that catch up, it obviously hits our pocket books a little bit harder than one would like to see,” explained Gardner.

According to the King County Assessor’s office, says the only delay is that your home value is assessed once a year – in early January.

“Your notices goes out usually summer fall so we are usually about 10 months behind the active market because we are telling you what happened in the past versus what happened in the future,” said Tre Maxie with the King County Assessor’s office.

Looking to appeal the assessed value of your home? First, go to your county assessor’s page and check the characteristics listed for your home. Make sure the bedrooms, bathrooms and square footage are correct and call your assessor to make sure their notes about your property are correct. Here’s a tip…ask to see them.

“So if we’re saying you got a new roof, and you haven’t purchased a roof in 20 years, let us know,” said Maxie. “There’s over 700-thousand parcels in our county so surely there’s going to be some that perhaps we don’t have correct.”

As for Joseph, he ran the numbers and could be in for nearly $4,000 in taxes next year – a $200 increase. Remember, that’s in remote King County. Now he wonders about the future.

“My concern is the pattern. What’s it going to be like in 5 years? What’s it going to be like in 10 years?” questioned Joseph.

The assessor’s office reminds people that home values raise taxes less than levies do. Another important note – if you plan to appeal your assessed value you only have 60 days from the time you receive your notice in the mail. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait until the next year.

Click here for a link of all Washington state assessor pages.

Ever wonder which stores have the best deal for Thanksgiving meals? Jesse did too — and he has the answers for you.

Earlier this week, he went compared prices at WinCo and Costco. Because so many of you liked that, Jesse went back to stores to find ways for you to save money on holiday food shopping.

Check out the full video above.

Below are some of the highlights from Jesse’s earlier report. You can watch that full video here.

5 dozen eggs
Costco – $9.89
Winco – $9.87

2 Gallons, 2% Milk
Costco – $4.49
Winco – $5.16

Carla Ayers asked us to check meat prices.

Lean Ground Beef
Costco – 88% lean $3.79/lb
Winco – 85% lean is $3.18/lb

Pork Chops
Costco – Bonless $2.99/lb
Winco – Bone-in $2.38/lb

Finally, Kym Davis asked about toilet paper.

Charmin Ultra Soft Toilet Paper
Costco – 36 rolls – $21.99 ($.61 cents/roll)
Winco – 24 rolls – $11.97 ($.49 center/roll)

A Mill Creek couple who owns a home outright with no mortgage found themselves locked out after a mistake by a lender. When they couldn’t get a resolution, they called me for help.

Scott Steinmetz and Dawn Taylor are building their retirement by flipping homes like this. But a mistake by a lender threatened their plans.

The couple bought this house for cash over the summer. On a weekly maintenance visit, they found a surprise note.

“The first thing we noticed was a notice on the door that said the house was vacant and some guy was going to change the locks and winterize the house for us and that our mortgage lender had been called,” explained Taylor.

Now remember – the couple paid cash for this house. Steinmetz called MCS, the company listed on the note, and thought he worked things out. Unfortunately, they got a call a few days later from a contractor who was at the house to change the locks.

“They had come out to the house and had already drilled out the locks and changed the locks. You can see they drilled through the door knob. They were going to winterize the house,” explained Steinmetz.

They called MCS again and demanded they pay for repairs to door and new locks but days passed with no response. That’s when they called me.

“This is my retirement and somebody is screwing with it,” exclaimed Steinmetz.

I called MCS and it directed me to the USDA. That’s right, the federal government. It held the loan for the previous owners.

“Information that was input in the system was not fully accurate,” explained Mario Villanueva, state director for USDA rural development.

Villanueva said a switch of the departments computer system prompted this mistake.

“It was interpreted to go ahead and move MCS into there and go ahead and to take care of their efforts to preserve the property and to do all they do, not realizing it had been sold. That was misinformation that was not understood,” said Villanueva.

USDA got in touch with all parties, corrected its system and setup a process to prevent this from happening again.

“We’re glad it was resolved quickly. We have setup protocols now a little bit better,” said Villanueva.

As for the homeowners, MCS refunded them for damages caused by the contractor. Now they can get back to selling this house and finding their next retirement investment.