http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/20/realestate/mortgages-inheriting-a-home-and-a-loan.html?_r=1

As you probably already know, Congress recently formed a “Super Committee” (12 members of Congress evenly split between Democrats and Republicans).  That Committee is charged with the task of finding $1.2 to $1.5 trillion in debt savings over a ten-year period.  If reductions cannot be agreed upon by November 23, $1.2 trillion in spending cuts automatically kick in.

Word spread this week that some members of the Committee are suggesting changes to the estate and gift tax portions of the 2010 Tax Act   effective January 1, 2012, including the following:

• Reducing the gift tax exemption from$5 Million to $1 Million.

• Reducing the estate and GST tax exemption from$5 Million to $3.5 Million.

• Increasing the maximum gift, GST and estate tax rates from 35% to 45%.

• Eliminating the use of several estate planning strategies, such as GRATs (Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts) and discounts for family transfers.

There are even rumors that some members of the Committee would like to make these changes effective November 23, 2011.

While it remains to be seen what actions the Committee will recommend and Congress will ultimately take, if you are intent on taking advantage of the previously reported “window of opportunity”, you may not want to wait until next year.  Our attorneys continue to monitor these developments.  Should you have questions about your planning needs or recommendations for year-end planning, please contact one of our estate planning attorneys:  Craig W. Wendland, Mark E. Utz, David M. Pederson, or Christopher C. Wendland.

Here’s the link:

http://nlrb.gov/news/posting-employee-rights-notice-now-required-jan-31-board-postpones-deadline-allow-further-educa

The specific notice and requirements for how and where the notice is to be posted are available at no charge on the NLRB website: www.nlrb.gov (the proposed text of the posting is also provided below).   The posting requirements include (i) displaying the 11” x 17” poster in the workplace, and (ii) electronically posting the Board-mandated notice on any intranet or internet site that the employer uses to communicate rules and policies to employees.  Both the physical and electronic notices must be posted “no less prominently than other notices to employees.”

This new rule applies to any employer covered by the Act (generally any business with an annual volume of business in excess of $50,000, other than railroads, airlines and those engaged in agriculture).  Additionally, the rule applies even if an employer’s workforce is not currently unionized.  There are additional posting requirements for workplaces where at least 20% of the employer’s workers are not proficient in English.

An employer who violates this new posting requirement may be held liable for committing an unfair labor practice, exposing the employer to an NLRB cease-and-desist order as well as other unspecified “additional remedies.”

If you would like more information about this new posting requirement, please go to our contact page and email, or telephone one of our attorneys at (507) 288-5440.

*** Proposed Text for the Mandatory Posting ***

EMPLOYEE RIGHTS UNDER THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) guarantees the right of employees to organize and bargain collectively with their employers, and to engage in other protected concerted activity or to refrain from engaging in any of the above activity. Employees covered by the NLRA are protected from certain types of employer and union misconduct. This Notice gives you general information about your rights, and about the obligations of employers and unions under the NLRA. Contact the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the Federal agency that investigates and resolves complaints under the NLRA, using the contact information supplied below, if you have any questions about specific rights that may apply in your particular workplace.

Under the NLRA, you have the right to:

Organize a union to negotiate with your employer concerning your wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment.

Form, join or assist a union.

Bargain collectively through representatives of employees’ own choosing for a contract with your employer setting your wages, benefits, hours, and other working conditions.

Discuss your wages and benefits and other terms and conditions of employment or union organizing with your co-workers or a union.

Take action with one or more co-workers to improve your working conditions by, among other means, raising work-related complaints directly with your employer or with a government agency, and seeking help from a union.

Strike and picket, depending on the purpose or means of the strike or the picketing.

Choose not to do any of these activities, including joining or remaining a member of a union.

Under the NLRA, it is illegal for your employer to:

Prohibit you from talking about or soliciting for a union during non-work time, such as before or after work or during break times; or from distributing union literature during non-work time, in non-work areas, such as parking lots or break rooms.

Question you about your union support or activities in a manner that discourages you from engaging in that activity.

Fire, demote, or transfer you, or reduce your hours or change your shift, or otherwise take adverse action against you, or threaten to take any of these actions, because you join or support a union, or because you engage in concerted activity for mutual aid and protection, or because you choose not to engage in any such activity.

Threaten to close your workplace if workers choose a union to represent them. Show citation box

Promise or grant promotions, pay raises, or other benefits to discourage or encourage union support.

Prohibit you from wearing union hats, buttons, t-shirts, and pins in the workplace except under special circumstances.

Spy on or videotape peaceful union activities and gatherings or pretend to do so.

Under the NLRA, it is illegal for a union or for the union that represents you in bargaining with your employer to:

Threaten or coerce you in order to gain your support for the union.

Refuse to process a grievance because you have criticized union officials or because you are not a member of the union.

Use or maintain discriminatory standards or procedures in making job referrals from a hiring hall.

Cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate against you because of your union-related activity.

Take adverse action against you because you have not joined or do not support the union.

If you and your co-workers select a union to act as your collective bargaining representative, your employer and the union are required to bargain in good faith in a genuine effort to reach a written, binding agreement setting your terms and conditions of employment. The union is required to fairly represent you in bargaining and enforcing the agreement.

Illegal conduct will not be permitted. If you believe your rights or the rights of others have been violated, you should contact the NLRB promptly to protect your rights, generally within six months of the unlawful activity. You may inquire about possible violations without your employer or anyone else being informed of the inquiry. Charges may be filed by any person and need not be filed by the employee directly affected by the violation. The NLRB may order an employer to rehire a worker fired in violation of the law and to pay lost wages and benefits, and may order an employer or union to cease violating the law. Employees should seek assistance from the nearest regional NLRB office, which can be found on the Agency’s Web site: http://www.nlrb.gov.

You can also contact the NLRB by calling toll-free: 1-866-667-NLRB (6572) or (TTY) 1-866-315-NLRB (1-866-315-6572) for hearing impaired.

If you do not speak or understand English well, you may obtain a translation of this notice from the NLRB’s  Web site or by calling the toll-free numbers listed above.

The National Labor Relations Act covers most private-sector employers. Excluded from coverage under the NLRA are public-sector employees, agricultural and domestic workers, independent contractors, workers employed by a parent or spouse, employees of air and rail carriers covered by the Railway Labor Act, and supervisors (although supervisors that have been discriminated against for refusing to violate the NLRA may be covered).

This is an official Government Notice and must not be defaced by anyone.

Commencing January 1, 2013, the written notice to vacate must be given two months in advance of the expiration of the redemption period and then the tenant will be allowed to reside in the foreclosed property for one month after the expiration of the redemption period, regardless of the term of the lease.

[A] program through which the state would guarantee up to 70 percent of the amount of money loaned to a small business. The maximum guarantee amount would be capped at $1,500,000 per loan. Loans eligible for the guarantee would be those to small businesses with fewer than 500 employees in the state, and which would be used for business purposes exclusively in Minnesota including: construction, remodeling, or renovation; leasehold improvements; land and building purchases; business acquisitions, including employee stock ownership plan financing; machinery or equipment purchases, maintenance, or repair; moving expenses; and working capital when the capital is secured by fixed assets. A guarantee would be provided only when a bank or other commercial lender provides at least 50 percent of the total amount loaned to the small business. The guarantee amount would apply only to that portion of the loan that was made by a QED lender. A QED lender-a Qualified Economic Development lender-is a public or private economic development organization headquartered in Minnesota, that has at least three years of active lending experience in providing financing to small businesses in partnership with other commercial lenders, and which originates subordinated loans to small businesses for sale to the secondary market. A subordinated loan is a loan secured by a lien that is lower in priority than other specified liens.

Any loan guarantee made under this program would be subject to the following requirements:

• Principal and interest payments be applied by the loan purchaser to reduce the guaranteed and nonguaranteed portion of the loan on a proportionate basis. The nonguaranteed portion may not receive preferential treatment;

• Loan purchasers cannot accelerate repayment of the loan or exercise other remedies in the case of a default unless the borrower failed to make required principal and interest payments, the state consents in writing, or the loan guarantee agreement provided for accelerated repayment or other remedies. A loan purchaser cannot make a demand for payment under the guarantee unless the state agrees in writing;

• A written commitment exists from at least one secondary market investor to purchase the loan;

• The QED lender has timely prepared and delivered to the state each year, an audited or reviewed financial statement for the loan along with documentation that the borrower used the loan proceeds solely for purposes of its Minnesota operations;

• The commissioner of employment and economic development has access to original loan documents;

• QED lenders maintain adequate records and documents concerning the original loan so that the state may determine its financial condition and compliance with program requirements; and

• There are provisions for orderly liquidation of collateral securing the original loan in the case of a default. The commissioner would have the option to acquire the loan purchaser’s interest in the assets.

A loan guarantee trust fund is established to pay for defaulted loan guarantees. Participating lenders would pay a fee equal to .25 percent of the principal amount of each guaranteed loan. DEED is directed to prepare loan guarantee application forms and administer the loan notice and application process and decide whether to provide a loan guarantee.

There is no word yet from DEED on the availability of the application forms or process.  Stay tuned.

A creditor may use a garnishment to temporarily freeze and then permanently seize money held by a judgment debtor in that judgment debtor’s bank account.  With some limited exceptions or exemptions, Minnesota law currently permits a creditor to freeze and seize all funds in a joint account; it does not matter whether all or any of the money was actually deposited there by the judgment debtor.

While the other joint account holder or holders can try to show that some or all of the money in the seized account is theirs, last April 2010, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that the presumption was that all of the money was the debtors until the other account holders proved otherwise.  Savig v. First Nat’l Bank of Omaha, No. A-9-1221 (Minn. April 22, 2010)

This got the attention of many consumer advocates.  And, in a similar case currently before the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, Kristie Billiar v. Atlantic Credit & Finance, Inc., legal counsel for a plaintiff who held funds in a joint account with a judgment debtor are asking that Minnesota’s garnishment law be ruled unconstitutional.  What they argue is that the law as applied deprives the non-debtor joint account holder of their property without due process, that is, prior notice and an opportunity to be heard in court.

The due process clause of the U.S. Constitution’s 14^th Amendment provides that no state shall “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”  But counsel for Ms. Billiar argues that enacting and enforcing a garnishment law that allows a non-debtor’s money to be frozen and seized for another’s debt, all without prior notice or a hearing, violates this due process right.

It is predicted that a decision in favor of Ms. Billiar will effectively end the use of garnishment as a means for collecting judgments.  Judge Patrick J.Schlitz heard motions regarding the constitutionality of the Minnesota garnishment law on March 4, 2011. The decision is under advisement.

LINK

Click on this link for more information.