Obviously I decided that writing in my blog needed to take a backseat to my current ventures. I made the choice after my ventures began demanding more of my time and I realized that my goal for blogging was not to make money; something which had to take precedence over the past few months.

So I suppose finances is where I should recap.

Progressive decided not to pay for the uninsured motorist claim I filed and that is why I am still in a lot of pain (neck and back). I was investing all I had into my ventures and there is no more left for all the doctor bills I was accruing. In order for me to be effective in the gym again, I know I will need to get my neck and back issues taken care of. Just before the two year statute of limitations, I had to file a lawsuit. They are playing games, though, by responding that they are not registered to do business in Georgia. That’s really funny seeing as how millions of people in Georgia are insured by Progressive. I wonder what their customers would say if they knew they were buying insurance from a company not licensed to do business here?! In Progressive’s eyes, that means that I cannot sue them. In the law’s eyes, however, it means that they are using unscrupulous means to avoid a lawsuit, very stupid on their part. The lawyers should have a field day with them. As I find time, I will push this forward.

My venture, ShrinkTheWeb (http://www.shrinktheweb.com), has really started to take off. I invested a lot of time and money into this venture, because I felt like “website previews” (as silly as it might seem to the average non-techie) would become a huge hit on the Internet. It seems that this is coming to fruition. Time will tell.

I have also been consulting to a previous client to analyze and develop their strategy. After much hard work and efforts, we have built strategic alliances that I expect will be very lucrative and I determined exact reasons why their business has been only moderately successful over the past several years. My proposal to correct those issues was accepted and will put them in to a position to strengthen their offering, boost their credibility, and usurp their competition by collapsing their niche market (much like ShrinkTheWeb did to the website thumbnails niche). I am hopeful that this will be lucrative for all involved.

In my spare time (hahah, right), I have also been promoting, ColorBuster (http://colorbuster.net), a fun puzzle game for the iPhone that was developed by one of my best friends, Attila Jancsina. This is my first time promoting an iPhone game and it is riddled with pitfalls and loopholes. This is definitely a learning experience but we did manage to get listed in the “Staff Favorites” section within just 2 weeks of launch! So that is fantastic. I have more plans to also promote through my third venture, a networking group I’m co-founding with Valerie and Frank. So I’m hopeful that our efforts will be productive.

So many more tough obstacles have come up over the past year that I doubt I will have time to write in my book for awhile. I really enjoyed writing but I have to get my ventures fully self-sustaining so that I can focus. A lot of people who are familiar with my life trials and tribulations have been eager to read my book, but I just have to get to a point where I can relax and let the thoughts flow. At the moment, they are all jumbled in my head.

And that really falls in to my last topic: writing in my blog. I may or may not (most likely not) write in my blog until I have several issues out of the way. I wish you all well.

Cheers,

Brandon

Unfortunately, I am having to file bankruptcy, even though I am an exception to the irresponsible credit rule. Typically, most people find themselves in a bind due to having charged beyond their means, lost their jobs, couldn’t keep up with their mortgage, or had mounting medical bills not covered by insurance.

While I do have thousands in mounting medical bills (thanks to Progressive not paying my uninsured motorist claim), I am mostly filing bankruptcy to simply get bill collector’s (now filing lawsuits) off my back. I need to be free of their harassments and liens in order to make progress towards making my second million. I am very close but I am scraping bottom at the moment. In fact, these past couple of years have been so filled with trials and tribulations that I feel now like I will be able to breathe again soon.

However, I’m not out of the woods yet.

I won’t go into detail in this post (because we don’t have the hours to go into just yet), but I’m mostly filing bankruptcy because of corrupt police officers. From that ordeal, I ended up having to use my SBA loan to survive and depleted my savings while I lived in another country and then sat in jail for seven months for crimes I did not commit. If that sounds familiar to any of you, that might be because of the new movie called “Felon” that came out recently. Oddly enough, that is a very close version of what I went through (somewhat less violent, though). What surprised me most is that the San Quentin prison looks identical to the “adult detention center” where I was kept. I think that seems a little harsh, when it’s supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, don’t you?

Anyway, I digress.

Another big factor in my decision to file bankruptcy was that DriveTime violated my rights by giving out personal and financial information about me to a 3rd party. This is known as an FDCPA violation and they knew that they were so guilty that they changed their “policies” and offered me money to drop my suit. I refused and made a counter-offer, which they refused. Later, they sent me another offer, this time by certified mail. I sent one final counter-offer, which I thought was a big compromise. Instead of calling or writing back, their response was that they simply charged off my car and reported on my credit that I did not pay and refused to return the vehicle.

Ah well. I suppose that is how these places choose to deal with things. As for me, it is just one more reason to roll that auto loan in with my bankruptcy and they’ll get nothing. Plus, I have not absolved them of any liability regarding my case for the FDCPA violation, so they will still have to contend with me on that eventually. Bankruptcy was always my “ace in the hole” in this fiasco, but I thought we could come to an arrangement that would be amicable and mutually beneficial. Apparently, I was wrong.

In any case, that is a glimpse into my world and my reasons for filing.

I have taken many months and put in quite a bit of effort to prepare for the bankruptcy and to make a quick recovery from it. This included having several good items on my credit closed out, so that they will not get wiped off during the bankruptcy AND discussing with my bank to keep (or re-affirm) their credit card throughout the bankruptcy. By re-affirming the credit card through the bankruptcy, I planned to have a higher line of credit and a great recent history spanning a few years.

However, despite my precautions and talks with the bank, they did end up closing the account anyway. That is really lame, since I had been planning this for over a year and did everything in my power to ensure that this would be a major point of positivity in my rebound. Now, though, I am cut off at the knees in respect to that. It turns out that this was done out of adherence to some lending regulation.

Naturally, I also have contingency plans, because I knew the potential that they would close out the card anyway. Now, I will have to solely rely on secured cards with low limits and secured loans to boost my score back up. The only problem is that the card that got canceled was primarily used for business and not personal, so now I have to spend yet more time, that I do not have, to swap out payments on the credit card to my business debit card.

Once the bankruptcy is discharged, I am told that I can open another secured card to use for the business. This will be a huge factor in helping me rebuild my credit quickly and easing the burden on how to pay my bills each month.

All in all, this bankruptcy will allow me to focus on what is important and will bring me that much closer to getting back on top. I’ve been unfairly having to struggle over the past several years, but I’ve been pushing through like always. Now, I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I just have to keep pushing onwards until I get there.

I have an opportunity (85%) likely, as of today, where I will go live overseas and provide consulting services to an Indian company and a French company. Those will be my first two clients and I will be based out of Paris and London. Those companies are also interested in investing in my company, so that could mean I will be back on top by the end of next year or hopefully by 2010 at the latest.

With secured cards and secured loans, my credit should also be back in tip-top shape by the end of next year. So, I just have to hang on for a little while longer.

The moral of the story is that bankruptcy is definitely not the end.

Though, it can be the beginning.

Because of my pending lawsuit against Progressive for not paying out on my uninsured motorist claim from last year, I got insurance from another provider.

I was told that as long as my MVR (driving record) didn’t have anything on it other than what I told them, I was approved and could pay my first two months. There wouldn’t be a problem. So, after I put down the money and got confirmation from them, I canceled my insurance with Progressive.

That’s all fine and dandy until a few days ago when I got a letter in the mail saying I was denied coverage because I failed to tell them about my “at-fault accident” in 2007. WHAT?!?! I was definitely NOT at fault and I can easily prove it.

However, I cannot get insurance, do not have insurance currently, and Progressive won’t call me back. Now, I’ve left messages with lawyers and am trying to get a copy of my MVR so that I can dispute it. This is exactly the kind of thing that keeps me from being able to focus on what’s important right now -my work. Ugh!

I HATE PROGRESSIVE.

I just got back from seeing the neck specialist.

First, the Great News: After a thorough review, the doctor (also a neck surgeon) has assured me that while my neck deterioration is on the worse side of the spectrum for my age, it is still within the acceptable norm. Basically, he assured me that my current pain and suffering is only a result of the original whiplash coupled with sitting at the computer all day and then worsened by not having had proper treatment for the injury.

That is great news because it means that I do not have a life-long neck injury -as I was fearing. Instead, I have a treatable condition that in time could cause me only minor pain or possibly no pain at all. Whew!

He also went on to say that while treatment and exercise might cause me a lot of pain for a while, there is no risk of further injury to my neck. Those of you who know me personally know that knowing this makes a big difference. It means that I can start back -without worrying- exercising, working out, playing racquetball, basketball, volleyball, and basically doing all the things I love!! woo hoo!

The Bad News: This means that I cannot sue Progressive for millions and millions. haha. Well, I could but I would be really stretching the truth. The problem is that I was willing to work with them in the first place and am not looking to be greedy anyway. I just wanted my neck taken care of. Now, it would seem that I won’t have to push Progressive for future neck surgeries or anything like that. However, I should still have my physical therapy, missed work, and medical co-pay covered.

My only real bone to pick with Progressive is that they dragged this out for so long. Now that I’ve been forced (due to pain and suffering) to shell out borrowed money to get these assessments and treatment underway, I see that this is mostly curable. What’s worse is that Progressive could’ve shelled out the couple of thousand dollars last year and avoided putting me through all this headache, wasted time, and suffering.

According to the neck specialist, I probably could’ve been completely better within a couple of months of the accident if only I had gotten treatment right away. Progressive refused to pay for anything and denied my claim. That caused me to delay and I was unable to afford proper medical care. So, I really blame them for this predicament in which I find myself.

If only they had done the right thing to begin with, I would’ve avoided all the unnecessary pain and suffering and their claim would’ve been resolved quickly and promptly and cost-effectively. Now, I suppose that I could push them on the fact that they caused me undue pain and suffering, but I really just want to move on. I just want my expenses and lost wages (minimal) covered and put this behind me. That way, I can focus on more important things like getting back into shape, fixing my neck, and getting back to working more regularly. I am about to write Progressive a “demand letter” with a reasonable amount to cover those expenses, so I suppose we’ll have to see what comes of it.

All I know is I am in a lot of pain now just because I had to stand there and hold my neck in certain positions, etc.  So, I hope it helps. I won’t know the doctor’s impressions until Monday. However, at least I now have the required x-rays that will also allow me to be seen by an orthopedic doctor. I am hopeful they can help me.

Since I do not want to show my hand to Progressive in the off chance that they find this blog (although not likely), I cannot yet discuss the paperwork I obtained today. However, I will say that I think Progressive has a VERY weak case and I’m very surprised that they would take the chance -when the truth is glaringly obvious from the doctor’s notes.  I guess Progressive is willing to gamble in order to save a few thousand dollars.

When they dragged out my claim for a year and then offered me $500 in compensation for my injuries, lost work, pain and suffering, and future medical bills; I can not express how insulted I felt. So, whereas I willing to work them before and settle out for a few thousand dollars, now I am compelled to make them do the right thing. Hopefully, the judge will see fit to punish them also and will award punitive damages.

Anyway, I guess we’ll see.

I didn’t get any work done -once again- due to having to deal with all of these personal issues. Maybe one day, I’ll be able to do some work to pay the bills. What a novel idea! Who knows?   lol.

At any rate, a couple of these new customers really want to move quickly. I think that will be the defining difference to making the web design side of things work. Some of my current projects are stagnating because I’m having a tough time keeping in contact with the customer and meeting to move things along. In those cases, any time I’ve spent on the project becomes irrelevant until things are progressing again.

So, by taking on a few new, aggressive customers and giving them a little priority, I can ensure some income while waiting on the others to pick up steam. These new customers who are on a tight time-line might even make it possible for me to pay some important bills this month (such as rent and medical).

###

While it looks like I may be able to pay some bills; others must still suffer. Of course, I’m forced into a position of picking and choosing which ones will suffer and because of DriveTime’s mistreatment and harassment of me,  they are definitely one of the ones that will have to take a backseat for awhile. However, today they refused to accept my partial payment (by way of proxy) for this month and complained that I never return their calls.

They told my messenger that I do not even have the common decency to return them a courtesy call. I think that’s funny considering how many times I’ve spoken to them and that regardless of what I say to them, nothing gets updated in my file and I end up getting a call the next day anyway. That person says they have no idea what’s going on because there are no notes regarding my previous conversations.

So, why should I bother? It’s ridiculous.

I don’t have time for those games.

However, today’s refusal by them to accept my partial payment indicates to me that they are going to very quickly begin taking steps towards repossessing my car. That’s ok, I suppose. I was hoping to have a little more time, though. They lied to me about $1,250 worth of necessary repairs I was forced to pay and I’ve saved about $1,000 by making partial payments. So, I think it almost evens out. I’m just not too sure what I will do once they find and claim the vehicle. I will still need a car.

###

In other news, one of my ventures, LinkSmile (Internet Marketing), is getting a lot of referrals and new business. That is helping to pick up business across the board on several of my ventures but because I’m so behind in bills and development, I don’t really “see” the benefit of this new business just yet –except that I can push forward just a little bit more and keep my businesses going.

I have several ventures under my belt that are prime to make money but my current situation allows competitors of those ventures to breathe for now. If my situation ever improves, they may not continue to be so lucky. In fact, one of LinkSmile’s competitors likes to gloat quite a bit but if I had not have been faced with insurmountable barriers, they would not have enjoyed such success. But, no matter. I know that I did my best in those tough times and cannot worry about others who benefited as a result of the crooked cops forcing me into self-imposed exile.

One day, I hope to have the opportunity to prove my worth -again.

Today, I am going to the Technology Association of Georgia “New Business Launch 2008″ reception in Atlanta. This is a reception for entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and business owners in the high technology arena.

The purpose of this reception is for people to mingle and meet each other prior to the contest in April whereby semi-finalists will be chosen. The contest is geared towards finding undiscovered business ideas that could bring more jobs and revenue into Georgia. I have submitted my proof-of-concept search engine, Neobus, which is unique in its ranking algorithm, proprietary crawler, and perhaps most notably by its use of website thumbnails -provided by my website thumbnail generator, ShrinkTheWeb.

I feel that Google is still the preferred search engine only by way of “brainwashing” and “propaganda.” I see an opportunity for someone to clean up Google’s mess and provide good results like Google once did back in their first few years. My first round submission was accepted and I will have to submit more details by April 15th to see if I am chosen to be a semi-finalist.

In different news, I am still getting lots of harassing phone calls from DriveTime –even after I have called them back. The next day, they will call again and say that it is “urgent” that I return their call. How lame is that? I simply stopped responding to them. They obviously don’t update their system when I keep in touch with them, so why bother? I just hope they don’t have a tracking device on the car I bought from them, because I need it for just a short while longer. Plus, I’m hoping I can eek out enough savings each month to repay me for the recent $1,250 maintenance bill for maintenance I was promised had already been done. They won’t make good on their promise willingly, so I figure that I will help them make good on it.

I am still putting the word out for a good lawyer to help me with my unpaid Progressive uninsured motorist claim. So, if anyone has any recommendations, I’m all ears. I just want some general advice on what I should ask for in regards to my initial letter to them and then some future advice on how to proceed if they do not settle immediately.

I think that’s it for now…

Ciao!

I have been more than patient and more than “understanding” but enough is enough. I have always been too kind and lenient and I am always paid back with lies and deceit for my kindnesses. So, I have to draw the line now.

I have been waiting nearly ONE FULL YEAR to be reimbursed for medical expenses and badly needed physical therapy -which I have yet to be able to start. It would seem that Progressive is still giving me the run-around.

Last Friday, Leah and I called Progressive and we were told that they are STILL waiting on medical records that I was told by the Hospital would be sent at the first of the year. Granted, we called the Hospital and they said that they had just sent out the paperwork earlier that week, but this is still taking way too long. This should have been done long ago.

Besides, I am only being impatient now and rushing now because I am in so much pain. I do not want to become addicted to pain pills, nerve pills, and whatever else is required just to take the edge off. This is all just too much.

If only Progressive would’ve taken care of this last year, things wouldn’t be so bad now. Being my typical, easy-going self, I would’ve settled for a few thousand dollars to cover my basic medical co-payments and would have hoped that my severe neck injury wasn’t so severe. However, by pushing me and pushing me to wait, Progressive has given me time to see that my injury is much, much more severe than I had imagined and due to lack of money for treatment has grown considerably worse by the day. Since they have taken nearly 365 days so far, that means it has gotten MUCH worse.

Now, I’m finding it difficult to concentrate or focus. The pain has me repeating things over and over because I cannot remember what I’ve done. My brain is basically “shutting down” on me -it seems. I don’t know. I’ve been ignoring it for months and months because that’s what I do. I persevere through anything that comes my way, but this neck injury is more than I can bear. I cannot fight this without help and Progressive doesn’t seem interested in making good on their end of the bargain. I paid my dues but they won’t pay theirs.

Today, I finally broke down and contacted the insurance commissioners office and they listened to my plight. Basically, I was told that it sounds as though Progressive is hoping to push me past the two-year limit after which they will just tell me to “get lost.” My claims adjuster did mention a two-year limit but told me that they are required to have presented me offers and settled within that period. It would seem she exaggerated in that dragging it out that long works to their benefit.

Anyway, I won’t let it get to that point.

The insurance commissioner spokesperson informed me that it is unlikely that Progressive will come back with an offer or else they would’ve already done so. He said once it’s gone on for this long, it’s up to me to push them. Now, I must write them a letter and set an amount that I would like for reimbursement. My dilemma is what to ask for? How much? What is a lifetime, severe neck injury worth? What is all the additional pain and suffering they’ve caused me worth? I have no idea.

My father instilled in me a sense of not asking for any more than I deserve. And, I think it was society that instilled in me to feel guilty asking for even that much. I have to keep reminding myself that I am the victim here, because I find it a struggle to press on and push people for money. I know I deserve something and because of the way Progressive has treated me and caused me all this extra pain, I think I deserve quite a bit more. Still, I feel guilty in asking.

But, I cannot feel that way any longer. I have to take a stand. I am contacting a lawyer -finally- and will be getting advice on what I should ask. Wish me luck. If anything, I just want to get some physical therapy on my neck to get me through these painful times. Leah says she may know someone who can help me out and I sure hope so. All I know is that I don’t want to suffer -needlessly- for the rest of my life and be hooked on pain meds just because some insurance carrier didn’t want to pay a few thousand off their bottom line. Now, it will cost them considerably more.

Once you’ve paid on time and above the minimum for 12 months, call in and ask for a higher limit. If they ask, “how much?,” then ask them to double it. Sound confident when you ask and tell them you expect to be (or are) making more money. If you had a raise since you opened the account, they may expect proof.

You can hopefully go to your local bank and get a secured credit card based on your history with them and secured by an amount you specify. Typically, banks will accept as little as $100 to open a secured line of credit. I know that -as of the time of this writing- Washington Mutual accepts $100 to start and allows you to go up to $10,000 in increments of $100. Bank of America accepts $100 to start and allows you to go up to $2,000.

The key here is to remember that whatever you want your credit limit to be is the amount you will have to hand over. You CAN NOT use that amount to pay your bills, so you will have to have that amount PLUS enough to pay the bill each month. So, some of you may have to save up a little bit first.

If you have more than the minimum, I recommend that you do not -unless you really need to- open the credit card with the full amount that you can afford. I suggest to start off slowly and then add to it over the next several months (starting after the 3rd month).

The reason for this is that you typically cannot “withdraw” any of the money securing the card -even in emergencies- unless you close the account. So, starting small and adding will give you more of an idea of whether you can really part with the money. And, more importantly, credit bureaus give more weight to “increasing credit limits” versus “high credit limits.”

What I mean by that is that if you have a $2,500 credit limit with a $500 balance, you are viewed as a “potential risk” because you could max that out at any time. However, if you start with $500 and max it out in 3 months and then add another $500, you are viewed as being”trustworthy” because someone trusted you enough to double your line of credit. Make sense? Good!

Now, the next to last point I will make about secured credit cards is that some of us are not even able to get a secured card from a bank. I was actually in this boat myself when I first started rebuilding my credit. In this case, I had to go with a very high interest rate lender who I knew would be “financially raping me” but would give me the card. The best example is the one I went with and that is the secured credit card from Premier Credit (by the way, that is not an affiliate link!).

Now, I will tell you straight up that this is a rip-off and the worst card ever, but sometimes we gotta do what we gotta do! You will be allowed to open an account with them in the amount up to $499 to start. I suggest $250 or $300. However, you will have very little available credit because right off the bat, you will get slammed with about $250 in fees and costs and that will probably be at about 21%-25% interest! You will then have to pay that down before you can truly use the card. So, budget in to pay at least TWICE the amount you actually want as your limit. The key here is that they will give just about ANYONE a credit card -no questions asked (well a few questions asked… haha). They report timely and if you never miss a payment, this will kick-start your credit.

There is a bit of good news for you once you get enough credit to get a secured card through your bank, and that is that most banks will give you back your secured deposit and make your card unsecured after 12 months of timely payments. They won’t tell you that, but I know Bank of America does it, and I believe WaMu does also. I will know in about 6 more months on my WaMu account.

The key thing to remember is to buy everything you normally buy but use your credit card whenever possible. That includes buying gas! When you do use your credit card, set aside that amount of money to pay at the end of the month. You always want to spend ONLY what you have in CASH at the moment. If you start spending money you don’t have, that’s when you can wind up worse off than you might already be.

Another key factor is to pay MORE than the minimum each month but do NOT pay off the card entirely. Keep a little balance so that they can make something off of you. That is viewed as twice as good as just making on-time payments. For instance, if you have a $300 limit and you have $250 on it with a $15 minimum, pay $240 of it and let the other $10 ride. That won’t cost you more than a few pennies but is viewed as an “earning account” in the eyes of creditors. That’s a good thing!

In the upcoming parts to this series, I will cover how to obtain loans with bad credit. Stay tuned!

Anyway, I just haven’t had time to research bankruptcy or get myself into the right spot to file. I have a few more preparations that need to be in place. However, I’ve got so much work on my shoulders this month and next that I am really just too overwhelmed to deal with it.

Yesterday, in fact, I had to jump through another “hoop” because the lady at the DriveTime center where I went out of my way to file the deferment paperwork shredded my documents just to spite me. So, I have gotten the phone number to file a complaint against her with DriveTime, and I will be telling them that this is yet another reason why I do not trust their company and that they could lose my business as a result. They need to know that this treatment will not be tolerated –even if I am technically delinquent on the account. That still does not excuse their rude behavior.

So, anyway, I went through the trouble of getting a letter from the bank showing that I’ve had a bank account in good standing with a nice balance for a year. I got someone at the bank to write that letter and it should be good enough –even the manager who accepted the paperwork thought it would be good enough. However, it was immediately rejected by DriveTime corporate and they insisted on 3 months of bank statements. This is the trouble with being self-employed.

Now, I officially surpassed my tolerance level for this situation. I have spent far too many hours dealing with this, and I just told them that I will give them what they have requested when I come down to make my next payment. They will simply have to wait.