Consumer Scams Article


Where to Find an Attorney for Specific Legal Advice

Arizona has three legal aid organizations which cover different regions of the state.

  1. Community Legal Services (800) 852-9075 covers Maricopa, Mohave, Yavapai, Yuma and LaPaz Counties.
  2. Southern Arizona Legal Aid (800) 640-9465 covers southern Arizona.
  3. DNA People’s Legal Services (800) 789-7287 covers northern Arizona.

All legal service programs in Arizona differ, and their criteria for accepting cases vary. The legal aid organizations above all have the same criteria of income restrictions and legal status requirements, but do have varying priorities.

To find out about more Arizona resources that may be able to assist you, you can contact LegalLEARN, Legal Information & Resources at (866) 637-5341.

Individuals may apply for free and reduced fee legal services by using the "Access To Justice Online Intake System" through AZLawHelp. 

If the legal services program in your area cannot assist you, you may be able to find a lawyer through lawyer referral services in Maricopa County (602) 257-4434 or Pima County (520) 623-4625.

The State Bar also maintains a listing of all Arizona attorneys on their website, and certifies “specialists” in eight legal areas. (Not all attorneys seek such certification, however.) Lists of specialists can also be found at the State Bar of Arizona’s website.


Comments:

QUESTIONS

  • How many days can a contract be cancelled?
  • I ordered a Printer from U-Bid for 75.00 and I used my Pay Pal account to pay for the purchase. When the ordered merchandise arrived, I received 3 printers instead of the one I ordered. Later I was billed for the two not ordered printers original printer was paid through pay pal. The second 2 Printers were billed, without my permission, on my Visa account at Wells Fargo. What is my legal responsabilty for the two extra printers. mailed and charged to me without my authorization.?
  • a man is demanding I pay him for assisting me in selling a house I sold "by owner" I he is not licensed. He claims we had an oral agreement that I would pay him rather then hiring a realtor He is suing me for $5000
  • I COSIGNED FOR AN AUTO LOAN FOR MY SON, AND LEARNED THAT THE DOCUMENTS WERE FALSIFIED HOW CAN I GET HELP WITH THIS?
  • What can I do or whom shall I speak to about a fraudulent company for a mortgage loan modification. GREEN TREE FINANCIAL GROUP. We paid them 2,800 dollars and they acted very legitiment until I tried to get in touch with them a week ago. I found out through the California and Arizona policy that they are indeed frauds. Can you please help us. My home is now in foreclosure.
  • I RECENTLY WAS HAVING A SECURITY SYSTEM INSTALLED WHICH NEVER WAS FINISHED. AFTER NEARLY 3 WEEKS AND SEVERAL ATTEMPTS I MADE EITHER BY PHONE OR INTERNET TO INQUIRE ABOUT THE SITUATION NO ONE CAME TO FINISH INSTALLING THE SYSTEM. I BECAME FRUSTRATED AND DECIDED TO CANCEL MY INVOLVEMENT WITH THIS COMPANY. I WAS TOLD BY A REPRESENTATIVE I WOULD BE REFUNDED. I HAVE YET TO RECEIVE SAID REFUND. WHAT ARE MY RECOURSES TO RECOOP MY MONEY?
  • I think I am being scammed. I received a letter from a previous business firm with a demand to pay. There is no account number, no return address and no signature on the abnormal letter head. How can I tell?
  • My Divorce Attorney has lost over 500 pages of my families financial records.I have been closing accounts, fear of foul play. Should he be held accountable - what can I do, as he chose to ignore it.
  • My wife and I are retired seniors. She brought home a flyer from the mailbox advertising a Handyman. Our evaporative cooler stopped working. This man came over and said he could fix it for $210.59. The next day he came back and after looking around for a while he said they don't make these kind of control boxes anymore. He came over that night with a friend of his, John, and they both decided they would have to look for the parts. The next day they both came back with a computer. Jim sat at the computer and started rattling off numbers to John who was using a calculator. After much running in and out to the cooler it was decided that the job would cost $1055.29. My wife and I looked at each other and decided we couldn't live without a cooler in Arizona. I asked Jim how much of a down payment he would need and he said all except $100.00 to buy the parts. I wrote out the check to Jim's Handyman Service. The next morning he called and said three of them had to go to Phoenix to get the parts but he would have to stop by my house first because they would not take a check made out to his business. I thought it strange that someone would run a business using personal checks but wrote out one to Jim Petty which my wife brought out to the gate and exchanged it for the business check. Therefore I never received a receipt for the $745.29 check. That afternoon they called me on the way back from Phoenix and told me that they would be at my house at 8:30 that night to install the parts. I reluctantly agreed and thought it very strange that they wanted to install the parts in the dark. At 9:45 pm the phone rang and they were at our front gate. I told them we were going to bed to come back in the morning. At 7:30 the next morning they were installing the parts into the cooler which included a new thermostat that was previously mentioned to cost between $300 and $400 alone. They finished the job by 9:30, I paid Jim the last $100 and they left. We had no instructions for the thermostat and only two scribbled over work orders mentioning $210.00,$118.00 and 109.00 in various spots on the work orders. We never received a contract, warranty, nothing! After the cooler started to cool the house down we found out it would not shut off or on automatically once it reached the ambient temperature. I called Lowe's and a man tried to help us because they sold that kind of thermostat but eventually said he couldn't help us because he would have to see how the control box was wired and that it was probably wired wrong. I called Jim and asked for an itemized invoice. He agreed but I never heard from him again. He also has not responded to my e mail messages. On one of the scribbled work orders was written a 10 year warranty on parts and labor and 5 years on the computer (if you can read it.) I only signed one of the work orders. This person has "Jesus is Lord" printed under his name on his business card. If you ask me that's all part of the scam. He and his friend John have no intention, that I can, see of ever contacting me. If I could, I would attach a picture of the 'kit' he installed. It all comes in one box and all the 'so called' parts including the thermostat cost $149.99!
  • This scam is of a different nature. A seemingly nice looking man contacted me on Myspace with all the sweet words, found I was living on SSI and offered me a job. The job was what caught my attention, and this job is posted elsewhere, to buy certain "materials list" of a particular printer, ink, software to print so called payroll checks. He also offered me a chance to buy stock into Midwesttextiles.com. I have all his info where he wanted me to send the money by Money Gram. He also wanted my acct number to pay me for my work. They would send the "materials list" to me if I would like to invest. Since this is of a different nature, do I report it to AZ Attorney General or US?

STORIES

LegalLEARN

FIND LEGAL HELP

  • Please select your county of residence below.

    County:
     

OTHER LEGAL RESOURCES

  • State Bar of Arizona
    www.azbar.org
  • Maricopa County Bar
    www.maricopabar.org
    Referral number 602-257-4434
  • Pima County Bar
    www.pimacountybar.org
    Referral number 520-623-4625
  • National Domestic Violence Hotline
    800-799-7233
  • Bankruptcy Court Self Help Center
    866-553-0893
  • Certified Legal Document Preparer Program
    Link

ORGANIZATIONS