By: Karen Lee

Over the past few weeks, animal control workers in the Conejo Valley have noticed a large increase in the population of baby rattlesnakes. Owner of a snake catching business and self proclaimed “Rattlesnake Wrangler”, Bo Slyapich stated that ninety percent of his company’s call in the past few weeks have been in regards to rattlesnakes. In one week, Slypich removed 25 rattlesnakes from homes throughout the area. He warns residents to be conscious of these snakes as the weather warms because they are drawn to heat.

There are several ways you can protect your family against rattlesnakes. Slypich advises homeowners to keep garage and house doors closed as well as insure that plants in your yard are trimmed down to 6 inches in order to spot snakes. Residents should also clear any clutter near their house that snakes could easily hide in. Lastly, keep your dogs inside to prevent rattlesnake attacks.

California’s abundant natural beauty can turn deadly when combined with warm, dry, windy weather. Now that Spring is here with Summer quickly approaching, it is important to take preemptive measures against wildfire.

As a homeowner, there are several actions you can take to protect your home from wildfires:

• Create a defensible zone around your home. Your local fire department can help.
• Using roofing resistant materials that are rated Class A. Common Class A roof covering includes asphalt fiberglass composition shingles, concrete or clay tiles, and steel or copper tiles. Screen all openings created by vents and roof materials. Keep roof and gutters free of debris.
• Landscape with fire-resistant plants.
• Make sure firefighters can see your address.
• Have an evacuation plan family members can follow, and don’t just talk about it, practice it.

Several of my friends and I had dinner recently at a mutual friend’s home in Lake Sherwood. She was using Teflon cookware to prepare the meal.  A few of the guests admonished her for being irresponsible because she was using Teflon cookware. My friend, who is a Chef had no idea that the Teflon surface had possible health hazards. She stated that she used it because the non-stick surface was convenient. We educated her about possible risks involved.

Teflon has been linked to a flu-like illness, coined the “Teflon Flu“. This flu is caused by using Teflon ware at temperatures that are higher than the cookware is meant for. It is safe to assume burning a Teflon product is an indication of utilizing too high of temperatures, thus unsafe, but an unsafe temperature can be reached before burning the products. Currently, the Environmental Protect Agency (EPA) is investigating the chemicals used to make Teflon products. The chemical compounds have caused cancer in animals so it is only a matter of time before a link is found to cancer in humans.

Despite all of this, it may be unnecessary to throw your best Teflon ware away. Instead, research safe practices of your Teflon products to insure that you are not putting your family or yourself at risk.

If you’re ready to start the hunt in earnest, your next step is to get pre-approved for a loan. Most sellers, including all REO and short sale sellers, will not review an offer without a loan pre-approval, and many real estate brokerages require pre-approval in order to work with you. There are two ways to go—quick, or in-depth. You can get a quick pre-approval from your regular bank or credit union if you’re not sure which lender or mortgage plan you’ll be using. If you do know your specific lender and mortgage, go with the in-depth. With either process, you’ll need to fill out a loan application and submit it along with the following information: Work History, Credit Rating and History, Total Debt, Down Payment amount available, Investments and Other Assets and Residence History for Previous two Years. The amount of documentation will vary by Lender, this is just a general rule of thumb.

Let’s assume your application passes muster, and you’ve been pre-approved—congratulations! Don’t go too crazy celebrating though: If you make major changes to your credit, debt, or assets after pre-approval, but before you secure a loan, you could jeopardize your chances of getting any mortgage at all. Lenders commonly re-check your credit within five days of your home purchase closing, and any significant changes to your score may put the kibosh on your loan.

With more Homeowners leasing their homes, the Rent Rite Directory might be a useful tool. First launched in Dallas by real estate entrepreneurs in July of 2010, this growing database is now available nationwide. RRD provides comprehensive, detailed background checks on prospective tenants, including incident reporting, credit history, and criminal background checks.

The free incident-reporting system tracks a tenant’s previous dwelling history, including skips, evictions, on-property criminal activity and proxy-renters (those who sign leases on behalf of tenants otherwise unqualified to rent). The more comprehensive check runs $16 for a standard package and $36.50 for a premium package.

For more information visit www.therrd.com or call 855.733.2290.

Photography Credit: Riley Jamison

Escape into the bliss of these poolside retreats. Cascading waterfalls and infiniti jacuzzis decorate these home’s backyard landscapes. By sunlight or twilight, these beautiful exteriors never fail to look stunning.

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Until recently, if you had a complaint, you had to take your chances appealing to the credit card company itself. Now the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has opened a one-stop complaint center for all credit card related issues.

To register your complaint, go to CFPB’s home page. There you’ll find a simple form that asks you to describe what happened and to categorize your complaint from a menu of about 30 items, such as “billing disputes” and “credit line increase/decrease.” You’ll also be asked how much money you lost (if any), when the incident occurred and what you have already done to resolve the problem.

Next, you’ll be asked to describe the outcome for your problem that you think would be fair, and for your contact information. Expect written confirmation from the CFPB, which will forward your complaint to the card issuer.

Once you have registered your complaint, you can check its status online. If the issuer does not respond in a timely manner and resolve the complaint satisfactorily, and the CFPB receives a number of similar complaints, it will likely launch an investigation. It’s too soon to tell how well this complaint process will work, but seems like a step in the right direction.

With the economy beginning to recover, it is essential that we understand small businesses are a vital part of the recovery. Having just returned from the British Isles where we saw store after store that we have here in Westfield Topanga Plaza, I yearned to go into a store that was unique. Small and unique businesses were difficult to find in the British Isles because of the impact of the economic downturn. Now, more than ever, it is important to emphasize supporting small businesses. Of course it is difficult to support a local business on one’s own, so lately people have become creative in the way they are aiding small businesses. One of these ideas has formed into a phenomen called, “Cash Mobs”.

The other morning, I caught a segment on one of the morning shows about Cash Mobs. I had never heard of them. What are they? Per Wikipedia, “A cash mob is a group of people who assemble at a local business and all buy items from that business. The purpose of these mobs is to support both the local businesses and the overall community. They may also serve a secondary purpose in providing social opportunities. They were inspired by flash mobs. The cash mob is related to the carrotmob, which supports companies for ethical, mainly pro-environmental actions.”

Cash mobs have spread across Southern California in the name of helping local economies. There are websites and groups on the Internet that organize cash mob events for citizens to join. Recently, there have been residents in the Malibu area coming together to create their own cash mob for the “Preserve Malibu” movement.

What a great idea! We should bring this to Calabasas, Hidden Hills and surrounding areas to promote our local economies.

Preventing Unwanted Text Messages

I hate scams and spams. Now we not only have to contend with internet scams and phishing (there is a whole new vocabulary out there), but also text scams. Receiving a text in the middle of the night was beyond annoying but when it turned out to be a text meant to swindle me, it was worse. I don’t recall how much the gift card was for but I know that I do not shop at that store. The biggest clue was the number. Now we are getting 5, 6 & 10 digit numbers. This scam is called “SMiShing“. If you receive one you can forward the text to the shortcode 7726 which spells SPAM. You should receive an automated message from your wireless carrier asking you to enter the phone number from which the spam text was sent. This allows wirelss carriers to investigate and block senders.

Don’t believe you won a $50 Starbucks card or will win a free IPad if you are one of the first 1000 responses. If something is too good to be true, it is too good to be true.

Verizon, my wireless carrier, even filed suit against another type of text fraud through which companies set up websites to rope in unwitting customers to fraudulent premium third-party SMS text messaging services, which can make lots of money off the unwitting.

These spam text messages are illegal under the 2003 “Can Spam” Act. The FCC recommends to reply STOP, but there’s a theory that replying could just indicate to the spammer that you have a working number that can be resold.

Customers Affected by Text Messaging Fraud Can Visit www.premiumsmsrefunds.com for Information on Filing Claim for Refund.

I stopped by the recently renovated Malibu library and got my library card this week. My goal was to take some pictures of the lovely new decor of ocean blues and greens which decorate the new seating areas and children’s reading section. There is a great surfing poster and terrific, comfortable new furnishings along with the computer stations for the new state of the art library. Unfortunately, the staff is a bit over zealous and since their supervisor was at lunch, they would not allow me to photograph the interior of the library! I guess that should make all Malibuites feel safe (at least from me photographing them) when they are using the library (something I strongly encourage).

Here are some terrific upcoming events to introduce your children to the joys of reading and spending time at the Malibu library:

On May 26th Jim Gamble and Puppet Productions present “Peter and the Wolf”. The target audience is children ages 3-10. The event takes place on Saturday May 26 at noon. “Peter and the Wolf ” was always one of my favorite stories when I was a child and it is always fun to introduce your children to classic tales.

On May 29th the Los Angeles Opera present “Opera Tales”. The presentation may be enjoyed by children and adults on Tuesday, May 29th beginning at 3:30.

The Library also presents story times for toddlers and preschoolers from May 1st through June 6. Toddler story times for one and 2 year olds is held on Tuesdays at 11AM with Preschool story times, ages 3-4, held on Wednesdays at 11 AM.

The Malibu Library is located at 23519 Civic Center Way 310 456-6438. www.colapublib.org Here is a link to the Library’s grand opening festivities: http://www.malibutimes.com/articles/2012/04/30/video/1-lgomt050.txt