On his way to his inauguration in Prescott, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goodard stopped by St. Andrew?s Episcopal Church in Sedona to meet with local volunteers.
Larson Newspapers
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On his way to his inauguration in Prescott, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goodard stopped by St. Andrew?s Episcopal Church in Sedona to meet with local volunteers.
Sedona boasts one of 26 satellite offices in the state. Goddard gives credit to Gov. Janet Napolitano for coming up with the idea of branch offices located around the state, but Goddard said he has significantly expanded the program.
Only six offices existed when he took office and he has added civil rights violations to the list of issues the local office can deal with.
Other areas are fraud and identity theft, although local volunteer Jan Haury said many people come by to discuss other legal issues.
Goddard has held his inaugurations at other branch offices in Kingman and Nogales.
?It is a way of rewarding the people who made the inaugural possible without them having to travel to Phoenix,? he said.
One of the new scams the Fraud Fighters are seeing is what is called the ?mortgage rescue.? Goddard said it occurs when the con artist sees a notice of foreclosure then contacts the individual with a plan to ?save? their home. Hidden in the packet of pre-filled out forms is a quit claim deed that the unsuspecting mortgage holder will sign along with all the other papers.
?These problems are increasing with all the adjustable rate mortgages coming due,? Goddard said.
The local satellite office at St. Andrew?s has new hours. Judy Massey, program volunteer, said that the office is open the first and third Mondays of the month from 4 to 7 p.m. and the last Thursday, 9 a.m. to noon. Spanish speakers can be accommodated, volunteer Bill Mitchell said.
The consumer protection assistance offered at St. Andrew?s includes phishing and pharming, predatory lending, buying new and used cars, telemarketing rip-offs, home repair scams and sweepstakes lottery fraud.
The civil rights protection assistance is in the areas of discrimination in housing, public accommodations, voting, employment and disability.
