Zoeller’s office also seeks preliminary injunction against Illinois-based company

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller filed a lawsuit today against a company accused of using government-like mailings to offer copies of property deeds for exorbitant fees.

Illinois Deed Provider, Inc. also doing business National Record Service, Inc. and National Deed Service, Inc. sent mailers to property owners offering certified copies of deeds for $59.50 and an additional copy for $20. Property deeds – which are usually one to two pages – are public records and county recorders can provide copies for free or at a nominal cost, often times a $1 per page.

“The solicitations mimic government legal documents which mislead consumers into believing they need a copy of their property deed,” Zoeller said. “Homeowners are not required to have copies even when they go to sell a property and they can obtain these documents from their county recorder’s office at little or no cost.”

According to the lawsuit filed in Allen County Superior Court, the company’s notices contained the property owner’s name, address, property deed document number and county recorder’s information. Interested persons would fill out the form and return it with a check, money order or credit card information. Zoeller said this is the first lawsuit his office has filed against this type of business.

Some of the company’s mailers claim, “The U.S. Government Federal Citizen Information Center website recommends that property owners should have an official or certified copy of their deed.” According to the lawsuit, the federal website does not contain such information and the federal government actually warns consumers of companies offering to sell you a certified copy of your deed.

The state alleges the company violated the Deceptive Consumer Sales Act and the Deceptive Commercial Solicitation Act. Zoeller’s office seeks an injunction, consumer restitution, civil penalties and investigative costs.

“Hoosiers have enough to consider when they purchase a home. In the midst of a flurry of paperwork and expensive decisions, this official-sounding solicitation arrives, seeming like yet another thing a buyer is required to do,” said Allen County Recorder John McGauley. “Recorders across Indiana have long felt the National Deed Service offer is exorbitant and misleading. We thank Attorney General Zoeller for the opportunity to settle the question once and for all.”

The Attorney General’s office also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against the company which would prohibit it from sending these notices to consumers pending a final judgment by the court. Zoeller thanked county recorders who assisted in the investigation and those who voiced their concerns regarding these types of services.

If you have any doubts about a mailing offering a government-provided service, contact the entity directly to confirm the solicitation’s legitimacy. If you have received a notice or paid for this service, you can file a complaint with the Attorney General’s office by visiting www.IndianaConsumer.com or requesting a complaint form be mailed to you by calling 1.800.382.5516.

Zoeller thanked Deputy Attorney General Lisa Wolf for her work on the case and her dedication to the Consumer Protection Division.

Amy Bonenberger, math teacher at Bosse High School, is the EVSC’s latest recipient of the Peabody Energy Leader in Education Award. Bonenberger will receive the award at a SURPRISE reception yesterday in the Bosse Fine Arts Gallery at Bosse High School.

With the unveiling of 7 new Police/ Sheriff Jeep Wranglers, our communities’ newest youth outreach program was introduced on Monday. Each Jeep will be assigned to a School Resource Officer and reflect the High School for the district they are assigned to. The Jeeps and the artwork on them were donated by Bennett Motors and Audubon Chrysler Center.
The program, entitled “Choose Not to Lose”, is a community partnership between many groups. The program will stress the importance of making good choices. It will also create friendships between the students of EVSC, Evansville’s Catholic schools, and local law enforcement officers.
The first phase of the program is to reach out to the kids and let them know that there are consequences for all choices, good and bad. Many times, kids feel only the bad choices ever get any attention. Our goal is to change that belief. By recognizing the positive choices being made on a daily basis, we hope to re-enforce that type of good behavior.
There will be age appropriate activities that will “drive” our message home. From coloring books for the youngest to summer camps for the oldest, this multifaceted program has something for everyone. Activities will be conducted throughout the school year to keep the students involved and to reward their good citizenship.
This is a long term commitment from all the of the community partners who came together to make this happen. This program is being provided through donations and people volunteering their time. All of the activities will be free to participate in and all students who earn their citizenship award at school will be eligible for the activities. The students who do not earn their citizenship award will be encouraged to improve and given the guidance to help them be successful.

The issuing of state police vehicles marks the conclusion of formal training that began for each member of the 72nd Recruit Academy. The academy started on July 8, 2012 and graduation occurred on December 21, 2012. Since graduation, each recruit has progressed through a formalized on-the-job training program to put to practice what was learned in the academy. Now each officer is assigned their patrol vehicle and will engage in daily patrol functions at their assigned state police post.

Below is a list of each recruit and their assigned state police post duty station:

Last Name First Name DISTRICT ASSIGNMENT

Beaver Zachary Lowell
Bohling Brandon Lowell
Daly Nicholas Lowell
Escutia, Jr Rogelio Lowell
Kocinski Erik Lowell
Madison Jason Lowell
Allen Aaron Lafayette
Grayson Stephen Lafayette
Gum Clayton Lafayette
McGee Bernard Lafayette
Bayly Joshua Peru
Reason Benjamin Peru
Waldron Tyson Peru
York Adam Peru
Crabtree Grant Toll Road
Durham Patrick Toll Road
Garrett Andrew Toll Road
Price Mark Toll Road
Rafferty Ross Toll Road
Stanek Chad Toll Road
Superczynski Justin Toll Road
Zehnder Dustin Toll Road
Hatfield Caleb Ft. Wayne
Stevens James Ft. Wayne
Thrasher Joshua Ft. Wayne
Tummers Michael Bloomington
Van Arsdale Randall Bloomington
Allen Michael Jasper
Beaver Andrew Jasper
Dunsworth Jason Jasper
Seifert Coty Jasper
Gramig Brent Evansville
Mull Bradley Evansville
Hutson Robert Versailles
Mitchell Andrew Versailles
Sperle Jamey Versailles
Parkes Scott Sellerbusrg
Schumacher Kristi Sellerbusrg
Otter, Jr Raymond Pendleton
Weaver Clint Pendleton
Brownfield Nicholas Indianapolis
Butt, Jr Walter Indianapolis
Deffit Luis Indianapolis
Heiny Wade Indianapolis
Helmbrecht Matthew Indianapolis
Portteus Ian Putnamville
Smith Erik Putnamville

Picture Notes:
Picture #1 is Formation of Six Troopers with Newly Assigned Cars
Picture #2 is Formation of State Police Vehicles
Picture #3 is Supt. Doug Carter (L) with Un-named New Trooper (R)
Contact Information:
Capt. David R. Bursten
Public Information
317-232-0064
DBursten@isp.in.gov

VICTORY THEATRE
TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 2013
7:30 PM

Tickets on sale Friday, April 12 at 10:00 AM.
All seats reserved: $59.50 / $49.50 / $39.50

Tickets can be purchased from the Ford Center Ticket Office, all Ticketmaster locations, Ticketmaster.com, or charge by phone at (800) 745-3000.

For more information about the Victory Theatre, visit:
www.victorytheatre.com www.facebook.com/VictoryTheatre www.twitter.com/Victory_Theatre

While politicians talk about expanding background checks for gun owners, I’m starting to think that what we really need are IQ tests for political officeholders. The only problem is, that might leave us with a lot of vacancies in Congress and America’s statehouses.

The debacle over New York’s rushed-through gun bill is one example of what happens when enthusiasm meets stupid. But another is to be found in Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), who supports a ban on full-capacity magazines without understanding what a magazine actually is.

Last week, DeGette justified her position this way: “I will tell you these are ammunition, they’re bullets, so the people who have those now they’re going to shoot them, so if you ban them in the future, the number of these high capacity magazines is going to decrease dramatically over time because the bullets will have been shot and there won’t be any more available.”

Um, ah . . . no. Completely wrong, in fact.

To make things simple enough that even a member of Congress can understand, it’s like this: Magazines aren’t “bullets.” They’re, basically, metal boxes with springs. You fill them up with bullets, and put them in a gun. When the gun fires the bullet on top, the spring pushes a new one up so that it can load into the chamber. When you fire all the bullets, you pop out the box-with-spring and replace it with another.

And, when you have a few minutes, you can put new bullets in the box and it’s ready to go again.

DeGette’s remark was akin to that staple of hippie parodies, the old fogey worried about people “shooting up marijuana” — an obvious mistake that made clear the fogeys didn’t have a clue about the realities of what they feared.

It’s an embarrassing admission of ignorance and incompetence.

But ignorance and incompetence are on regular display among our political class. Its members are good at what they do — but what they do, really, is raise money and win elections. There’s no particular correlation between those skills and any other kind of competence. In fact, given their record of passing increasingly dumb laws, if there’s any correlation at all, it’s a negative one.

Gun law isn’t the only example of regulation-by-dimness, but it’s certainly a prime arena. The 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, for example, focused entirely on cosmetic characteristics. At an Association of American Law Schools meeting that year, I watched law professor Joseph Olson turn a plain-vanilla Ruger Mini 14 into a dreaded “Assault Weapon” by adding a pistol grip, folding stock, bayonet lug (“not much bayonet-lug crime,” he joked) and so on.

All the actual gun-parts were the same; the law in question focused instead on flashy accessories — like regulating cars based on mag wheels and spoilers, instead of the horsepower in the engine.

Do politicians really think that such transparently silly rules make us safer? It’s hard to say. The brighter ones no doubt realize that the whole thing is a sham, useful mostly for rallying the troops, garnering TV time and distracting voters from things like lingering unemployment and the ever-mounting debt.

On the other hand, how many of the “brighter ones” are there, really? The evidence doesn’t look good.

On the up side, voters may be catching on. The evidence for that is that, despite 24-7 media hype and nonstop political posturing, the public’s not showing much enthusiasm for flashy new gun-control efforts. (Even here in New York, Gov. Cuomo’s poll standing dropped sharply after his gun bill passed).

Politicians getting smarter on their own is probably too much to hope for. But maybe if voters wise up, a smarter crop of politicians will follow.

Glenn Harlan Reyolds is a law professor at the University of Tennessee.