COVID-19 Office Social Distancing Changes

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Our firm remains intact by both office and remote technology and is ready and able to assist anyone needing our services by phone and Zoom or Google Duo video call.   We are also executing, witnessing, and notarizing documents in the office, and receiving our paying clients in the office.  Masks are required, and will be provided to you if you do not have one.  We also provide gloves, hand sanitizer and disinfect the conference room between each client with Clorox wipes.  All safety procedures such as gloves, masks, hand sanitizer and Clorox bleach disinfect sanitizing are being taken for your safety.

We can receive documents through email, fax or in-person drop off upon arrangement with Carol or you may drop them off at the office with the receptionist.     

Payments can be made over various electronic methods, through the mail or in-person by arrangement. Call (727) 410-2705.

 

Carol A. Lawson, Esq., 28870 U.S. Hwy 19 #300, Hodusa Towers, Clearwater, FL 33761

Phone: (727) 410-2705;   email: [email protected]

 Clearwater Bankruptcy Attorney, Clearwater Bankruptcy Lawyer, #Clearwater Bankruptcy, Clearwater Estate Planning Attorney,  Pinellas Estate Planning Attorney, Pinellas Probate Attorney #FileLocallyDontOverpay #ClearwaterBankruptcy #ClearwaterBankruptcyAttorney #ClearwaterEstatePlanning #ClearwaterProbate

 

Florida Disaster Relief Unemployment and Federal Disaster Relief Unemployment

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Florida is still a nightmare as far as trying to get unemployment if you are self-employed or a gig worker. Forget  about getting any help from the unemployment office or speaking to a live human,

The most common unemployment issue right now is people still pending and waiting to get paid, and missing FPUC (Federal-$600), along with needing to backdate claims to receive past money owed to them.   The DEO is fully aware of this.

Another issue is people are seeing the PUA link (State Disaster) where they should be seeing the PEUC because their state UC has been exhausted.

What do all these letters mean you ask?  Here’s a breakdown.  PUA is for self-employed and 1099s who would otherwise receive no state benefits.  Instead of automatically converting the regular application to this like DEO first said they would for self-employed, you have to wait till the monetary determination decides to deny you and determine ineligibility for regular unemployment benefits.  Once they do this in the list of areas on the left side halfway down a link will appear to apply for the PUA. Fill it out. It will put in the date of the determination, not the date you started applying for unemployment.   You will receive somewhere between $125-$275  a week. Commencing 6/1/2020 you will need to login every week and submit 5 jobs you applied for or information about your career source contact.

FPUC is the Federal disaster relief program this is the $600 everyone is talking about. There doesn’t seem to be a link for most people to apply.  Also it will use the date of the PUA which is likely wrong.  So you need to fill out UC Modification Form – https://claimdate.myflorida.com/login

Representative Ann V. Eskamani ( [email protected]  ) has been hard at work posting information on Facebook regarding DEO and Unemployment Compensation.   She seems to be the only government official who cares.  Contact her staff regarding your issues at [email protected] .   You can find the escalation letter at https://forms.gle/F4NHDxuu9ADqk8847

You might also find some useful information at  http://www.floridajobs.org/docs 

Good Luck!!!!

Carol A. Lawson, Esq., 28870 U.S. Hwy 19 #300, Hodusa Towers, Clearwater, FL 33761

Phone: (727) 410-2705;   email: [email protected]

 Clearwater Bankruptcy Attorney, Clearwater Bankruptcy Lawyer, Clearwater Bankruptcy, Clearwater Estate Planning Attorney,  Pinellas Estate Planning Attorney, Pinellas Probate Attorney #FileLocallyDontOverpay #ClearwaterBankruptcy #ClearwaterBankruptcyAttorney#ClearwaterEstatePlanningAttorney                           #Pinellas ProbateAttorney

Small Business Resources

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Trying to figure out how to keep your business afloat during this pandemic can be extremely stressful.  To ease your stress a little we have put together some resources for you to try and pump up your business.

Make it easy for customers to call you on the fly with the Click to Call tool in Google Maps. As Google’s popular “Near Me” search continues to gain traction, it’s crucial for businesses to tie in an online Click to Call option to ensure customers can reach you quickly and easily.

For reputation management and social monitoring, consider using ListenPort. This tool watches the internet for discussions and reviews of your business and alerts you right away to dissatisfied customers. Resolve complaints and issues promptly via a free SMS number to let customers know you’re attentive and you care.

Yelp for Business Owners is a good resource to help SMBs make the most of crowdsourced reviews, engage new and returning customers, and offer exclusive deals.

Hubspot’s Website Grader. Grader lets you know what you’re doing right and which areas of your site need some attention.

If your business has multiple social media accounts, you can simplify the way you manage them by using SocialOomph.

Google Keyword Planner is an oldie but goodie; it’s designed to help analyze and research keywords and optimize SEO.

Canvas to design great visuals that are the cornerstone of today’s effective digital strategies.

To make a  logo for your SMB, check out the free logo maker Spaces.

Marvel allows remote teams to work together on designs and prototypes on any platform and from any device. Marvel has Dropbox and Google Drive integration.

U.S. Small Business Administration website is a treasure trove of information for entrepreneurs of all kinds.

The free online courses at ALISON let you learn at your own pace and on your own time.

Learn finance and managerial accounting from the ground up with a series of no-cost online courses from MIT Open Courseware.

 

 

Carol A. Lawson, Esq., 28870 U.S. Hwy 19 #300, Hodusa Towers, Clearwater, FL 33761

Phone: (727) 410-2705;   email: [email protected]

 Clearwater Bankruptcy Attorney, Clearwater Bankruptcy Lawyer, Clearwater Bankruptcy, Clearwater Estate Planning Attorney,  Pinellas Estate Planning Attorney, Pinellas Probate Attorney #FileLocallyDontOverpay #ClearwaterBankruptcy #ClearwaterBankruptcyAttorney #ClearwaterEstatePlanning #ClearwaterProbate

 

 

Thank You Corona Virus ! !

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So if you are anything like me the  Corona Virus has shut down your business, or stopped your income and your wondering, what the hell do I do now to pay my bills??

This post is to explore several options that may be available to you.

  1. SBA Loan for Women.   Minimum 620 credit score, no bankruptcies, no foreclosures, no defaulted student loans, no defaulted federal loans of any kind. https://www.fundingcircle.com/us/resources/small-business-loans-for-women/   https://www.sba.gov/size-standards/?ms=nid4788 If you can meat the requirements $25k- $500K they also want collateral like your personal residence. Basically not user friendly at all. For women-owned business loans under $25,000, either 7(a) or Express, no collateral is required.  A personal guarantee is required. Other SBA loan programs https://www.fundingcircle.com/us/resources/sba-loans/ most programs like credit scores of 700 or above. https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options 
  2. Bank Loan.    This type takes into consideration your debt to income ratio and your credit score.
  3. Unemployment.    Yes even if you are self-employed you can now apply under the Department of Labor’s Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program,  make sure you mark the reason as COVID-19. If you are applying in Florida do it at 2 am. Trust me, it took me 15 hours to figure this out, the damn site crashes continuously at normal hours.  connectmyflorida.com   
    UPDATE : They are now shutting down the website at 8pm every night and it is not accessible to 7 am the next day.  Also, they seem to be shutting it down on weekends.
    UPDATE:  You must  file a separate pandemic claim if you are self -employed, and send your 10999, and tax return within 21  days of filing it to  FLDEO.
  4. Stimulus Check.   A one time check $1,200 if you earn up to $99,999, and $500 for each child 16 and under. If you are on social security or disability and don’t file taxes you still should be getting a check.
  5.  Small Business Loan.    There are multiple programs available.  https://www.uschamber.com/sites/default/files/023595_comm_corona_virus_smallbiz_loan_final.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0Ezms22WuTWHvJLRoaSWvRUgwo7MYfOCrHG7q0ds18P5cpMTAnyiM_lFA%F0%9D%97%A3%F0%9D%97%A3%F0%9D%97%A3
  6. County and City Programs.  Some Cities and Counties have established programs to help their local small businesses. Tampa is one such city.

 

 

Carol A. Lawson, Esq., 28870 U.S. Hwy 19 #300, Hodusa Towers, Clearwater, FL 33761

Phone: (727) 410-2705;   email: [email protected]

 Clearwater Bankruptcy Attorney, Clearwater Bankruptcy Lawyer, Clearwater Bankruptcy, Clearwater Estate Planning Attorney,  Pinellas Estate Planning Attorney, Pinellas Probate Attorney #FileLocallyDontOverpay #ClearwaterBankruptcy #ClearwaterBankruptcyAttorney #ClearwaterEstatePlanning #ClearwaterProbate

Corona Virus Procedures

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The threat of Coronavirus to the older population and those with compromised immune systems or pre-existing conditions makes it extremely important to ensure that your Estate Planning affairs are in order and up to date. You should normally review your documents every 3-5 years.

Here is what we are doing as a firm to make sure you can get your questions answered and your documents done in the safest way possible:

1. We are keeping our office as sanitized as possible for those of you who make it into our office. The conference room is wiped down with Clorox wipes after every client, WHO approved had sanitizer spray is available ( 99% alcohol, 3% peroxide, distilled water, aloe vera, tea tree oil, vitamin E oil, and lavender oil) for use in our conference room.

2. We are waiving our Estate Planning consultation fee until June 1st, 2020 to remove any obstacles to you being able to get your affairs in order.

3. Phone or Facetime meetings are available by appointment if you do not feel comfortable coming to the office or are quarantined. If you are sick or symptomatic please stay home. We can arrange to send a notary to you or for virtual execution if necessary.

We are here to help you please call us at (727) 410-2705 to schedule a consultation.

 

Carol A. Lawson, Esq., 28870 U.S. Hwy 19 #300, Hodusa Towers, Clearwater, FL 33761

Phone: (727) 410-2705;   email: [email protected]

 Clearwater Bankruptcy Attorney, Clearwater Bankruptcy Lawyer, Clearwater Bankruptcy, Clearwater Estate Planning Attorney,  Pinellas Estate Planning Attorney, Pinellas Probate Attorney #FileLocallyDontOverpay #ClearwaterBankruptcy #ClearwaterBankruptcyAttorney #ClearwaterEstatePlanning #ClearwaterProbate