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Today on Eyewitness News at 4 we showed a Consumer Reports test of gas grills. One grill, the Broil King Signet 90 started to melt during the test. Now the company is issuing a voluntary recall on the product. You can see the companies recall information here.
You knew it was going to happen, hey the IRS certainly did. Stimulus Check Scams are very common right now. We spoke with one Houston woman who told us she got a call from a "Government Agent" saying her check would be $2500.00 instead of the $600.00 bucks the rest of us will get. All she had to do was give the "agent" her bank account and routing numbers. Unfortunately with the that information anyone can take all your cash from your bank. How can anyone fall for that? Consider the caller had the victim's name, address, cell phone number, Social Security number and date of birth. That's a lot of information and it was convincing enough for the victim to almost fall for it. The warning here is not to give out bank information to anyone who calls. Remember, the government is not going to ask you for financial information over the phone. Now our friend has another issue. With all that personal info, a scammer can now start opening credit cards and ruining our friend's credit. She needs to take steps NOW! Experts recommend she contact one of the credit bureaus and start fraud monitoring. To do that, click here or here.
Help may be drying up for those who can not pay their water bill. The city of Houston has a fund to help senior citizens pay their water bills, but money is running low. At the current rate of need, city officials say the emergency fund will be out of money in 4 to 6 months. Your water bill has a donation box on it, if you'd like to contribute $1.00 to the fund, just check the box. If you need help, you can apply for help by going here or by calling 3-1-1 and asking about the "WATER FUND".
If you have trouble paying your utility bill, help is available for hose who qualify. Contact Harris County Social Services by clicking here.
Who killed the electric car? Who cares? Here in Houston we have an electric car association that's showing off recent and older conversions. Check them out here. One conversion underway belongs to Steve Kobb, check out his 2002 Chevy S-10 here. Kobb will have about $20,000 in his truck when it's all done and like most conversions, the S-10 will have a top speed of 60 mph and have a range of about 40 miles. There are S-10 conversion kits available, but to see what others did, check out the e-v album main site. Look at conversions here. If you would like to see links and tips for converting car or truck, check out the link here.
If you Freecycle, recycle, or e-cycle, keeping things out of the landfill is a great idea. We found a secret of recycling that could also save you money. The City of Houston has an Environmental Service Center at 11500 South Post Oak at South Main Street. There you can drop off unused paint, fertilizer, lawn care products, cleaners and other household chemicals. The stuff that's left is sorted, the good fro the bad, then the reusable items are put on a shelf for anyone to take for free. The center gives away hundreds of gallons of paint a month and we saw enough lawn care products to keep your yard green and healthy without every spending a dime. Check out the times they are open by going to the Center's web site :
http://www.houstontx.gov/solidwaste/esc-south.html
or call them at 713-551-7355
If you do not live in Houston, you can still drop off and claim reused items, however the staff asks that you get a voucher from Harris County before arriving. To get a voucher, call 713-290-3000. You can still go to the center without a voucher, but having one in hand speeds up the process.
From paint to plant food, why buy when you can get it for free?
If you want to buy a converter box so your TV can keep getting signals after February of next year, the government is willing to help.
Check out this site for a $40.00 coupon, each household gets 2 boxes.
They are a good idea even if you have cable or satellite because if those ever fail, you can use the converter box to get digital signals on your old analog TV.
If you are buying a new TV, make sure it has a digital tuner.
If you want to get a free copy of your credit report, you can go to this web site:
https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp
You can also call:
877-322-8228
Other sites often claim to offer free credit reports, but many ask you to sign up for a service to take a peek. The above link is the real free deal.
Once you have your credit report look for any errors. If you find a problem, here's how you can fix it.
If you are looking for a way to save on your water bill, you may want to check into getting an outdoor water meter. The City of Houston offers such accounts. The advantage is the water bill on these outdoor accounts does not include a charge for sewer treatment. The reason? Irrigation and pool water are not going into the sewer system. The city has a web site set up to guide you through the process,
http://www.publicworks.houstontx.gov/resource/ucs/factssheet3.htm
The site says you may not save any money by going this route, but it is possible depending on your usage. We learned about these meters after finding out the city is no longer issuing sewer fee waivers to new pool owners. IN the past if you filled a pool with water the city would void the sewer fees, but not any more. As of January, the city stopped issuing the waiver. City officials tell us there was no provision to allow the waiver, so they stopped giving it.
More than 400,000 Harris County home owners are going to see their appraisals increase. This year Texas law makes confidential any information that an appraisal district obtained from private sources. That means protesters will have to call a Realtor to find out recent sales in their neighborhood. You can still get the evidence HCAD uses against you to justify an increase, but sales that could help you lower your tax burden may not be included, so you'll have to call a Real Estate Agent. We spoke with HAR President Michael Levitin and he says most Realtors will be provide the information. We have links to HAR and HCAD to help you in your protest!
Good Luck!
Jeff
Scammers are reaching out and touching Houstonians. Today a sweet little 75 year old sent me the following e-mail and wanted to know my opinion.
Mrs. Smith writes:
I've been getting phone calls from James Carter saying I have won $289,000 and all I have to do is have a cashier's check for $150.00 and someone will deliver the winning amount to my home and will then pick up my $150.00 with my valid ID.He gave this address, O'Shane Morris, 15 Perry Street, Hanover, Jamaica, West Indies. He has called several times and I did not answer all of the calls. I think it is a scam and I would like for him to quit calling if it is. If it is real I would like to know that, too. Please call me as soon as possible.
Mrs. Smith, your first impression was right! James Carter is a scammer! I don't think it's coincidence that Mrs. Smith is a senior citizen. Folks, make sure to tell your older loved ones NOT to fall for this kind of stuff. And tell your younger loved ones too!
Stay safe!
Jeff
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