You’ll want to remember his case so you don’t forget something on your next ride.

Arthur Weiss’ 45-mile Lyft ride from San Jose International Airport to Nob Hill in San Francisco started just fine. 

He loaded his bags into the trunk of his driver’s car and they headed north, just like hundreds of other trips he’s taken.

“All my rides were pleasant,” Weiss said. 

But when this trip ended, Weiss was at a loss. Literally. 

”As I got out to remove my baggage from the back of the vehicle, the driver took off,” Weiss said. 

He chased the driver up the street, then messaged him to tell him his bags were still in the trunk. 

“[I]got no further response, I had to go to a dinner after and there was still no response, and I kept sending texts,” Weiss continued. 

Weiss messaged Lyft, too. 

It told him to file a police report. He did. 

Later, Weiss says Lyft told him the driver claimed the bags weren’t in his trunk. Lyft also said it doesn’t insure rider’s belongings. 

“My problem has been what I think is a lack of good customer service and not really working to make the customer happy or to resolve their issue,” Weiss said of the situation. 

Arthur estimates he’s out $3,000. So he contacted NBC Bay Area Responds for help. 

When airlines find lost bags and such, they store them — and eventually, sell them at a clearinghouse if they’re unclaimed. Same for BART, forgotten stuff is cataloged, held, and eventually sold if no one claims it. 

So, what happens to lost items at Lyft? We asked. 

Chiefly, we wanted to know what Lyft requires drivers to do if a rider leaves something behind? What happens if they don’t follow that policy? Or ignore riders like Weiss? 

Lyft said the same things it said to Weiss and noted its drivers are independent contractors — different from BART and the airlines’ staffing. 

Lyft also said, “If the police reach out to us with the proper paperwork via email, we’ll assist them in any way we can.”

San Francisco Police Department only said Weiss’ case is still open. 

So, still no bags, even with our intervention. 

“I do appreciate everything you have done and NBC has done to support me through this journey,” Weiss said. 

We wondered what Uber’s policy is. But it didn’t respond to us for this story. 

Like Lyft, Uber’s website says you can message your driver, though it’s not responsible for items you leave in a vehicle. 

But Uber does track those forgotten things and even publishes a yearly “Lost & Found Index.”

The most common items forgotten include clothes, phones, backpacks, and purses. Uber says it got more lost item reports on April 5 than any other day, more than 1,000 of them.

Besides many other curiosities in the index — like 40 pairs of dentures reported lost in Ubers last year — there’s some useful info to help you, too.

In 2022, Uber found people were most likely to lose stuff on Saturdays and Sundays. So, be extra mindful of your stuff when ridesharing over the weekend.

Weiss has a parting practical tip for you too. 

“Moving forward, if someone is getting in and they have something of value and it’s in a purse or a briefcase or a tote bag, I would highly recommend they take that with them to the back seat so their hands are on it at all times,” Weiss said. 

Two more things we want to drive home: 

• Consider a WiFi tracker like an Apple Airtag for your bags. In some well-publicized cases, airline passengers located their lost bags that way. 
• See if your insurance will cover you. Some phone protection plans cover loss. Try your travel insurance if you’re on a trip. If your ride is local, consider a claim under your homeowner’s or renter’s insurance. Arthur considered that, but ultimately just moved on and wrote off his three-grand loss. 

Have a consumer complaint? Let us know, so we can help.

So, what happened? Will those calls ever stop? 

Our NBC Bay Area Responds team has some yo-yo numbers to share. The feds are taking an unprecedented step to cut off robocalls. And we’ll share a California factoid that will help you hang up even faster on the most infamous robocallers. 

When the phone rings

When spammers call and call and call, apps like Robokiller block them.

“For better or worse, business is booming. That’s not necessarily, I would say, a good thing for consumers,” said Patrick Falzon of Robokiller. 

Falzon says blocking spam robocalls allows them to also track troubling trends.  

“Last year, we believe U.S. consumers got around 75 billion spam calls,” Falzon said.

A month-by-month chart from Robokiller shows a robocall rollercoaster. Tall peaks and deep valleys repeat. 

This past summer, robocalls dipped from a high of almost 8 billion a month. It turns out, the Federal Communications Commission took legal action targeting some companies that make bulk robocalls. 

“We immediately saw a drop-off,” Falzon explained. 

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The FCC says its steps resulted in an “88% month-to-month drop in student loan scam robocalls,” plus a “99% drop in auto warranty scam robocalls.”

And yet, as Kevin Brasler of Consumers’ Checkbook noted, “our phones keep ringing.”

Brasler says the FCC is in a tough spot. 

“It’s like Whack-A-Mole,” Brasler explained. “The crooks keep finding ways to circumvent the protections they put up.”  

For example, Robokiller says robocalls shot back up to about 6 billion in March – just a few months after the FCC’s victory lap.

The FCC did not answer our questions for this story. 

Its docket reveals the feds are now targeting a small communications company called One Eye, LLC and accusing it of a big role in making robocalls from overseas ring on your phone. The FCC just issued its “first ever” order to “block all [phone] traffic” from One Eye from connecting to your carrier. 

We reached out to One Eye for comment but did not hear back. 

Even if the FCC’s legal maneuver works, expectations are low for many.

“It’s generally just a matter of time until something pops up,” Falzon said. 

Falzon’s yo-yo robocall data backs that up.  

“They are far from decreasing and far from no longer being a problem for U.S. consumers,” Falzon said.

So, what can you do? 

Consumers can install a robocall blocker – for a fee. Robokiller is just one of many. 

“You can get a free 7-day trial to test it out, see if it makes a difference for you,” Falzon said. 

Or, you can check with your phone carrier. See if it offers a free blocker like T-Mobile’s “Scam Shield.”

“It identifies if a call is most likely to be a scam, and it’s 99% accurate,” explained Steve Carlson with T-Mobile.

T-Mobile says it’s intercepting tons of spam calls. 

“More than 40 billion spam calls on the T-Mobile network in 2022,” Carlson said. 

If an unknown call gets through, Kevin Brasler recommends self-restraint.  

“If you don’t recognize a number, don’t pick up,” Brasler said. 

“If you do pick up, and it’s not somebody you know, and you’re certain it’s not somebody you know, just hang up,” he added. 

Especially if it’s one of those extended warranty calls. Robokiller labeled car warranty robocalls “the most common phone scam in existence.”

The FCC says car warranty robocalls are the most complained about robocall.

Even if the FCC has, as it says, stopped 99% of extended warranty robocalls, the state has a warning about the other 1%. 

“Under California law, that’s illegal,” said Michael Soller with the California Department of Insurance. “You cannot sell a vehicle service contract over the phone. You cannot sell it online.” 

Soller says a new state law can help you get your money back if you fell for the robocall. 

You can file an official complaint with the state by calling 1-800-927-4357.

Have a consumer complaint? Let us know, so we can help.

When you go on vacation, there’s a good chance you’ll see an art auction pop up on a cruise or at a resort. They’re advertised as auctions for regular folks. But beware before you bid. Some viewers had ugly brush-ups that required our intervention. 

Downtime, Paddles Up

On YouTube, Park West Gallery features a thumping video called “Art for Everyone.” The video paints a picture of Park West’s open-door art auctions on cruise ships and at resorts. 

“The champagne’s flowing, and next thing you know your [paddle] is up and you’re buying art,” said Jonathan Castaing in South San Francisco. He’s previously bought artwork from Park West on a cruise. And he was happy. 

Recently, Park West invited him to a local auction at a Half Moon Bay Resort. They would even put him up for the night. Jonathan accepted the invitation. 

He snapped a photo that day, after latching onto Salvador Dalí’s “Purgatory 25.” Jonathan said he paid about $9,000 for it, with shipping and fees. 

His new Dalí was embossed and numbered in the lower-left corner. “Nine of 25,” he noted. 

But, when Park West delivered, Jonathan immediately knew it wasn’t the same piece.

A Switcheroo

“Zero number on it, zero stamp,” he said. “It was a copy. Flat out. It was not the exact same art.” The barcode on the art also did not match Jonathan’s receipt. 

So, he complained to Park West. And asked where his Dalí was. Castaing said a rep explained it this way: “‘Oh, that art is lost, so we sent you this one.’” Castaing wanted a refund. “She said, ‘We can offer you store credit.’ And I said, ‘That’s not an option for me.’”

Stuck in limbo with “Purgatory 25,” Jonathan asked us to help him get his refund. Our team emailed Park West about the switcheroo. The gallery then took back the replacement piece and refunded Jonathan’s $9,000. 

“It wouldn’t have happened without you,” he said. 

A ‘Simple Mistake‘

A Park West rep said cases like Castaing’s are “rare” and offered this explanation: “A simple mistake by the person filling the order caused the wrong artwork to be shipped, so we simply refunded our customer to ensure their satisfaction.”  

We asked why it took our intervention for Jonathan to get his money back. Park West did not reply. We wondered if Park West ever found the correct Dalí. Also, no reply.

“How many other people are in this situation,” Castaing asked. 

We can tell you about one other case: in 2018, two Rembrandt etchings were key to a case we handled. A Sacramento viewer said he paid Park West $7,000 for them on a cruise. He later tried to sell the pair. Appraisers told him the etchings had zero market value. We stepped in. Park West then gave him his money back. Park West said it, “fully and finally resolved this dispute.”

The viewer told us he signed a non-disclosure agreement, so we could not interview him.

How to Protect Yourself

“More often than not, your viewers would be doing this as an impulse purchase,” said Lance Fung, a former art gallery owner who now teaches art classes at San Jose State University.

We asked him about buying art on a cruise or at a resort. Fung says if you have an empty wall, a stuffed wallet, and you’re comfortable, go ahead. But if you’re new to art and not sure who’s who or what’s what –maybe downing free champagne and feeling pressure — he has a one-word recommendation: “Pause,” Fung said.

“There is absolutely no urgency in buying art on a cruise ship or on holiday,” he said.   

If you think you’re investing in art, do some research online before you bid. Find out who the artist is and how their pieces are priced outside the auction. Fact check the auctioneer. 

“The cruise is like a week or two weeks. You have plenty of time to do your research,” Fung said. 

Look Locally, Minus the Pressure

Fung says you’ll find art for sale locally – no auction required. Ideally, you can take home what you buy that day. If an art dealer has to ship it, Fung says to demand a detailed receipt that proves you will get what you bought, not a copy. 

Also: have your camera ready.

“The picture was one of the biggest things that saved me,” Castaing said. He recommends immediately snapping photos of the paperwork and the art itself as he did. Also: flip the artwork over. 

“You want to look at the back,” he said. Look for a tag or barcode. Snap a photo of that, too.

“Protect yourself,” Castaing said. 

You can also pay with your credit card to protect yourself. If something goes south, open a dispute with the credit card company to get your money back. Here’s a video showing you how.

Have a consumer complaint? Let us know, so we can help.

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But some Bay Area homeowners and homebuilders are taking action. The NBC Bay Area Responds team looked into two new innovations designed to save homes and homeowners insurance

Built-in Fire Response

“It’s a beautiful place,” said Mark Mitchell looking out at the home he owns.

It’s dry in Bonny Doon where Mitchell’s home is.

But look closer at the house.  It’s raining, not from the clouds, but from the roof and eaves. 

“It looks kinda like a car wash,” said  Harry Statter, CEO of Frontline Wildfire Defense.

To explain this man-made rain shower, let’s rewind to 2020.  

“One evening we started seeing lightning strikes all through the night,” Mitchell recalled.

Home video from Micthelll’s backyard shows the CZU Lightning Complex Fire sparking up. 

Mitchell said his home was spared by the fire, though he knows neighbors who lost their homes.

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“The house made it, with significant damage,” he said.

Today, Mitchell’s home is fully restored with an innovative addition: a sprinkler system attached to the roof and under the eaves to fight fires. 

“Anything we can do to defend the house is worth doing,”  Mitchell said. 

The misting apparatus is the brainchild of a company called Frontline Wildfire Defense. It was created after research showed scorching embers can float for miles, then burn down homes and businesses. 

“That was really the ‘ah ha’ moment,” said Harry Statter of Frontline Wildfire Defense.

Statter says this proprietary system monitors for wildfires and embers. 

“Our software will detect a fire,” Statter said. 

An app warns you. Then, unless you decline, it remotely triggers the sprinklers. 

“All the combustibles on and around the home are going to be saturated… they’re going to be wetted down to create an environment that’s simply too wet to burn,” Statter said. 

Water at first, foam if fire moves closer. 

“This is the same Class A biodegradable foam that firefighters carry on their trucks,” Statter said. “You simply don’t need a firefighter there to apply it.”

Statter pointed out a four-day battery backup as a satellite antenna.  So if the power and internet go out, the sprinklers can still fight off a fire. 

How much is a retrofit like this?

“We’re about $10 dollars a square foot,” Statter said. 

That’s $20,000 for a two-thousand-square-foot home. 

“It’s not a cheap product,” Mitchell said. 

For Mitchell, it’s money well spent. Especially since his family’s insurance company canceled their policy. They’re now in the state’s insurer of last resort, which caps coverage. The Mitchells shoulder significant personal risk. Thus, the sprinkler system.  

“That becomes part of our insurance plan, to prevent the fire,”  Mitchell said. 

Fire-Resillient Homes

More than one hundred miles north in Santa Rosa, another innovation is being used to fend off fires. This time, it’s not a home add-on, it’s the home itself. 

“If you were driving by the home, you would have no idea,” explained Kellan Hannah, Director of Growth at the company DVELE.

DVELE built the home in Santa Rosa on the site where a home burned down during the 2017 Wine Country fires. DVELE says it designed the house — and others like it– for fire resilience.

“All of our homes are built with metal framing, the floors, the ceilings, and the walls, you have a material that is not combustible, like traditional homes where they use timber,”  Hannah said. 

Case in point: there is no wood siding on the outside of the home. 

“The metal just doesn’t burn. It’s an inorganic material,” Hannah said.

DVELE says its prefab homes are sealed for day-to-day energy efficiency, which plays a second role when wildfires spew hot embers. 

“We have such an air-tight envelope in the home, that you’re just not getting the possibility of embers entering the home like they traditionally would,” Hannah said.

What premium do buyers pay for floor-to-ceiling fire resilience?

DVELE just sold the Santa Rosa home for $2.2 million, which is in line with what the real estate app Zillow estimates for nearby houses built with traditional materials.

Finding Insurance Coverage

What about insurance? 

“This house is the house of the future,”  said Janet Ruiz of the Insurance Information Institute of DVELE’s Santa Rosa home. 

Ruiz toured the home, saw lower risk, and expected a lower premium there. 

“Insurers are looking for homes they can give discounts to,” Ruiz said. 

But, as we’ve reported in previous stories, insurance companies sometimes calculate fire risk by neighborhood or zone, not home-by-home. 

Ruiz said if more people reduce fire risk, insurers might re-assess some areas, even offer to re-sign customers they canceled.

Back in Bonny Doon, Mitchell has been asking insurers about this. 

“We did make phone calls after the system was installed,” Mitchell said. “The response was, generally, ‘that’s really good. But no, we still won’t write you an insurance policy.’ I’d like to see that change.”

Innovators like Frontline and DVELE hope for change too. 

“I think it makes sense,” said Statter with Frontline.

They’re banking on a deluge of wildfire innovation, more homeowners buying in, and eventually holding insurance companies’ feet to the fire. 

“Homes need to be built this way,” said Hannah with DVELE.

Short of buying a new home or retrofitting yours, fire experts told us there’s one big fire-safe step you can take today, basically for free. Focus on the first five feet away from your home. Remove anything that might burn if an ember were to land there. For example, replace wood mulch with rock. 

Have a consumer complaint? Let us know, so we can help.

After all of the winter storms in California, the state and federal government gave everyone in the Bay Area an extension to file their 2022 tax returns. They’re now due by October 16. 

If you need help making it across the finish line, the IRS has some free help for you this weekend.

Tips for Filing

Whenever you’re filling out a tax return, the IRS recommends planning and patience. 

“Gather paperwork, spend some time maybe doing it in steps so you don’t miss something — [so] you don’t miss a benefit,” said Raphael Tulino, an Internal Revenue Service spokesperson. 

Say you get stumped. 

You can ask the IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center for help. Normally, it’s only open on weekdays and by appointment. Saturday, however, the IRS will open some offices for rare weekend hours with no appointment needed. 

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Where to Get Help

Here’s where to get help:

• Oakland: 1301 Clay Street
• Stockton: 4643 Quail Oaks Drive

The IRS professionals will be on duty at those sites for face-to-face help from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Bring a photo ID and social security cards for everyone in your household. If the IRS sent you a letter, bring it along with any related paperwork. 

Full disclosure: the IRS will not fill out your return for you. You still have to do that. 

But IRS experts at the Taxpayer Assistance Centers can answer questions to steer you around roadblocks on your 1040. 

In Summary

For residents in all Bay Area counties, the new deadline to file your federal return and pay your bill is October 16. Same date for state taxes. 

But wouldn’t it be nice to get it done now? 

Have a consumer complaint? Let us know, so we can help.

It happened to San Francisco resident Diego Martinez.

On the Job Hunt

“If I had signed off on everything, my life would have been ruined,” he said.

Martinez was vulnerable and right where scammers wanted him: hunting for a new job and under pressure to quickly grab what he could. 

Martinez said he was, “targeting small to midsize companies, mainly because of what was happening over the course of the few months before with the layoffs and the shake-ups in the tech world.”

On an online job board, Martinez said he spotted a remote tech role at a company called isolved. Martinez said he applied and later did an interview by text (on a messaging website). 

The next day, the person claiming to be an HR rep said isolved was hiring him. 

“I was, obviously, really excited,” Martinez said.

He had already shared some personal information on his application. Now the recruiter wanted more: his bank account information for direct deposit of his paycheck plus a copy of his driver’s license. They also told him he’d need to buy a phone for isolved business. 

Here’s the hitch: “It was a fake isolved website,” said Amy Mosher, who oversees HR and recruiting at the real isolved. “They made it look nearly identical to our own site.”

Mosher confirmed Martinez was dealing with an HR impersonator. She said he is not alone in falling for a lookalike. 

“This happens very, very often, more often than certainly most people realize,” Mosher said. 

Job Scams on the Rise

94,129 people reported business and job opportunity scams to the Federal Trade Commission in 2022. In total that year, people reported losing $367 million to job scams. And it’s trending upward. Business and Job opportunity crooks stole 76% more money in 2022 than they did in 2021, according to the FTC. 

The FTC says scammers target people who want to work from home and that employees in the tech sector may be at risk. 

So, how do you protect yourself?

“I would say do your homework,” said Amber Clayton, Senior Director of Knowledge Operations at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). She and Mosher, at isolved, recommend a few extra steps before you hand over any information to an online recruiter. 

How To Protect Yourself

First, do a search for the company name. See if the website the recruiter shared matches the authentic one. If not, beware. 

Also, be leery of recruiters who tell you to buy a phone or a laptop from them before you start a new job. 

“I would be cautious about purchasing any equipment,” Clayton said. 

It’s likely just a ploy to steal money from you. 

Make sure the recruiter’s email address matches the real company website. Figure out if the recruiter is who they say they are. 

“Never give your sensitive information to anyone who can’t validate their identity,” Mosher advised. 

Finally, insist on speaking to the recruiter and your future teammates, ideally by video or in person. 

In this case, Martinez only interviewed by text. Clayton saw trouble with that. 

“If they’re only doing a text interview and nothing more, I would say that’s definitely a red flag for a job scam,” she said.

Learning from a Close Call

“I felt embarrassed,” Martinez acknowledged.

So, what happened with him? He never shared his bank information, thanks to some savvy friends who smelled a rat. They encouraged him to ask the recruiter some questions. He did. 

Here’s what he said first: “‘I just don’t want to be scammed,’ and as soon as I said the word ‘scammed’ there was radio silence for two seconds…. And they hung up the phone.”

Martinez is glad he wised up and shut down the scam. He recommends all job seekers ask recruiters questions and demand answers. 

“I just think that everyone needs to be more aware, no matter how experienced you are looking for jobs,” he emphasized. 

We recommend that Martinez lock down his credit reports, just in case the scammers got any sensitive information from his “application” and “interview.”

isolved said it shut down the look-alike site and is buying up similar web addresses to prevent other impostors. If you spot a job scam, report it to the Federal Trade Commission.

You can also tell the NBC Bay Area Responds team, just like Martinez did. Have a consumer complaint? Let us know, so we can help.

“Simple things,” she said. “Basic things that I knew I had paid an additional amount to cover.”  

Cris says the service department billed her about $140. She pushed back because she expected her Honda Care service plan to cover the full cost.

“They said, ‘Oh, we’ll look into it,’” Lozano said. “And then they said they didn’t see anything, that they didn’t find anything in the system.”

Cris said she showed Envision Honda its own contract from the day it sold her the Civic. It shows she prepaid $1,995 for Honda [Care] Sentinel. A Honda Care brochure says the Sentinel plan does cover things like oil changes, tire maintenance, and more. 

Here’s the hitch: “They said it was never activated,” Lozano said. “And that they didn’t see it in the system. So, they couldn’t honor it.”  

What We Have Here is a Failure to Activate

Whose job was to activate it? The dealer, Envision. Cris wanted to cancel and get her two grand back. She says she filed a cancellation form. Six months later: nothing. 

“I got silence,” she said.  

This isn’t Cris’s first problem with Envision Honda. In 2022, a few months after Cris bought the same Civic, her paper tags expired. Cris says Envision didn’t register the car and stopped responding to her. 

“Who’s the next email I sent? To you,” she said at the time. “And then, all of a sudden, within eight days… my tags actually ended up in the mailbox!” 

Cris contacted NBC Bay Area Responds again– about her service plan.

We contacted Envision Honda and Honda corporate.

Honda & Dealer Take Action

Honda headquarters told us Cris’s troubles were not ”representative of a typical experience.” 

Honda said dealers should activate service contracts within 48 hours of selling a car. Then, two to four weeks later, buyers should receive their contract in the mail. 

Neither of those things happened for Cris. Why?

An Envision rep pointed to a management swap. He said Cris, “purchased a vehicle the day after we bought Honda Milpitas.” He noted all “new processes and people.” 

All Fixed (With a Bonus)

Envision said it took action for Cris as soon as NBC Bay Area Responds called Honda corporate in February. Envision gave her her $1,995 back, plus a bonus for the inconvenience. 

“$100 more,” Lozao said with a chuckle. “I finally won, but I still feel as if I was so frustrated. I shouldn’t have gone through all that… twice!”  

Service contracts and extended warranties can be lucrative for car dealers.

100% Markup?

An Auburn University at Montgomery Economics Professor wrote about an “average markup of 100 percent.”

So, it’s no surprise that some car salespeople might come on strong — pushing a service contract.

A car dealer consultant isn’t shy about it. Its website tells dealers: “There are countless ways your dealership could boost its profitability. One of the easiest is to simply offer vehicle service contracts to your customers.” 

If you cave under pressure from a car salesperson, here’s some good news: you can change your mind if you bought a service contract and regret it.

You Can Cancel & Get Your Money Back. It’s the Law.

“California law gives you an absolute right to cancel a vehicle service contract for any reason,” said Deputy Insurance Commissioner Michael Soller. “We call it a ‘free look’ period.”   

Soller says you get all your money back, minus any claims you made, if you cancel during your “free look” period. For new cars, it’s 60 days after you receive your contract; 30 days for used cars. 

But wait! There’s more!

“Even if you go past that period, you can still get some of your money back,” Soller said.    

After the “free look,” you can still cancel and possibly get a partial refund. Soller said the seller might prorate your refund by time or miles. They might also charge a fee, but no more than $25.

Exactly how much you’ll get back should be in your contract. “The contract is the ultimate guide,” Soller said.   

If you buy an “extended warranty,” “service contract,” “protection plan,” or whatever they call it, make sure you get your contract. If you don’t, follow up. Honda, for example, told us Honda Care buyers who don’t get anything in the mail within 30 days of buying a car should reach out. 

Extended Warranty Problem? Open a State Investigation

If you’re spinning your wheels with a service contract, you can ask the California Department of Insurance to investigate.

The number is 1-800-927-4357. Or visit its website.

McVoy said he’s been without electricity, “just under 20 twenty-four-hour days” since Jan. 1. 

You might logically assume that with the power going out so much, McVoy’s electric bill would be much lower. 

“You would think so, but not so much,” he said, with a laugh. “They charged us the full amount in January when we have 16 days of no power.”

He’s not alone. The NBC Bay Area Responds team is hearing from others with confusing electric bills. Our Telemundo Responde team is logging similar complaints. 

So, we asked PG&E: What is going on? A rep declined a request to speak on camera. 

By email, they said, “When PG&E is unable to collect an actual read for any reason (Example: Non-communicating meter, power outage), the system will estimate based off of historical usage.”

PG&E told us when it can’t read a meter at the end of a billing cycle, that’s when people like McVoy might get a monthly bill demanding payment for “historical” electricity they never actually used. 

So, what happens to fix that bad estimate? PG&E said two things. First, “once power is restored and a read is obtained, the system then uses the read.” 

Second, PG&E said it automatically adjusts your next bill to charge you only for your actual electricity use. McVoy said his recent bill was lower, though he’s unsure of the math.

“I got maybe $150 bucks back,” he said. 

PG&E declined to discuss McVoy’s account with us, but recommended he contact them so a billing specialist can take a look. PG&E offered the same advice for anyone else who’s puzzled. 

We asked the state’s utility watchdog, The Public Advocate’s Office at The Public Utilities Commission, about people’s billing confusion. “At this point, the Public Advocate’s Office does not yet have any insights on this,” a rep said.

If you want to see how much electric PG&E’s billing you for in real time, log into the PG&E website, pge.com. Once in your account, click the link that reads “Energy Usage Details.” 

A daily bar graph should load. Solid blue lines are days where PG&E got a reading; shaded blue lines are those “historical” estimates. 

Want to dig deeper? Click a bar. It’ll break down your electricity use — real or estimated — hour by hour.

Back in the mountains, McVoy’s generator is finally off. And his power’s back on. He recommends double checking your electricity the old-fashioned way.

“If I could do things over again, what I would do is figure out what their billing cycle is, and at least go out and look at the meter,” he said. Read it yourself. Write down the numbers or snap a picture– to later compare to your bill.  

“Keeping records is a good thing,” McVoy said.     

If you want to challenge your bill, PG&E said you can call them. The number is 1-800-743-5000. Press three, then four. When we called around noon one Friday, the wait to speak with someone was nine minutes.

The incidents, including close calls at New York/JFK, Burbank, and Austin, have gained Washington’s attention.   

“From our standpoint there are too many incidents that have occurred in too short of a time,” said Jennifer Homendy, Chair of The National Transportation Safety Board on NBC News. “Which is why we’re looking into these.” 

Congress has started asking questions, too. On Capitol Hill, the Federal Aviation Administration’s acting chief vowed action. “In light of some of these recent events… I have convened a safety summit and a safety review,” said Billy Nolen, the FAA’s acting administrator.   

That summit is next week, close to six years after a similar – and pivotal – SFO incident. 

Local Case; National Call for Upgrades

A landing Air Canada jet nearly touched down on a row of airliners waiting to take off. The SFO close call exposed a gap back in 2017 that can still hinder investigators today: audio recordings from inside the cockpit are often lost.

“They can be absolutely critical,” said Anthony Brickhouse Professor of Aerospace Safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. “In a lot of accidents that we’ve seen, without the cockpit voice recorder or the flight data recorder, it would have been really hard or almost impossible to piece together what was happening.” 

Professor Brickhouse says he used to work at the NTSB, investigating crashes and close calls. 

“I’ve been investigating 25 years,” he said. “The best way I can describe it is, it’s like putting a puzzle back together.”

Cockpit audio is often a missing piece. 

Brickhouse says the so-called “black box” that tapes airline pilots voice and other noises in the cockpit records over itself every two hours. The recorder can be stopped after an incident to save audio, but they often aren’t. In most, if not all of the recent close calls, the NTSB says it has no cockpit audio to analyze.

After pilot audio was lost in the SFO case in 2017, the NTSB recommended in 2018 that cockpit recorders be expanded to tape at least 25 hours

A ‘Game Changer’

But almost five years later, the norm is still two hours. In many other countries, 25 hours is the standard.

“To have a 25-hour recording would really be a game-changer,” Brickhouse said.  

So, why are U.S. recorders still only taping for two hours? Former airline spokesman Ross Feinstein pointed to airline pilots.

“There’s some concern from the unions that the [airline] companies will use the cockpit voice recorders to spy on their employees – on the pilots in the cockpit of aircraft … which, ultimately, is not true,” he said. “They’re only used for safety issues.”

Pilots’ Union Targets ‘Abuse’

We contacted two major pilots’ unions. The Allied Pilots Association declined to comment. The Airline Pilots Association, or APLP, did not respond to us. In a flier for members, ALSA says recorders “are in airline cockpits because of ALPA — which also continues to fight to prevent their abuse.”

What about the airlines? We contacted the major carriers. Only Southwest Airlines responded. It referred us to the airlines lobbying group, Airlines For America. A4A said its members support 25-hour recordings. It noted, many details “need to be addressed,” and it is “committed to working through those issues.”

In many recent close calls, the jets involved just flew on. The pilots’ audio was erased before safety investigators were even told the planes had nearly crashed. Some say regulators should start requiring an immediate stop for all planes involved in any close call. 

“Maybe it’s time for the FAA to say these aircraft should not take off,” Feinstein said.

For passengers like you, flying remains the safest form of travel. Still, those missing recordings are likely to make more news soon. The FAA is planning its safety summit in Washington, D.C. next Wednesday. The FAA has the authority to order longer recordings – to, perhaps, help ensure your future flights are safer.

We’ll let you know what happens.

“When I got that bill I was a little alarmed,” he said. “So, I tried turning down the thermostat, using less gas.”

December’s PG&E bill was $575; of that, $400 was for gas. So, Zinman’s furnace got a new setting. 

“I was setting it at 68 or 69 degrees,” he said. “When that bill came in for $575, I set it back to 66… or 65 when we sleep at night.” He expected that conservation to pay off in January. It didn’t.

“The next bill came, and we used less, but it was still $575. And it was still a $400 gas bill portion,” he said. “You feel a little out of control.” 

You’re likely in the same boat. Perhaps you’ve heard PG&E and its counterparts’ explanation: demand was up and wholesale gas prices spiked.

San Diego Gas spoke with our sister station, NBC 7 Responds.“This increase is much larger than we ever could have anticipated,” said Candace Hadley, a utility spokesperson.

Wholesale prices 4 times, 5 times in California

We dug in. And discovered a disconnect. 

Wholesale natural gas prices are regional and change daily. We looked at a stretch in January. California’s gas prices were four, five, and almost six times higher than much of the U.S. for days. 

In some other parts of the country, there was extra natural gas — so much that some producers were paying others to take it off their hands.

“In January and February for most of the United States the weather has been warmer than normal, said Chris Higginbotham with the U.S. Energy Information Administration. “And that has meant natural gas demand has gone down, it’s below average right now.” 

Three culprits so far

So, why did prices shoot so high in California? Several analysts pointed to three issues: reduced storage, pipeline problems, and chilly weather. 

The weather explanation checks out. It’s been frosty here. “Our high temperatures will only reach the 40s,” said NBC Bay Area Meteorologist Kari Hall in a recent forecast. 

We needed gas, fast. But there was an issue.

“In California, the natural gas storage levels were lower than normal,” Higginbotham said.   

Generally speaking, the state’s tanks were only about two thirds full. Why? We asked one gas storage company, Rocketpoint. A representative said, “gas storage levels fluctuate throughout the year” and exact storage levels are “proprietary information.” 

So, what about piping in more gas? After all, there was excess to the east. Analysts say California gets most of its gas through just three main pipelines. Some parts were down when the state needed maximum flow.

Old accident equals new price spike?

Several experts noted a pipeline called “Line 2000.” It made headlines in Arizona when it exploded and destroyed a nearby home. Two people inside died. The pipeline has been offline since then. 

But it blew up in August 2021.Why is it blamed for a price surge in 2023? 

In a letter, Gov. Gavin Newsom asked the federal government’s energy watchdog, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, to investigate the recent price spike. PG&E told us it “supports the governor’s call.”

Culprit four: manipulation?

To some, low tanks and slow pipelines resemble the state’s 2000 and 2001 energy crisis. Back then, secretly-recorded phone calls exposed insiders’ scheme to intentionally take power plants down to push prices up in California.  

“We want you guys to get a little creative and come up with a reason to go down,” a trader told a plant manager in one of the calls, released by a Washington utility regulator.  

“These are hard cases to investigate,” said Severin Borenstein, Ph.D., faculty director of the Energy Institute at U.C. Berkeley’s Haas Business School. We asked Borenstein if he sees any parallels between the power crisis in 2000 and natural gas today.

“I do see parallels in the setup at least,” he said.  

Borenstein said federal investigators should be looking for signs someone manipulated the gas market — at your expense. Why were pipelines reduced and storage tanks low right when California clearly needed gas? 

“Did that put some players in the market in a position to make it even worse, as we saw happen back in 2000, 2001,” he asked.

Federal inquiry timeline

Borenstein says connecting the dots will take time. “I suspect it will be many months or into 2024 before we actually hear some sort of real judgment in this,” he said.  

Back in Moraga, Zinman welcomes an investigation. “I’m sure there are situations of manipulation,” he said “And yes, I lived through Enron as well.” 

He’s still adjusting the thermostat, and “plugging holes,” as he says. But Zinman’s not exactly optimistic. 

“They got you,” he said. “You’re probably not going to be able to plug any holes. You’re either gonna have to use less or just keep paying.” 

Fair warning: your next gas bill might be another shocker. Analysts told us that’s because utilities are usually about a month behind passing wholesale prices on to you.

Three hopeful signs

Here are three pieces of good news for your gas bill.

• Natural gas prices have stabilized
• The government forecasts a 47% price drop this year and next
• The Line 2000 pipeline we talked about just got a green light to go back online. That should bring more gas to the west.

NBC Bay Area’s Consumer Investigator Chris Chmura has built up a library of helpful “How To” explainer videos on a wide variety of topics, with advice on how to best navigate these pesky consumer pain points.

Digital Correspondent Abbey Fernandez sat down with Chris to discuss three of his “How To” explainers on topics related to job scams, flight delays, and cancelling gym memberships. Watch their conversation now in the video player above.

You can also explore all of his “How To” videos at NBCBAYAREA.COM/HOWTO.

Caltrans spokesman Hector Chinchilla said the agency had recorded approximately 7,325 potholes since the start of 2023.

“Statewide, 44,293 potholes,” he said.  

And that’s just on state roads. There are even more on city streets and county roads.

“Busy, busy, busy,” said Christopher Brown of San Francisco Public Works in a January interview. 

No matter where they appear, potholes can do damage: rims ruined, tires tattered, shocks shot.

“[It] destroyed my left front tire,” said Highway101 driver Greg Sereno.  

State’s Invitation: Apply for Reimbursement

Where the rubber meets the road, government has maintenance responsibility, plus possible liability when potholes damage cars. For example, Caltrans invites you to apply for reimbursement if a pothole damages your car on a state road.

“If you do feel that a negligent pothole by Caltrans caused damage to your vehicle, please submit a form,” Chinchilla said. 

That’s what Mike O’Rourke in Morgan Hill did.

“It was a big pothole,” he said. “It really was.” 

He was driving his convertible, a 2021 Chevy Corvette hardtop, north on Highway101 south of Gilroy. Suddenly, a drop. 

“It made a lot of noise. We heard the suspension bottom out,” O’Rourke said.

The pothole damaged the front left tire, which cost a pretty penny to replace: a little more than $400.

An Admission and a Denial All in One

Mike applied for reimbursement. Soon, an envelope arrived.

“I just assumed I had a check in there,” he said. “I didn’t have a check. I had this letter telling me that they were aware there had been a pothole there and were not going to honor my claim on it.” 

Denied. 

So, who decides whether Caltrans is negligent? Caltrans. In Mike’s letter, Caltrans acknowledges it knew about the Highway 101 pothole and later fixed it. But Caltrans ruled Caltrans was not negligent. 

“I don’t see how they’re not negligent,” Mike said. “If it’s not them, who is it?”  

He wanted answers. 

“I wasn’t happy,” he said. “Which is why I reached out to [NBC Bay Area Responds].”   

Rain Comes Down; Claims Go Up

We wanted to know how many others are in Mike’s shoes. Caltrans told us it gets about 1,000 pothole damage claims each year.

2023 has not been a good year. When the winter rain came down, pothole claims shot up. Caltrans says it’s already received 459 claims between just January and early February. 

We wanted to know how often Caltrans pays — or doesn’t pay — claims like Mike’s. 

Caltrans did not provide us numbers in time for this story. 

“Everything is case by case,” is all Chinchilla would say.  

We filed a formal request to get Caltrans’ payment rate for a follow-up story. 

Caltrans’ Chinchilla told us two main factors determine Caltrans’ liability — and whether it pays out tax dollars to repair your car. First: awareness. Caltrans is not liable if it’s not aware of a pothole. 

“We don’t know what we don’t know,” Chinchilla said.

But even if Caltrans knows about a pothole, it might not be on the hook.

“There is a reasonable time that we are allocated to go and fix the pothole,” Chinchilla said. 

bay area storm Jan 16

Potholes From Bay Area Storms Cause Major Problems for Drivers

San Francisco Jan 12

Crews Work to Fill Hundreds of New Potholes in San Francisco

Officially, state law says Caltrans gets “sufficient time” to respond. But the 1963 law doesn’t define what “sufficient” is. That’s murky. 

Mike insists his case is not.

“It’s so clear cut and dry in my mind,” he said.  

But here’s the thing: his rejection letter doesn’t include any specifics about what Caltrans knew or when, so no way to know if it filled the pothole in “sufficient time.” Mike sees room for improvement with the pothole process.

Claims, for sure. Prevention, too. 

“Maybe we can do a better job,” he said. “I think they have something like a $17 billion budget each year.” 

It’s actually now more than $20 billion dollars. That’s overall, though, not just for potholes.

Car Insurance Can Help – If You Have the Right Coverage

If you hit a pothole, you can file a claim with your own insurance company. 

If you have collision coverage, your insurance might pay for repairs now.

The insurance company can then try to get reimbursed by the government later. If that happens, you can ask for your deductible back.

Maximize Your Chances Government Pays (No Guarantees)

If you file a government claim yourself, you’ll maximize the chances you get paid if you take a few key steps.

Take photos of the damage.

Get an itemized repair estimate or receipt.

And pinpoint the pothole’s exact location.

When you file a claim, keep a copy of the form for yourself.

Don’t wait. State law only gives you six months to file.

Finally: if you see a pothole, Caltrans says report it ASAP. Their reps say the best reports include an exact location. 

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

Many Bay Area homeowners are learning firsthand that home insurance companies can suddenly drop you. 

Insurance companies are saying there’s too much fire risk to auto-renew everyone’s policy. Our NBC Bay Area Responds team looked into why that is and pulled together four key steps to take if your policy is dropped. 

Hell to Keep Insured

Phillip Parkerson’s three bed, two bath home in Occidental sits on six and a half acres.

“So, very quiet, very serene, very peaceful,”  Parkerson explained.

Parkerson said he usually describes his family home in one word: “heaven.”

But it’s been hell keeping that home insured. 

First, his family received a surprise cancellation letter from Liberty Mutual. 

Parkerson said he recalled Liberty Mutual telling him, “‘You’ve got to find somebody else to insure you, because we’re not going to insure you any longer.’” 

It was a shock. 

Parkerson said he and his late husband had already worked to reduce their fire risk. 

“We spent tens of thousands of dollars,” Parkerson said, noting that his family trimmed trees, added defensible space, and even installed a fire-safe roof at this Sonoma County home.

And yet, the letter his family received from Liberty Mutual said the home “poses an unacceptable fire risk.”

“The person I was speaking with literally told me, ‘it doesn’t matter what you’ve done. My computer tells me what zone you’re in. And we can’t give insurance because of your zone,’” Parkerson recalled. 

We asked Liberty Mutual about Parkerson’s policy. It said it “does not publicly comment” on people’s policies. 

Dropping Policies

Brand new state protections require insurance companies to consider work you’ve done to reduce fire risk, but only when setting your price, not when deciding to drop you.

“We don’t like what is going on now, because it feels like people are really caught between a rock and a hard place,” said Amy Bach, the executive director of United Policyholders.

United Policyholders is a nonprofit that helps homeowners who’ve been dropped by their insurers. The nonprofit has been busy. The latest available state data show more than 200,000 policies were dropped in 2020, and likely more were dropped in 2021 and 2022. 

Why are property owners getting dropped?

“We’re kind of at a tipping point in homeowners [insurance],” said Mark Setknan with the American Property Casualty Insurance Association. 

Setknan says insurance companies are responding to more fire danger, claims and losses. That includes losses from the recent CZU, Glass and Caldor fires in California.  

“We all know wildfires have changed dramatically in the past three years,” Setknan said. 

At the same time, the insurance industry says the prices the state allows them to charge us are “historically inadequate.”

“The risk has changed dramatically, and unfortunately, the rates have not been able to keep up with that,” Setknan said. 

Now, insurance companies say they are rebalancing their books, reducing their “risk portfolio” by dropping folks like Phillip Parkerson. 

What is the long-term forecast?

“It feels like we’re headed toward government-provided property insurance,” said Amy Bach with United Policyholders.

There’s precedent for that. 

Bach points to flooding in the 1960s. 

“Insurance companies panicked and said, ‘we’re not going to insure floods anymore,’” Bach explained. 

Then: the Northridge Earthquake in 1994. 

“‘Oh, we’re not going to insure earthquakes anymore’”  Bach paraphrased. 

And then: terrorism in 2001.

After 9/11, Bach said insurance companies responded by saying, “‘Oh, we’re not insuring terrorism risk anymore.’”

Today, Uncle Sam sells terrorism and flood insurance, the state sells earthquake insurance. Is wildfire insurance next?

“As a consumer advocate, do I like it? Not really. I like consumers to have choices,” Bach said. 

What to do if your policy is non-renewed

For the moment, you might still have choices if you get dropped. Here are four steps to take:

Step 1: Take Immediate Action 

“Don’t wait,” said Phillip Parkerson in Occidental.

Open all mail you get from insurance companies as soon as possible, because you’ll likely only get 75 days notice when they cancel you. 

Step 2: Shop Around

Other companies might insure you. 

“A lot of people are not used to shopping for insurance, so we encourage people to shop,” said Mark Setknan with the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

If your search goes on for days or weeks, you should call back the company that dropped you. When their computer models get new data, they might change their mind. 

“The situation keeps shifting,” Bach shared. 

“One week you might call and get turned down by an insurance company, then you call the next week and they might offer you a policy.”

Step 3: Find Help

If you’re not finding insurance yourself, find help. Phillip Parkerson called an independent home insurance broker, who found him a policy at a lesser-known company. 

“They were truly the last call I knew to make before I called the California Fair Plan,” Parkerson said. 

Step 4: The “FAIR Plan,” the final fallback

 The California FAIR Plan, essentially, is the state’s fire insurance pool of last resort. It takes in anyone the brand-name companies reject. 

The number of people dumped into the FAIR Plan has almost doubled since 2018.  

Amy Bach says the FAIR Plan is expensive and it only offers “basic fire coverage right now” — which means no coverage for things like downed trees, theft, burst pipes, or liability. So, you’ll likely end up buying two insurance policies: one for fire and one for everything else.

“The FAIR plan is not great, but it’s better than nothing,” Bach said. 

United Policyholders offers coaching for people who suddenly have to shop for home insurance. Their website is https://uphelp.org/

Have a consumer complaint? Let us know, so we can help.

So, should we expect a sequel for the holidays?  We found some signs of airline improvement. But there’s also some drama, and good reason to buckle up in case it gets bumpy again. 

Now boarding? Nonstop trepidation. 

“I think there’s some hesitation going into this holiday season,”  said Emily Thornton of Insuranks.com.

Insurance comparison site Insuranks.com recently surveyed 1,000 people about flights. 

“71%, nearly three in four people are worried about delays and cancellations for upcoming trips,”  Thornton said. 

And justifiably so!

Rewind back to summer. 

Airlines delayed or cancelled thousands of flights. 

Business Oct 5, 2022

High Inflation Has Many Americans Tweaking Their Holiday Travel Plans

holiday travel Nov 10, 2022

Watch: Google Has New Tool to Help Holiday Travel Planning

Passengers saw long delays and found themselves waiting at the airport and on hold with customer service for hours. 

So is flying any better now for the winter holidays? We turned to flight tracking company FlightAware.

“There’s just tens of thousands of aircraft we’re tracking around the globe every day,” said Kathleen Bangs of FlightAware.

Over the summer, Uncle Sam found upwards of 30% of all flights arrived late. 

Recently, FlightAware found 17% delayed and the amount of time passengers are stuck has shortened. 

“This summer, delays were reaching about one hour on average,” Bangs said. 

“Now, that’s winding down to about 45 minutes, which we like to see,” she continued. 

Best on-time record between September and November: Delta.

Worst? Frontier and JetBlue. 

Frontier did not respond to us. 

JetBlue said 70% of its flights go to or through “the congested weather-prone northeast [U.S.] corridor, [so] JetBlue in particular feels these impacts and downline delays.”

JetBlue noted that it’s recently cancelled zero San Francisco International Airport flights. 

That’s way better than the summer. 

In June: airlines overall cancelled 3% of all flights. 

Now: FlightAware data show one 1.2% are getting grounded. 

“Some days, less than one percent of flights are cancelled in the U.S.,” Bangs said, “Actually, we’ve seen it get down to half a percent”

The wait for help has improved too. 

Our intern Amelia and Consumer Investigator Chris Chmura made test calls over the summer. It took them hours to get an agent to call them back.  More recently, they were able to reach a human within five or six minutes. 

Over the summer, passengers paid the price for an airline staffing shortage. Since May, airlines have hired eleven thousand additional workers. But some personnel problems persist.

Picketing pilots say airlines are overscheduling with too much reliance on overtime. 

“We’re not striking,” one pilot said, “we’re just doing an informational picket.”

Right, no strike. But some pilots are refusing overtime shifts. That can cause delays and cancellations with less wiggle room than legroom. 

“There are fewer airline routes, in terms of options, than there once were,” said Kevin Brasler, editor of Consumers’ Checkbook.

“And the planes are a lot fuller,” Brasler continued. “So, when there’s even a small disruption there’s a ripple effect for days.”

Consumers’ Checkbook recently published 60 travel tips. 

Here are a few:

• Pack some essentials in your carry on just in case your trip takes longer.
• Hunt down information in advance about the next few flights to your destination — in case your flight gets grounded. 
• Download the airline app and subscribe to alerts. Be first to know if there’s trouble. 
• If there’s a problem, react immediately because you’ll be competing with everyone else on your flight to rebook a seat. 

“Those passengers get spread out across several flights, and there are just no empty seats to accommodate them,” Brasler explained. “That’s really been the big problem, and I don’t know when that’s going to go away.”

Kathleen Bangs at FlightAware recommends everyone check the forecast before flying. 

“Have an idea a few days in advance: What are the big weather fronts?” Bangs suggested. 

When there’s trouble on the radar, airlines often issue fee waivers in advance. They might let you go earlier, later, or to a different city at no extra cost. 

“If they see there’s a weather impact to your flight, they’ll actually want you to proactively contact them,” Bangs said. 

Do that on the phone. Or try social media. 

Over the summer airlines answered our direct messages on social media faster than they answered our phone calls. 

What about lost luggage? Uncle Sam says 99.3% of bags made it in August. 

Still, more than 200 thousand bags are lost or mishandled each month. 

To track your luggage, consider a WiFi tracker like an AirTag.  You drop it in your bag, and if it’s close to WiFi wherever it goes, you might be able to pinpoint its location on your smartphone wherever you are. 

If you need a co-pilot to navigate a consumer issue, get in touch with our team. 

Have a consumer complaint? Let us know, so we can help.

It did. And the winner is?

San Francisco. 

“San Francisco tops the list, really both per density and per capita,” said Apartment Guide Senior Managing Editor Brian Carberry, “It really had the perfect score.”  

San Francisco needs that perfect coffee score because a different dataset shows the city is getting imperfect sleep.

More coffee, less sleep in SF

The CDC asked adults around the country a bunch of health questions, including this: “Do you get fewer than seven hours of sleep each night?”

Our team pulled answers for the Bay Area. First, by county. The most people are sleepless in San Francisco, where 33.3% of people told the CDC they get fewer than seven hours of sleep per night. Alameda was next, and almost a tie at 33.2%. Sleep improves a bit in Contra Costa (32.5%), Santa Clara (31.5%), San Mateo (29.8%), and Napa (29.2%) counties. The best resting Bay Area counties are Sonoma (29.1%) and Marin (27.3%).

We also zeroed in by ZIP code. We found the fewest winks in the Bay Area on Treasure Island, 94130; around Bayview-Hunters Point, 94124; and Oakland’s 94621, near the Coliseum. 40% of people in those ZIP codes told the CDC than seven hours of sleep nightly. 

“Most of us need seven to nine hours every single night,” said Terry Cralle, R.N., with the Better Sleep Council. “We really have to give sleep a chance.” 

We also spoke with Dr. Emerson Wickmire, Ph.D. at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where he heads the Sleep Medicine section. 

“Sleep is a nutrient,” Wickmire said, “And our bodies and brains just need it.” 

Best rest: Rural Sonoma

The CDC data show the people who sleep the most around the Bay Area live in rural Sonoma, 96497; Lafayette 94595; and Portola Valley, 94028.

The survey didn’t determine why. But, no matter where you slumber, we asked the experts how to get more – or better – sleep. First, they said: schedule seven to nine hours. 

“Rule number one to optimize our sleep experience is to allocate — or set aside — enough hours to get the sleep we need,” Wickmire said.  

Consistency= more sleep

Next, set a nighttime routine. “Bedtime routines are not just for children,” Cralle said.  

Empty the trash. 

Do the dishes. 

Check the door locks.

Whatever. 

Just repeat it, nightly. 

“Complete those activities in the same order,” Wickmire said. “This will prepare our bodies and minds for sleep to follow.”  

Change your toothpaste?

And when you’re doing your routine, get a relaxed vibe going. “Keep things calm, keep things quiet,” Cralle said. To keep really calm, Cralle said she even avoids “minty” and “extra refreshing” toothpaste.

“I literally have a different brand of toothpaste that I use at night,” she said. 

Cralle and Wickmire both said proper lighting is key around bedtime, especially in the bedroom. If you have light bulbs that can change color, shift them. Move away from blueish daylight hues; choose dusky orange and yellow hues, instead.

“The sun gives a pretty good example,” Wickmire said. 

Also: go minimal in the bedroom. “Physical clutter equals mental clutter,” Wickmire said. 

Declutter your room + your mind

If your mind races about tasks in the day ahead, don’t fear. Cralle says to write down tomorrow’s “To-Do” list. “Just put it on paper, the old-fashioned way,” she said. “And then, you’d be surprised… how things look manageable.” 

Consistent exercise is helpful for snoozing, too. 

Yes, it’s all work: the routine, the lights, the list. But the experts say better sleep pays off when you’re awake, with productivity you can only dream of.

Now, let’s get back to where we started: coffee. What’s its connection to sleep?

“It’s like a cat chasing its tail,” Wickmire said.  

Caffeine Crutch? Consult a physician

Wickmire and Cralle agreed that some caffeine is OK. Just don’t let a morning craving for a jumpstart of Joe morph into a daylong caffeine crutch.

“If you need caffeine to get you through the day — all day — something’s not right,” Cralle ssid.  

If you’re still not sleeping well, ask your doctor. 

Saturday is 2022 Shred Day. The Better Business Bureau is the host. It’s offering to shred up to five big bags or banker’s boxes full of papers, CD’s, and even old hard drives. BBB will destroy them all for you, for free.

You can watch while they do it. 

• When: Saturday October 22, 2002
• Time: 10 a.m. to Noon (or until the shredder truck is full)
• Where: 1112 S. Bascom Avenue, San Jose

BBB’s Steve McFarland says parting with sensitive documents you no longer need is a proactive approach to prevent identity theft.

”Identity theft and data breaches are at an all-time high in the U.S.,” he said. There are “3.2 million cases reported annually, and 23% of victims reported a financial loss.” 

Old files might be useless to you, but they likely still hold clues that could help an ID thief impersonate you. They can open loans or credit cards and create financial havoc.

The BBB says bring those old files to its office in San Jose on Saturday. 

Again, it’s at 1112 South Bascom Avenue, about a mile south of Interstate 280  The shredder will be open from 10 a.m. to noon, or until the truck is full. You get up to five big bags or banker’s boxes to shred free of charge. 

“It’s the most ridiculous thing that’s ever happened to me, and I’ve been around pro wrestling and that’s about as ridiculous as it gets,” he said.

Dr. Lano’s day job in the 90s was dentistry, with a small practice near Sutter and Stockton. Each year, the city billed him a business equipment tax called “unsecured property tax.” In 2021, Lano got a collection notice for his 1993 tax bill.

“After 28 years, they’re claiming I was late by X number of days,” he said. “I’m not paying a dime because I don’t owe it.” 

SURPRISE LETTER ARRIVES

The bill shows the city charged him a $36 penalty in 1993.

Then, through the Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden years, that $36 has mushroomed with interest and fees to more than $450. Here’s the hitch: Lano insists he paid his bill on time, in person, in 1993 (and 1994 and 1995).

He says he’s heard zilch from the city for 28 years.

“No emails, no calls,” he said. “Nothing.”

Until now.

40K+ OLD DEBTS ON THE BOOKS

The city told us it has 47,753 unpaid tax accounts, totaling $146 million due. The oldest accounts are from 1993, including Lano’s. So, why’s the city contacting him now, 28 years later, after he’d retired and moved to Southern California? 

The city told us his account was part of, “some concerted effort to try and clean up / resolve older delinquencies.”

Lano asked NBC Bay Area Responds for help.

“When you started investigating, Chris, someone said they had filed a lien without my knowledge,” he said.

LIENS, BUT WHO KNEW?

San Francisco court records show the city did file a lien in 1993; re-filed in 2003 and 2013. The city says it sends people notices. But Lano says he received no written notices in roughly 28 years.

“Zero,” he said. 

Lano listed his business address and phone number in the Yellow Pages in the 1990s. We know because we checked old phone books at the library. 

We asked the San Francisco treasurer for copies of notices it sent Lano. The city sent us a statement saying, “we have millions of debts we are collecting over decades. So it’s not feasible / practical to maintain copies of everything sent.”

The city went on to say, “we would certainly review any proof that he paid this bill timely (by 8/31/1993).”

That would be ideal. But Lano says his cancelled check is long gone, and the bank can’t help. He shredded old files years ago, never imagining in 2022 he’d need 1993 papers.  

“This feels like a total rip off,” Lano said.

POSSIBLE SOLUTION: JUST WAIT IT OUT

It’s an impasse.

Lano told us he was weighing his legal options. Or, he could just wait it out. After we started asking questions, the city told us there’s a 30-year statute of limitations on its debts.

It can discharge Lano’s disputed 1993 debt next year.  

RECORD KEEPING LESSONS

“San Francisco has all sorts of weird rules,” said CPA Larry Pon.

We ran Lano’s case by Pon for a recordkeeping lesson. First, we agreed you should keep your bank records digitally, because your bank might not.

“The banks don’t guarantee they’ll have copies of all your records,” Pon said. 

And second, pay special attention to any proof you paid your taxes: local, state, federal — all of the above.

“It’s a good idea to keep copies of those statements, or copies of those cancelled checks to prove that you made payments,” Pon said.    

So, how long should you keep a tax record? The state says four years. The IRS says three to seven years. Lano goes farther.

“Retain it for life,” Lano said. “Have it in the cloud… have lots of backup recordkeeping. Not one source, but many.”

With paper files, that was a pain. But now, it’s easier with digital files and cheap storage. 

Two more pieces of advice: when you pay a tax bill, check back a month or two later. Make sure your payment actually posted. Also, search court records every once in a while — for yourself. Look for surprises, like liens. See something? Say something.

Millions of employers share payroll info about millions of workers with data brokers, who then sell access to your information. 

Privacy advocates have expressed concern, and so has Certree, a San Mateo-based data privacy company. On Tuesday, Certree sent the Federal Trade Commission a 12-page letter. Certree CEO Pavan Kochar warned the FTC that what’s happening is “anti-competitive” and “anti-consumer.” 

LINK: Read the letter

Kochar spoke with NBC Bay Area.

“We believe the FTC really should investigate the practices of these data brokers,” she said. “Because they’re now depriving American consumers of owning and controlling their own personal information.”

The Federal Trade Commission confirmed it received Certree’s letter. The agency did not comment. 

HOW-TO VIDEO: See if the brokers have your data (and see who’s looked at it)

Data brokers don’t dispute that access to payroll data is for sale and has been for sale for years. They’ve told us they’re selective about who can buy in. 

In response to Ccertree’s letter, data broker Equifax said on Tuesday, “Few companies have invested more time and resources than equifax in the last few years to ensure that consumers’ information is protected.“

Experian, another big data broker, did not respond to us. We also requested comment from the Consumer Data Industry Association. It did not reply.

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“I wanted to take my family to Israel,” she said.  

Googled ‘United,’ Got A $3,000+ Mystery

So, Klein logged onto the United Airlines website and booked six tickets. She got a receipt in minutes, but found she made a name typo. No problem, though: Airlines mostly allow ticket changes in the first 24 hours with no fees.

“I did a search on my phone for United Airlines,” Klein said. “And I called the number that came up.” 

Buckle up. This is where it gets bumpy. The agent cancelled Klein’s reservation and booked a new one. But, they also made changes she didn’t request. Then, they charged extra.  

“It was $2,000 or $3,000 more,” she said. “And, I didn’t realize until later that I had not been speaking to United Airlines.”

Nope. Klein unknowingly connected to a travel agency. 

How Impostors Can Buy Consumer Confusion

Here’s how: when she Googled “United Airlines” on her phone, she clicked the “call” link. But, that “call” button can be bought. When a company pays Google for an ad at the top of a search page, it can also put its phone number in the “call” button. 

Google said that’s what the travel agency, Virago Travels, did. Virago paid so its phone number appeared first when folks searched for “United Airlines.”

“When I say, ‘Call United Airlines, I want them to call United Airlines,” Klein said.

She is not alone in feeling fooled.

“They lied on Google. They lied to us on the phone,” said Ed Slanina, who lives near Chicago.

Slanina said that he had booked United and needed to call. He said he then Googled “United Airlines,” clicked “call,” and got the same travel agency, Virago Travels.

“We asked, ‘Do you work for United?’ He goes, ‘Yes, we work for United,’” Slanina said.  

Slanina said a real United representative later told him the impostor made changes that didn’t warrant a service fee. And yet, Virago Travels charged him a $450 service fee.

“The fee was ridiculous,” he said.

Tracking Down The Travel Agency

NBC Bay Area dialed Virago Travels a few times. A computerized voice answered first, with no company name. Then, when a human picked up, they only said “reservations.”

Slanina said, “It’s not like he goes, ‘Virago Travels, can I help you?’”

Many Google reviews of Virago Travels involve Delta Air Lines, too. One said Virago was “someone posing to be Delta reservations.” Another reviewer said Virgo “fraudulently represents itself as Delta.”

Most reviews included the words “scam” or “scammers.”

Google Takes Action, But You’re Still On The Hook

We asked Google about Virago Travels’ “call” button advertisement. Google investigated, then said, “Upon review, we found that the ads in question violate our misrepresentation policies.”

It also said that “these ads have been removed.”

Our “call” button warning goes beyond airlines.

NBC Bay Area Googled other big-name businesses, such as a national carpet cleaner, a huge insurance company, and so on. Often, what turned up was a “call” button for a small-time competitor instead of the household name we had searched for. 

Google puts the onus on you to avoid being fooled. Google said, “Consumers should clearly read all information on the listing before clicking on a call button.”

United Calls Security

NBC Bay Area also alerted both Delta and United about Virago Travels. 

Delta did not respond. United did. A rep said, “We escalated this to our corporate security team.” United explained that Virago Travels never should have modified Alice’s or Ed’s bookings. Virago Travels only should have referred them to the real United — and hung up.  

After our calls, Slanina said his credit card refunded the $450 fee Virago Travels charged. While United fixed Klein’s typo and rebooked her for free, that wasn’t the way it was supposed to happen. 

United also found $3,900 dollars in Virago Travels’ charges for her to dispute and get back.

The big can is double the price of the small can. 

“We did the math,” Priolo said. “That’s like $13,000 we’ve paid, out of pocket since 1987.”  That year is when the Priolos moved in.

The couple complained to the city. Then, they said the city offered to refund three years of overpayment. 

Dena remarked incredulously, “three years? Really?” 

The total the city offered to refund them was about $1,500. The Priolos wanted more and called NBC Bay Area Responds because there’s more to this story — and possibly more people who are overpaying. 

Tracking Down Trash Collection Fees

In San Jose, you don’t get garbage bills. The trash collection fees are rolled into your property tax bills, and they are not clear. “There’s nothing on the bill about the size of the can,” Priolo noted. 

If you want to find out which size garbage can the city’s charging you for, you have to call 311 and have the operator look up your account. There’s a good reason to: more than 28,000 people currently pay for big bins. 

We asked how often homeowners like the Priolos discover they’re overpaying. The City of San Jose said, “billing discrepancies occur about a few times a year.“ 

If there’s an error, you can ask for an adjustment. That’s what Dena and Joe asked us to do. Long story short, the city is refunding some more of the Priolo’s overpayments, but not all the way back to 1987. 

“We reviewed their case and were able to make a recommendation and a determination that we could go back to 2015,” said Valerie Osmond with the City of San Jose. 

Why 2015? That’s when the city stopped sending separate trash bills. What about all those other years? We asked to see records. The city said it doesn’t have old bills to show how long the Priolos had a 32-gallon can but were billed for a 64-gallon one. 

“What we don’t know is how far back,” Osmond said. The city also said the Priolos should have noticed they were overpaying earlier. “I do believe there is some level of responsibility on the resident as well to bring those concerns forth,” Osmond noted. 

The city is giving the Priolos a little more than $3,000 back and says future bills should be accurate. The Priolos are disappointed, but they did score a win for everyone else.

How to Avoid Overpaying

The city just updated its website so you can compare sizes and prices against your property tax bill to verify what you’re paying. Priolo says everyone should look up their account or call 311. 

“I recommend they call the city of San Jose. And find out what they’re paying for,” she said.

Have a consumer complaint? Let us know, so we can help.

Airport Arrival

It’s an everyday Monday night at San Jose International Airport. There’s the normal passenger scramble and the ordinary jet shuffle.

But at gate 20, an extraordinary, lifesaving Alaska Airlines flight just parked. In addition to delivering about 150 people home from Hawaii, the Boeing 737 carried two lucky dogs to their ‘forever homes.’

At baggage claim, Lynn Morgenroth hurriedly claims the two dogs. Pepe, a spotted one-year-old mixed breed. And Bonnie, a dark furred four-year-old who weighs 45 lbs. 

But this airport reunion has a twist. Because here’s the thing about Lynn’s canine cargo from Kona: “They are not mine,” she said.   

Five-Hour Pet Owner

Lynn has only known this pair of pups a few hours. And now she’s immediately handing them over to Berkeley Humane volunteers. So, what’s going on here? Bonnie and Pepe merely piggybacked a ride with Lynn.

“They are shelter dogs,” she said. Their journey began about 24-hundred miles west on the big island, Hawai’i. There, animal shelters are full. They’re so full, some healthy pets have had to be euthanized. So, a volunteer group called Paws Across Water Hawaii now flies shelter pets from Kona to the contiguous 48 for adoption. 

“They absolutely need homes for all of the pets, because the island is small,” Morgenroth said.  

Canine’s Chaperone

There’s just one catch: pets in cargo must have a human on board, basically a chaperone in case the flight diverts. So, organizers in Kona now ask travelers, like Lynn, if they’ll add a dog or two onto their flight.

“They will actually cover the price of the flight for the animal,” Morgenroth said. “But they need someone to accompany the animal. And it’s great.” 

Easy, too. Lynn met the dogs and volunteers at the ticket counter in Kona. Then, five hours later in San Jose, she just handed over Bonnie and Pepe. Done. “They’re going to go to some wonderful homes in the bay area,” she said. 

More and More Doggie Drops

At the airport, this unusual scene is becoming more common. “This is my third trip picking up dogs,” said Berkeley Humane volunteer Andrew Kopp. “I’m just one of a couple of volunteers that runs and picks up dogs to bring back to Berkeley Humane.”

Hawaii rescues land on the Berkeley Humane website. Just look for pictures with leis if you’re interested in adopting. “I can tell you that in my experience, the dogs that come from Kona last a week,” Kopp said. “Sometimes not even that. And they get adopted.” 

Bonnie and Pepe’s next stop was a checkup. “To get them prepared for their forever homes,” Kopp said.  

Morgenroth frequently flies from Kona to the Bay Area. She said she is already on board to ship shelter dogs on her next few flights. “I’m going to do it each time,” she said. “As many as we can to get them off the island.”    

As Kopp loaded the dogs into his Subaru, he lauded the operation. “It’s a total success,” he said. “A great success.” 

New Names, New Homes

Once they arrived at Berkley Humane, Pepe and Bonnie received new names: Kimo and Paulina. They will be available during Clear the Shelters, the annual event that NBC Bay Area and Telemundo 48 host. Pet adoptions will be free or nearly free. Click here to learn where.

If you’re headed to Kona and want to help bring home a dog or cat, contact Berkeley Humane to sign up.   

When California lawmakers passed the state rent increase cap, AB 1482, in 2019, they called it “statewide.” But “statewide” does not mean it applies to every apartment or renter. Some tenants are finding out the hard way: with a shocking letter from their landlord.

Protesting at Home Against Rising Rent

Teresa Farias and her Antioch neighbors are raising their voices, because their landlord is raising their rent significantly.  Last week, they marched at Casa Blanca Apartments, where Farias lives.

Beginning next week, her rent is set to jump 30%, from $1,181 a month to $1,542 a month. That means an extra $361 a month she didn’t budget for and can’t afford.

“I’ve been living here in the Casa Blanca apartments for eleven years and there had never been such a high increase, it’s the first time,” Farias said.”  Plus, Farias says, she already got a rent increase from her apartment nine months ago.

California’s Rent Cap Law— With an Asterisk

The California Law called AB 1482 caps rent increases at no more than 10% in a twelve month period statewide. 

So, how can the landlord hike Teresa’s rent 30%? It turns out, the statewide rent cap has many exceptions.

“And that’s one of the many loopholes in that law,” explained tenant attorney Leah Simon-Weisberg, legal director at Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment.

Simon-Weisberg explained that AB 1482 does not apply to renters in lots of places, including:

• Apartments built in the past 15 years
• Some single family homes
• Some dormitories
• Affordable housing

The owner of the Casa Blanca complex gets a tax credit for offering affordable housing to low-income tenants like Farias.

The California State Treasurer’s office told NBC Bay Area, “unfortunately most of the provisions in AB 1482 do not apply to the Tax Credit program.”

Farias says a 30% rent increase might force her family to live in their car. Her thirteen-year-old son, Joshua Gonzalez, expressed worry as he spoke to the tenant rally.

“It’s really stressful to see my parents struggling over rent money,” he said.

The landlord gave Farias and other tenants about 60 days notice about these rent increases. But there’s a catch. Another state law says residents should have gotten 90 days because their increases were more than 10%.

NBC Bay Area raised that concern with the landlord, Rainey Property Management. A spokesperson told us on Monday, “please note that residents received that notice in error.”

And then:

“All tenants… will not receive increases on August 1. Timing for the new notices has not yet been determined.”

The state said it’s requiring the landlord to do that. That step buys the tenants at least another 90 days.

“So hopefully at minimum, that’ll get you time to try and find an apartment that’s more affordable, which obviously is very difficult,” said Simon-Weisberg, the tenant attorney.

Residents told NBC Bay Area they don’t want to move. They’re banking on those extra 90 days to convince the city of Antioch to quickly pass a rent cap— a new local rule to fill the hole in the statewide law that doesn’t protect them.

“I pray every night that God would do something to help us out,” said Joshua Gonzalez at the tenant rally.

Tenant advocates told NBC Bay Area that renters who are not protected under the state rent cap should try to negotiate their rent. Its recommended to start a discussion with your landlord early to see if there’s any wiggle room for compromise. 

Have a consumer complaint? Let us know, so we can help.

This story was completed with Spanish translation assistance by Kathia Lopez-Santos.

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Why? To protect yourself from the costly intersection of wildfire (or any other disaster) and ongoing inflation. 

Rebuilding your home today is probably more expensive than when you bought your homeowner’s insurance. One phone call could spare you a lot of stress and help bridge a huge financial gap.

Catherine’s Total Loss in Boulder Creek

The CZU Lightning Complex Fire raged through 86,509 acres of San Mateo and Santa Cruz Counties in 2020. CAL FIRE says 1,490 structures were destroyed in that fire. Among them were Catherine Wilson’s one bedroom home and rental cabin on her property in the Boulder Creek community of the Santa Cruz mountains.

“It is traumatic,” Wilson said of the fire, noting the home she lived  in and the rental cabin she relied on for income were both total losses.

Wilson, who is just shy of her 78th birthday,  bought the property in 1992 and has lived there ever since.

“I feel at home when I’m here,” she told NBC Bay Area. “Even all burnt up as it is.”

Wilson had insurance on both structures to rebuild. But there’s now a quarter-million dollar hole. She said both her policies paid her the limit after she filed a claim, which included a total of $391,050 to be used specifically for rebuilding. The problem is: a builder quoted Wilson $665,249 to rebuild her home.

Wilson said that quote is, ”way more than I’m insured for and can’t afford.”

Rising Costs

The National Association of Homebuilders says, “in just the past year, prices for materials used in residential construction have climbed nearly 20%.” Most stuff in your house probably costs more to replace than it used to, too. But most insurance policies aren’t keeping pace.

A recent American Property Casualty Insurance Association survey of more than a thousand U.S. homeowners found only 30% had adjusted their coverage to account for rising building costs.

“Which could leave policyholders underinsured if catastrophe strikes,” noted Karen Collins, Assistant Vice President of Personal Lines with APCIA.

How to Protect Yourself

To avoid becoming underinsured, start by looking in your mailbox. “You get a renewal in the mail each year, take a few minutes and actually read it,” advised Janet Ruiz, Director of Communications with the Insurance Information Institute.  

“Look at ‘How much coverage do I have to rebuild and replace my home and my belongings? Do I have enough?’” Ruiz added.

Look at the “declarations” page of your policy. Check how much coverage you have to rebuild your home (this is often listed as “Coverage A” or “Dwelling” coverage).

Then, contact a builder in your area and ask them: “Can I actually rebuild my home for that amount of money?”

Ruiz said, “I really encourage people to talk to contractors and look at their insurance every year because this is an unprecedented time of inflation.”

If those contractors tell you the policy numbers don’t add up, circle back with your insurance agent and ask about upping your coverage — especially if you’ve made big improvements like remodeling or adding solar panels. 

United Policyholders, which provides assistance to people navigating insurance issues, says the true replacement cost of your house is often underestimated when you first buy it and that gap just widens as time goes by.  So each year, press your insurance agent to double check the true cost.

The Long Road to Rebuilding

Back in the Santa Cruz mountains,  Catherine Wilson is staying in a rented room.  She frequently drives up to her charred, barren property.

“Sometimes I will just come up with this chair and just sit here and enjoy being here,” Wilson said.

Wilson is using her savings to buy a trailer to live in. For the long term, she is looking into using her insurance money to buy a prefabricated cabin to live in. 

Wilson says you should take action to protect yourself: review your policy. “Do it, absolutely do it,” she emphasized.

“But understand the imponderables, “ she cautioned. “Nobody knew we were gonna have the COVID productivity problems and supply chain problems and the fire came on top of that.”

Have a consumer complaint? Let us know, so we can help.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency made the announcement. Regulators said Bank of America blocked legitimate users from accessing lifeline funds at the same time imposters were stealing an unknown amount of money from government coffers. 

“Taxpayers relied on banks to distribute needed funds to families and small businesses to rescue the economy from collapse when the pandemic hit,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a statement. “Bank of America failed to live up to its legal obligations. And when it got overwhelmed, instead of stepping up, it stepped back.”

In addition to the fines, people who filed for unemployment might receive payments.

“Today’s order requires Bank of America to undertake a process that is estimated to result in hundreds of millions of dollars in redress to consumers,” the CFPB said.

Bank of America has 90 days to submit plan to pay people. As soon as we learn about the redress process, we’ll update this article.

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The CFPB said an investigation found that Bank of America “engaged in unfair and abusive acts and practices that resulted in Californians not getting their unemployment benefits at the height of the pandemic.” Fundamentally, the agency accuses Bank of America of wrongfully withholding people’s unemployment payments — most of which were deposited onto debit cards. 

“Bank of America changed its practices for investigating prepaid debit card fraud on the unemployment insurance benefit accounts. Instead of conducting reasonable investigations, it implemented a fraud filter with a simple set of flags that automatically triggered an account freeze,” the CFPB said.  

People lashed out. The CFPB said Bank of America then directed those unemployed workers back to the state’s Employment Development Department (EDD). “The bank knew the [EDD] was stretched and unable to provide services; the bank met with [EDD] dozens of times in the summer of 2020 and should have known it was essentially redirecting people into a black hole,” the CFPB said.

In a statement, Bank of America said, “this [fine] arose despite the government’s own acknowledgement that the unemployment program expansion during the pandemic created unprecedented criminal activity where illegal applicants were able to get states to approve tens of billions of dollars in payments.” 

A state audit has previously assigned blame for myriad failures to both EDD and Bank of America. 

Bank of America said it used to “serve” a dozen states with unemployment payment cards. It’s now down to one: California. EDD renewed its contract with Bank of America through 2023, Bank of America said. A request for comment from EDD was not immediately returned.   

Our NBC Bay Area Responds team first shared this story in April. Some Hertz customers, including a Sunnyvale man, complained that even though they had a contract or had returned their rental car, Hertz reported their cars stolen.

Some customers sued. East Coast attorney Francis Malofiy told NBC Bay Area back in April that more than two hundred people got caught up in it. NBC Bay Area has reached out to Malofiy for comment on these latest settlement offers and we have not received a response.

Wednesday, Hertz told NBC Bay Area it’s sent settlement offers to three dozen customers.

A statement from a Hertz spokesperson reads, in part: “This is the first set of offers and is not exhaustive. We are moving through all the claims to ensure that each unique situation is reviewed and considered on its individual merits.”

Hertz did not disclose the amount it’s offering people. It has also not fully explained why it reported the cars stolen.

Have a consumer complaint? Let us know, so we can help.

Uncle Sam has an answer: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has long drawn a line at 30%. Families shouldn’t let housing eat up more than 30% of their income, HUD says. 

“Housing is insane,” said Kaitlan Sample, a homeowner in Mill Valley. 

She gave us a slice of her family’s housing budget. Housing costs “maybe started as a third” of her budget, she said. “Now it’s half… yeah, it’s insane.”

She’s nonetheless, making it work. And she’s making her family’s house work for her. We’ll get back to that.  

First, NBC Bay Area wanted to gauge how California measures against Uncle Sam’s 30% ceiling.

Our team analyzed census data by county. When it comes to homeowners, the data put zero counties in the financial “danger zone.” But for renters, we found financial risk in 40 of the state’s 58 counties, including Santa Cruz, Sonoma, Contra Costa, Napa, and Marin Counties. In those 40 counties, the median cost of renting devours more than 30% of people’s paychecks — past Uncle Sam’s safe mark. Two other Bay Area counties are really close: Alameda and San Mateo County at 29%.

“It’s pretty alarming,” said Lily Liu, CEO of the company Piñata. Piñata offers renters a way to build credit. Piñata recently surveyed thousands of U.S. renters. Almost all (90%) said they’re feeling squeezed and worried. 

“The majority of [income] is going toward individuals’ rent payments every month,” Liu said. “And that number is not something we anticipate going down this year.“

So, what can you do? Some startups say: make your place make you some money. 

“People are making ends meet!” said David Adams, founder of Sniffspot.com.

Websites like Sniffspot, Swimply, Giggster, Neighbor, and others envision dollar signs inside and outside your home or apartment. 

If you’re lucky enough to have a pool, Swimply might be a budget lifesaver. It helps you earn money by the hour — charging families who want to swim. 

Sniffspot also smells profit in people’s backyards. “Basically renting out their land to dog owners,” said Sniffspot’s Adams. He said you connect with dog owners who pay a pretty penny to let their puppies play privately. Adams isn’t cavalier about the cash users can collect. “Seriously, we have people making over $2,000 per month. And our top host, last month, made over $3,000,” he said. 

Finally, there’s Giggster. It pairs photogenic homes like Kaitlan Sample’s with professional photographers. 

“I try to rent it out once a week,” Sample said. “A lot of people [photograph] the kitchen,” she said. “This is everyone’s favorite.”

Crews pay handsomely to use real homes for flash photo and video shoots. 

“I highly recommend it, because it’s passive income,” Sample said. “My kids are in preschool, I’m at my job, my husband’s at his job… so the house is sitting empty.”  

Giggster told us you set your own prices and hours, which could be hundreds, even thousands of dollars per day. “Giggster completely covers all of our utility bills and part of the mortgage… which is great every single month,” Sample said. 

So what if something goes wrong when strangers are paying to rent a part of your home? 

Many of these startups offer users protections like liability insurance.  Still, before you sign up, consider calling your own insurance agent to see what your homeowner’s or renter’s insurance policy allows –or doesn’t. A special note for renters: consider contacting your landlord to be sure that sharing your backyard or kitchen for cash doesn’t somehow violate your lease.

“It’s the sale of our own personal data that really needs to be questioned and protected,” said Pavan Kochar, CEO of the company Certree in San Mateo. 

Outsourcing & Automation

Let’s look at how all those pay stubs get uploaded. 

The way it was, any time you’d apply for a car loan or mortgage, you would have to fork over paystubs on paper or by fax. Then, the bank would call your boss to verify your income. Not anymore. 

Today, payroll and data companies automated those steps, online. All your boss has to do is share every worker’s pay stub… every pay period. Millions of companies do.

“This is all a very hidden process that has not really been talked about,” Kochar said.  

Zero Loans; 150+ Paystubs in Cloud

So, what does this invisible exchange mean for you? Look at me. I haven’t applied for a loan in years — and I don’t plan to. Yet, every two weeks my paystub gets saved on a third-party server — where I have zero control to opt out or delete my data. As of last check, there were more than 150 in my file. (More about how to see it later.)

Several Bay Area companies are now challenging the current pay stub cloud. Certree is one of those disruptors. “We’re proud to be a Silicon Valley company,” Kochar said. One of her main concerns is ID theft. “The reason for that is because the individual is not in the loop,” she said. 

The biggest pay data service is called The Work Number. Its owner, the credit report company Equifax, says only people like loan officers are supposed to look at your pay data. However, it also lets debt collectors in. Equifax said it does audits to catch imposters. Kochar sees a weakness. She says the solution is giving you control of your pay data.

“Really, should be issued to you directly,” she said. “And now, it can be.”

Disruptors Develop Digital ‘Vault’

Certree says it’s reinventing the pay stub cloud. Here’s how: a service that puts each worker’s pay info (and more, if you wish) into a ‘personal vault.’ Kochar said, iIt’s like a bank safety deposit box at a bank. Where the bank has a key, you have the other key, and without your key the bank could never open the lock box. It’s a very similar construct.”

Certree’s says its secure ‘vault’ gives you total control. Its user agreement even lets you opt out and delete your pay stubs from the cloud. 

Equifax, which says it has pay data on more than half the U.S. workforce, says it offers some control. You can view your file online and see who’s accessed your pay stubs. (See our How-To video step-by-step instructions.) But Equifax told us it will not opt you out. 

Some companies are switching away.

Why One Employer Switched

“We partnered with Certree to provide that extra level of protection,” said Chantel Byrd, Vice President of Shared Services at Manpower Group — the large staffing company.

Manpower used to share pay stubs with a big data company. But now, its workers’ info goes into those safe-deposit-box-style data vaults at Certree.

“Private data and just your P.I.I. is just so critical these days. So, that really was the primary underlying reason,” she explained.  

Certree says it’s signed up 36,000 employers. Other start-ups, with different ideas to give workers pay data control, told us they’ve enrolled tens of thousands of other companies.

But millions more employers are still sharing pay stubs in bulk. Kochar says workers must speak up.

CEO to You: Tell Your CEO

“This is something they should and can be vocal about,” Kochar said. “Let your CEO know. Let your HR organization know.” 

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Bob Sabouni and his friends chose the Marriott Marquis in San Francisco for a weekend enjoying baseball. When they checked in, their room wasn’t ready. So, they gave their bags to a bellman and went to the game. A few hours later, Sabouni returned to the Marriott.

“Everyone’s bags were there but mine,” he said. 

CHECKED BAGS GIVEN AWAY

Sabouni’s two bags had been stolen – and pretty easily. A San Francisco police report says the Marriott gave the bags to a thief who claimed he “lost his ticket.” The police report says the hotel security director “admitted his staff made a mistake.” 

Sabouni was astonished. “They basically handed over about $9,000 worth of my stuff,” he said. His bags included an iPad Pro and a MacBook Pro. 

Sabouni sued, but he ultimately only got $1,000 for his bags from the Marriott. 

Why so little?

OLD ‘TRUNK’ LAW APPLIES IN 2022

Let’s set sail back to 1872. That’s when the California legislature added a liability cap to the “Innkeeper’s” law. The innkeeper’s law is so old, it makes reference to a guest’s “valise” — aka small luggage. It also references steamer “trunks.”

“When’s the last time you saw someone show up at a hotel with a trunk,” asked Relani Belous, Sabouni’s attorney. 

“Valise” and “trunk” are outdated vocabulary. And yet, they are part of current law. We found just once in the past 150 years that the legislature tweaked the hotel liability cap, upping it to $1,000 in 1979.

“Dollars have changed since 1979,” said former Pleasanton assembly member Floyd Mori, who sponsored the 1979 bill. He says the law needs another tweak today.

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CALLS FOR AN ‘OVERDUE’ UPDATE

“More than 40 year later, it’s time to update that liability to a number that’s reasonable for people carrying bags today,” Mori said. 

California is not alone. In Nevada, state law indicates $750 dollars is the max a hotel has to pay when a guest’s stuff is stolen. A San Francisco judge sympathized with Bob, but said he had to apply California’s $1,000 cap from 1979 — even though prices have risen. The website Saving.org says $1,000 in 1979 is $4,188 today.

Bob says that’s where a new cap should start. It also “needs to increase with inflation,” Sabouni said. “To me, the only thing that is going to hold Marriott and companies like it accountable is if this law is changed and it has some real bite.”   

When a hotel is to blame for property loss, Belous said guests should be paid in full for whatever they lost. “There shouldn’t be a cap on that,” she said.   

ASKING LAWMAKERS FOR CHANGE

We asked Marriott about Sabouni’s case. Maybe it would reconsider his claim? We did not receive a response. “I’m hoping that some legislator sees this and says, ‘You know what? This is an easy thing for me to fix,’” Sabouni said.  

We’ve sent emails to local lawmakers to see if they’re interested in updating the innkeeper law.

For you: we wondered whether insurance might reimburse you for stolen luggage. The answer is yes. But not necessarily travel insurance. 

“Personal property is actually better covered under their homeowners or renters’ insurance — if they have it,” said Suzanne Morrow of InsurMyTrip.com. “Your personal property is protected worldwide [with homeowners or renters’ policies].”

PROTECT YOUR SUITCASES: PHOTOS & INSURANCE

Sabouni had not filed an insurance claim. We recommended he look into it. He said he will. 

One more piece of advice for you: before you give your bags to a bellhop, snap photos of your bags — and what’s inside them. Bob had to give cops and Marriott an inventory — item by item.  That list is much easier to write with photos to jog your memory.

“It’s the first time that the law has been changed since 1881,” said Federal Maritime Commissioner Louis Sola.  

Since 1881, the United States added 12 states, had 26 presidents, and fought two world wars. And yet, in the 141 years since 1881, Sola said there were no changes to The Passenger Vessel Act, which covers cruises. There were no tweaks, Sola said, until COVID-19. That’s when upset passengers virtually stormed the federal maritime commission.

“We got flooded with complaints,” Sola said. 

So did NBC Responds and Telemundo Responde. Folks all over the country said cruise lines cancelled their trips, then basically offered “store credit.” Not a refund.

“We felt like we were kinda being held hostage there,” said Chicago cruise passenger Joshua Smith.

Locally, Teresa in Menlo Park was out $7,147; Stephen in Morgan Hill, $6,338; and Bonnie in Palo Alto, $10,155. “I was not happy with that,” Bonnie said. 

The NBC Bay Area Responds team got Bonnie her money back. She called for change — for everyone else in the same boat. “I think there needs to be great transparency,” she said.

Well, Washington listened. 

“This is actually very exciting for a federal regulator like myself,” Sola said. 

Sola says the Federal Maritime Commission analyzed the wave of complaints and found a frustrating patchwork. “Almost every single cruise line had a different refund policy,” he said.  

So now, the commission is setting an industry-wide standard. New federal rules require a refund whenever a cruise that starts in the U.S. is cancelled or delayed at least three days. You can voluntarily agree to a credit. Otherwise, you get your money back. You also get back any ancillary fees you pre-paid. 

“So it doesn’t matter which cruise line you buy your ticket from,” Sola said. “You’re going to get treated the same across the board, you’re going to have the rights to get a refund.”

The new rules also require cruise lines to clearly post how to get a refund online. Seemingly obvious stuff. But, genuinely historic. 

We asked the cruise line industry association for its take. We did not receive a response. 

“I have a repo man knocking on the door saying, ‘I want the keys or I’m just going to take the car and charge you for the keys,’” Calhoun said. “So, I thought, ‘OK. Here are the keys.’”

Surprise Tow, Surprise Bill

How did Pat get here? He says his personal car needed dealer service for 40 days. The manufacturer arranged a Hertz rental with an open-ended contract. “They were putting a hold on my credit card every day,” Calhoun said “So, they had a valid credit card, as well.”  

Nonetheless, Hertz towed the car. Then, Hertz sent Pat a bill.

“It was a charge of $1,000 for the repo man,” he said. $1,070, to be exact. “They basically let me know that I am on the hook for paying. There is nothing they can do.”

Pat’s case pales compared to some other Hertz customers – who say their rental car got them arrested. “It’s about as shocking as it can be,” said attorney Francis Malofiy. 

Malofiy says he represents more than 200 Hertz customers.

His law firm has posted several testimonials online, including people like Bakersfield resident Howard Junious. “I was in jail 60 days,” Junious said in his testimonial.

‘Stolen’ Rentals Trigger Arrests

Court records show Junious was arrested and accused of “embezzling” a Hertz rental that he says his car insurance company had arranged. “I did not steal the vehicle. The vehicle was fully paid for,” Junious explained in the video.

Court records show Kern County prosecutors eventually dropped the charge against Junious.

Malofiy says his clients’ cases show that when Hertz lost track of a vehicle, it would sometimes just report it stolen – rather than look for it.

Malofiy said Hertz sometimes reported stolen cars that were parked on their own lots. “Often,” he said.  

Hertz CEO Responds

Appearing on CNBC to talk about something else, Hertz’s new CEO, Stephen Scherr, recently took a question about all this. 

“Hertz is going to deal, properly, with people who were affected,” Scherr said. He did not share specifics, but noted: “We have changed our policies to avoid the possibility of this happening,” he said.

Scherr continued, “I think, to put context to it, if you look at the several hundred people impacted, we engage in 15 million transactions a year. This is one one-hundredth of a percent of those transactions.”  

Malofiy, the attorney, rejected Sherr’s math.

“One is too many. And it’s probably thousands,” Malofiy said.  

A federal inquiry?

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal recently wrote Hertz a letter, calling its recordkeeping “abysmal.”

“We are demanding Hertz do the right thing here,” Blumenthal said in an interview with NBC Washington’s Responds team. If Hertz does not deliver on its own, Blumenthal signaled a broad federal inquiry. “The magnitude of incompetence here is eye-popping. It is nationwide,” the Connecticut senator said.   

Back in Sunnyvale, Pat just took an extraordinary step after a simple car rental.

“I did call the police department to see if there was an arrest warrant against my name,” he said. “They couldn’t find anything. And I hope it continues that way.” 

We asked Hertz headquarters about Pat’s situation and the $1,070 he owes. It responded right away. A rep said his rental car was not reported stolen. However, Hertz acknowledged it did a “recovery” of the car because there was “some miscommunication” with the auto shop that flagged the car “overdue.”

Pat’s Case: (To Be) Closed

Hertz told us it would “resolve and refund” Pat’s $1,070 towing fee.

“Well, I appreciate your help,” Calhoun said. 

Hertz says it’s making changes. Still, we want to help you protect yourself. Here’s what we recommend:

How to Protect Yourself

First, whenever you pick up, extend, or return a rental car, get your contract on paper and by email. snap photos of the paper contract as a backup. Then keep everything.

Then, when you return a rental car, do not leave until you have something from the agency that clearly states what car you returned, where, and when.

I’ve also just made an archive folder in my email and saved every old rental receipt I could find in my inbox. You should too, just in case you ever have to prove you did not steal a rental car.

Low inventory also has a lot to do with it.

Tony Behari with San Mateo Auto Sales said that he is currently seeing 10 times the normal interest in electric and hybrid cars.

“We actually have two customers coming to look at this one tomorrow,” he said.

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He said it’s a 200% increase to be exact.

“I mean, we can’t stock inventory. That’s how bad it is,” Behari said.

For example, the Chevrolet Bolt is one of the more popular hybrid cars. The San Mateo Auto Sales said that type of vehicle doesn’t last more than three days on the lot.

With no stock at dealerships, a car like the Bolt can cost someone 35% more than just months ago.

According to Behari, the sticker shock is not stopping shoppers. He told NBC Bay Area Saturday that he received offers of $2,000 over the listed price.

“So, they tell me, ‘Well can I give you a deposit over the phone? What do I have I do?’ But for us, it’s first come first serve,” he said.

The majority of the callers have the same fears.

“A lot of the people I’ve been speaking to are all thinking the gas prices are going to go to $7 or $8 a gallon and they don’t want to be in that situation,” Behari said.

That’s not too far from reality in Menlo Park, where drivers are paying more than $6 a gallon. Well, those brave enough to stop at a local Chevron.

Ivan Araiza told NBC Bay Area that gas prices are crazy high but he needs to get to work and he only stopped at the Menlo Park Chevron because he was on empty.

Like many others, Araiza said the economy is what’s keeping him from running to trade in his car for an electric one.

“It looks like it from here anyway,” a worker says. He’s holding a rope tethered to a big rig. Atop it is a one-bedroom, one-bathroom tiny home. It’s 12 feet wide and 35 feet long.

This tiny home is about to literally land in a homeowner’s backyard. A crane will hoist it into the air, glide it over over the existing home’s roof, and nestle it onto a foundation near the fence line.  

“It’s beyond exciting,” said Brian Bakerman, co-founder of the startup Rent the Backyard. “We love helping homeowners add units to their backyard.”  

Rent the Backyard is offering an alternative to months of on-site construction: a tiny home that’s built offsite, then installed at your home.   

“In places like Vancouver, we’ve seen up to one out of every three homes actually put a unit in their backyard,” Bakerman said. “So, we think California can do the same.”

Six-Home Assembly Line

A warehouse in west Oakland is where Rent the Backyard’s team builds its accessory dwelling units, casitas, granny flats, or whatever you want to call them.

“We have over 30 people at this point,” said co-founder Spencer Burleigh. And, “we build six units here at a time on the assembly line.”

Burleigh says their goal is to build homes quickly without cutting corners. Each one measures 418 square feet. 

“It’s all the amenities a tenant needs to live independently of the existing home,” Burleigh said. 

There’s a small living area. A full kitchen — half size fridge, though. Pretty much a typical bathroom. Then, a bedroom that can double as an office. “You even have an in-unit washer/dryer,” Burleigh said. 

Can It Work for a Family? Financially?

Rent the Backyard’s base price is $199,000.

“The unit can rent for as much as $2,200 per month; the mortgage payment can be as low as about $900 per month. So, a homeowner can cash flow $13,000 to $15,000 a year,” Bakerman said.   

Are there drawbacks to this ‘drop-in’ versus conventional construction? It’s probably too early to tell. The Berkeley delivery was Rent The Backyard’s second– ever. 

Meanwhile, in Walnut Creek, soon-to-be customer number three is preparing for delivery in her backyard. 

“I kinda left this patch of grass high, to give a visual of where it’s going to go,” said homeowner Sheri Kurland. Kurland says she chose Rent the Backyard for speed.  

“I wanted it to be turnkey and easy,” she said. Kurland said she’s going to live in her casita, then rent out her home to help make ends meet.

More Novice Landlords

ADU’s are turning more homeowners into novice landlords. The Casita Coalition, which advocates for more ADU’s, coaches new landlords to be careful picking tenants, setting the rent, and writing out a solid lease. Sheri is going another route. She’s hiring a professional property manager. 

She said, “I just want somebody to be able to collect the rent,” and deal with any issues — like repairs. 

But property managers do not work for free. The real estate website Roofstock says pro property managers typically charge eight to twelve percent of the monthly rent.  

“I think it’s a small price to pay,” Kurland said. 

Back in Berkeley, the tiny home is gently settling into its new home. As they watch the crane operate, Rent the Backyard’s co-founders see their concept lifting off.  

“By the end of the year, our goal is to have a unit out the door every other day,” Bakerman said.  

Help for the housing crisis. And they’re making it in the Bay.

San Francisco-based Yelp has rolled out programs to help prevent that. But the NBC Bay Area Responds team found cracks in one.

America is divided in many ways, but a November survey shows we agree on one thing: online reviews. A BrightLocal survey of 1,100 U.S. consumers found 98% read online reviews for local businesses. However, only 49% of the consumers surveyed said they trust consumer reviews as much as they trust a personal recommendation

Yelp created its Elite Squad in 2006: a select group of reviewers it calls “a trusted voice.” Elites get a badge that appears on their posts. The Elite web page boasts the slogan “Real People. Real Reviews.”

“I thought, well, you know what? What could go wrong?” a Yelp Elite we’re calling “PG” told us. He asked us to hide his identity.

PG reviewed a moving company on the Peninsula, giving the moving company five stars for driving long hours to help him.

But has he ever actually used the mover?

“I have not,” PG told us.

PG told us a middleman — a review “broker” — wrote a fake review, then paid him $30 to post it word-for-word, as his own.

“Well, it was COVID and you know, I’m a little behind on a couple of my payments, and I thought, well, you know what? I get paid for it,” PG said.

“It makes me actually angry about what’s going on, because it’s being allowed,” Kay Dean said of these paid reviews.

From the spare bedroom in her San Jose home, Dean has launched a crusade and a Youtube channel, spending countless hours outing reviewers she feels are fishy. This all began after she started questioning patient testimonials about one of her own doctors.

Dean says PG is not the only Yelp Elite who’s posting fakes. Far from it.

She pointed us to Instagram pages, Facebook groups, and other places where cash-for-review offers appear daily — in plain sight. 

“This is a public group!” Dean said, pointing to a Facebook group she had pulled up on her computer monitor with plenty of recent posts.

When our team messaged people in those groups, one former Yelp Elite told us he was part of an invitation-only online chat that included a few thousand Yelp Elite members who are paid $25 to $50 per fake review.  

We asked Facebook and Instagram about these groups. 

Instagram said, “we don’t allow people to post or solicit fake or misleading reviews.”

Facebook told us it removes content that engages in, promotes, encourages, or facilitates fake reviews.

We flagged several groups and pages for them. Facebook and Instagram then removed each one for violating their policies.

“These groups come and go, change names and I don’t see that there’s any proactive efforts by Facebook to deal with it,” Dean said.

We asked Yelp about its Elites — those “real people” with “real reviews” – some being paid to post fake reviews.

Yelp told us it “strictly prohibits offering payment for reviews”  and uses tech tools and “human moderation” to sweep for fake reviews. Then, “… if we catch a Yelp user (including Elites) writing (or removing) reviews for compensation we will remove their reviews and close their account.”

Yelp told us it’s “very rare” for Elites to leave compensated reviews, but didn’t say exactly how often that happens. It did say it has closed accounts that Dean flagged. 

Dean says that’s not enough. PG agrees: Yelp needs better “Elite” enforcement.

“I think they could do better vetting out reviews that are fake versus doctored or even like mine, where they spoof a check-in,” PG said, noting that he found a way to “check-in” on Yelp to places he’d never actually been to.

PG’s account is still active, still Elite.

After we contacted him, he says he voluntarily deleted some reviews. He expressed remorse, too. After all, his fake mover review remained up for six months.

“I feel bad being an Elite and betraying the community I helped build,” PG admitted.

The Federal Trade Commission told us fake reviews are considered deceptive and the civil penalty can be steep: up to $46,517 for each fake review.

“The FTC has the authority to hold companies responsible for anything they do related to false, fake, or misleading reviews, and they may be required to pay consumer redress or make consumers whole for that,” explained Amber Lee, an attorney in the FTC’s Division of Advertising Practices.

The FTC recently sent a reminder to more than 700 big companies, advertisers, and retailers — including Yelp, ​Facebook, and NBC’s parent company, Comcast. It put them on notice that “fake reviews and other misleading endorsements” can cost them dearly.

Dean would like to see more aggressive action from regulators and review platforms.

In the meantime, she says the 98% of us who read reviews should scrutinize everything that’s posted.

“Don’t necessarily trust the reviews of a complete stranger that you’ve never met –and actually they may not really be a real person at all,” she said.

If you spot an online review you believe is fake, you can alert the federal government. Just go to:  https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/

You can also watch our How To video on how to spot a fake review, which includes expert advice to help you decide what to trust.

Have a consumer complaint? Let us know, so we can help.

You don’t necessarily have to battle your 1040 tax form yourself. Many families qualify for free help to figure and file their taxes– both federal and state. Here are a few links to help get you started.

IRS

The Internal Revenue Service has two programs, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, and the Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE). Program. 

You can learn more about them via this link.

United Way Bay Area

Through the IRS VITA program, the United Way in the San Francisco Bay Area says it has lined up local volunteers who might be able to help you fill out and file your federal and state tax returns. Options include video sessions, an online portal or in-person assistance at about 50 Bay Area locations — sometimes by just walking up.  

You can learn more about how, when, and where via this link.

Free File

If you just want to file your federal return for free, you might qualify to use an online system that walks you through the process step by step. Several well-known tax preparation companies participate in this free federal program. Generally, your family’s adjusted gross income must be less than $73,000.  

You can learn more about which companies participate via this link.

MilTax

For members of the U.S. military, free tax help might be available. MilTax says it offers “personalized support that address the realities of military life,” such as deployments, combat and training pay, housing rentals, multistate filings, etc. 

You can learn more about it via this link.

Deadlines

In 2023, the IRS’ deadline to file your federal returns is April 18. However, because of the winter storms, most California residents have an automatic extension until October 16. October 16 is also the deadline for California state taxes too.

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That’s right. There’s a good chance a private data company is getting your paystub, too. What we’re about to explain is likely surprising and new to you. But it’s probably not at all new to execs in your company. It’s profitable and it’s growing fast.

If you look online, we share a ton: who we love, what we eat, where we travel. But most of us draw a line at sharing how much money we make at work.

“Talking about one’s salary is not common practice,” said San Francisco etiquette expert Lisa Mizra Grotts. “And never has been.” Grotts says it’s proper to keep your paycheck private. “Your salary is between you, your boss, and your family. Period.”

Well, not anymore.

2M+ Companies Handing Over Paystubs

“It’s mind-blowing. And people have no idea,” said Jon Weinberg, Wayne State University law professor. “One of the things I pay attention to is privacy and databases.” Professor Weinberg discussed The Work Number, a company that says it has payroll records on more than half the country’s workforce.

So, where does The Work Number get all those paystubs? It says more than two million employers hand over their workers’ payroll data every pay period, as a way to outsource the headache of verifying employment and pay.

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The credit report company Equifax owns The Work Number. According to The Work Number’s website, for $54.95 it will verify a person’s employment and provide their pay history. Equifax says the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act dictates who’s authorized for access. Equifax says it only lets in people who say they are “verifiers” — people like landlords, bank officers, H.R. and such who want to check your employment or income. But folks like debt collectors can buy a report, too.

Weinberg sees trouble.

“Equifax has not, historically, been real good about data security,” he said. “About making sure only the people who are supposed to see the information actually see it.” The FBI said Chinese Intelligence breached Equifax in 2017 and compromised more than 150 million Americans’ credit reports.

We asked Equifax about The Work Number’s security. It declined an interview, but sent us a statement saying it “takes data stewardship very seriously.” And, random audits weed out people who might lie to access its trove of half-a-billion pay records.

Security & Privacy Concerns

“I really question the usefulness of having all this data,” said Hayley Tsukayama of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which advocates for civil liberties, including privacy. Tsukayama has concerns about employers forking over employees’ private pay data. She wonders whether workers have any idea what’s going on.

“If employers are doing this without employee consent, then I think it shouldn’t be happening,” Tsukayama said.

The Work Number is not alone in offering access to employees’ payroll data. 

In San Francisco, there’s the company Truework. Its website tells prospective users — like loan officers — that payroll data is “returned in less than one second for over 35 million employees.” 

But TrueWork says it’s different from the Work Number. In a statement to NBC Bay Area, Truework said workers have control over who accesses their salary info, “most often in the form of notification emails whenever a third party requests their information.” Truework said some of its payroll partners require that workers provide permission before any of their data is shared. As for debt collectors, Truework said “we do not accept verification requests from debt collectors.”

Truework said its access to the 35 million workers’ payroll info comes from payroll partners and “hundreds of thousands of employers.”

Why are so many companies forking over employees’ paystubs? We asked the country’s largest employer, Walmart. Its website shows it uses The Work Number. Walmart did not respond. We also asked three big business lobbying groups — The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, The National Federation of Independent Business, and The Society for Human Resource Management.

Again, no response.

“That really calls into question why they believed it was a good idea at all,” Tsukayama said. “Or if they even thought through it.”

Who Wins?

Equifax says the two million companies that share payroll data win because sharing it saves them time and money outsourcing employment verification. Then, employees win getting quicker loan decisions.

We asked Tsukayama: Is getting a decision a minute, an hour, or a day faster than before worth having all this payroll information stored in one place? “I definitely, as a privacy advocate, I would say no,” Tsukayama replied.

Tsukayama says your boss should let you decide whether to give your paystubs to data brokers. “Employees should be able to make the individual choice,” she said.

So, what about opting yourself out? Equifax and Truework told us they don’t opt people out. But, they recommended that workers contact their company’s HR office, payroll department, or payroll provider. They might opt you out.

You Can Take Action

If you ask your company to let you opt out, Lisa Mizra Grotts has some etiquette for your conversation. “I would be very upfront and frank with my boss,” she said, “Say, ‘I really don’t feel comfortable about this. Could you please remove me from the list?’”

You are not powerless here.

Right now, you can see if the data brokers have your payroll data. You can read through it yourself, see who else has accessed it, dispute errors, and even lock down your data with a “freeze.” Use the link at the top of The Work Number website that says “My Personal Data.” It took us just a few minutes to download a report. 

If your employer uses TrueWork, the company’s website offers its own portal to get a copy of your report. Freezing a report — to prevent others from seeing your payroll info — requires a phone call or an email, Equifax said.

Bear in mind: if you freeze your pay report then apply for a loan, you might not be approved until you unfreeze it. How long will that take? We asked. Equifax said after you make contact and it verifies your identity, the typical wait to unfreeze is one business day.

Illinois-based Center for COVID Control has been the subject of an NBC Bay Area investigation for several weeks now. 

A statement from the company said one of its founders, Akbar Syed, made the announcement to regional site operators.  

Syed said he is “shifting our focus away from operating the test collection marketing and management firm to responding and cooperating with legal probes, and to clearing our good names,” according to the statement.

Syed and his wife, Aleya Siyaj, run CCC.

A spokesman said some headquarters employees will remain on staff, including a limited number of senior managers for “legal, state health data reporting, finance, etc.” Other workers will “no longer be needed after February 4,” he said. 

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Center for COVID Control test sites quickly popped up all over the country. There were more than 300, according to the company, including locations in Mountain View, San Jose and San Ramon. All CCC locations have been voluntarily closed the past two weeks, after the company’s practices faced increasing scrutiny from NBC Bay Area, other news reporters, and finally regulators. 

Many patients complained they did not receive results despite waiting hours in line for a test. At the same time, Medicare inspectors found that CCC’s lab vendor repeatedly mishandled tests, rendering tens of thousands of patients’ samples useless to determine if they had COVID-19. Last week, the Minnesota Attorney General said the company’s test results “are often deceptively riddled with inaccurate and false information.”   

AG Keith Ellison filed suit.

“We’re holding these companies accountable,” he said. 

This past weekend, the FBI searched CCC’s headquarters and its partner laboratory, Doctors Clinical Laboratory in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. The lab has received more than $150 million taxpayer dollars from the federal government, according to a CDC database of COVID-19 payments. The total includes more than $10 million in additional payments made this week alone — after the FBI search took place, according to the database.

The Health and Human Services department’s chief watchdog, its Inspector General, confirmed it is investigating both CCC and DCL, but declined to say exactly why.

“HHS-OIG agents participated in a joint law enforcement activity with the FBI in Rolling Meadows, IL,” said Spokesperson Yvonne Gamble this week. “We have nothing else to provide at this time.” 

Calls to Doctors Clinical Laboratory for comment were referred to Center for COVID Control. A spokesman for CCC said Center for COVID Control and the DCL are separate companies, but noted CCC has an agreement with DCL for “management services.” 

Although CCC’s core office will essentially shutter, its local test sites could reopen under different names. Earlier this week, a company representative told NBC Bay Area that its 300 or so local sites are independently run and that CCC’s founders had freed those independent operators from any obligations to CCC. So, the local sites would be free to reopen under new names and affiliate with new labs, a spokesman said.

“Center for Covid Control founders Aleya Siyaj and Akbar Syed this week encouraged the independent operators of the affiliated 300-plus test collection sites to continue their valuable work of containing this virus by seeking affiliations with other vendors and to seek their own CLIA certified laboratory relationship,” the Friday statement said. 

DCL is among the top 15 companies that have received the most federal money for COVID testing and treatment, according to the CDC database.    

Some Center for COVID Control patients said CCC workers told them to leave their private health insurance information off their intake forms, which would leave payment for the COVID test to the federal government. A handwritten sign on the front of the Mountain View location, provided to NBC Bay Area by a CCC patient, shows instructions on how to fill out patient forms.

“Insurance: no. Test is free,” it said.  

 A CCC spokesman said CCC did not tell patients to withhold health insurance information. 

“What you describe is non-CCC policy, not directed by CCC, and of course is unacceptable,” he said.

A spokesperson said on Wednesday that CCC is allowing its local test site operators to sever ties with the main company while it deals with a federal investigation. That would allow the 100 or so independent operators to resume testing under different names, the spokesperson said.

Independent operators were notified in a video conference, the spokesperson said. Collectively, they employ about 3,000 people, the company has said.

On Tuesday, NBC Bay Area visited a Center for COVID Control location in Mountain View. Outdoor signage for CCC had been removed. But small tables that appeared to be sample collection stations were still visible inside. Isaac Khan, who previously identified himself as the operator of Center for COVID Control sites in California, did not respond to a request for comment.

Previously, Center for COVID Control said it temporarily paused operations at all of its 200+ test locations, including at least three sites in the San Francisco Bay Area: one each in San Jose, San Ramon, and Mountain View.

“CCC is using this operational pause to train additional staff on sample collection and handling, customer service and communications best practices, as well as compliance with regulatory guidelines,” the company said in a statement earlier this month.

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On Wednesday, the spokesman said CCC’s founders, a husband and wife team, are committed to reopening their company. Doing so would hinge on resolving federal investigators’ questions, the spokesman said.

Many patients have complained that the company and its main lab vendor, Doctors Clinical Laboratory, failed to deliver COVID-19 test results. Or, in some cases, people said the companies delivered test results to them even though they had not provided any samples to test.

A report that NBC Bay Area obtained from the Center Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) showed federal inspectors found multiple failures, both in CCC’s sample collection procedures and in DCL’s handling of COVID-19 tests. For example, the CMS report noted that, in one case, 51 patient samples included no labels or other identifying markings, so there was no way to know whose test was whose.

CMS inspectors also found tens of thousands of patient samples were rendered useless due to poor staff handling.

Calls to DCL were referred to CCC.

Center for COVID Control’s spokesperson said that if CCC’s independent test site operators choose to sever ties and reopen under a different name they would affiliate with a different laboratory.

A database that tracks the federal government’s COVID-19 spending shows it has paid DCL more than $140 million since the pandemic began. CCC gets a portion of the proceeds, the CCC spokesperson said, by way of a “management services agreement” between CCC and DCL. The companies share an address in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, business records show.

The past weekend, the FBI visited those offices.

“The FBI was conducting court-authorized law enforcement activity in Rolling Meadows [Sunday],” the FBI said. “Department of Justice policy prevents the FBI from commenting on the nature of any investigations that may or may not be occurring.”

On Wednesday, the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General confirmed that some of its agents took part in the weekend search of both CCC and DCL offices in Illinois.

The inspector general’s website says “the majority of the agency’s resources go towards the oversight of Medicare and Medicaid — programs that represent a significant part of the Federal budget.”

HHS-OIG spokesperson Yvonne Gamble called the search “a joint law enforcement activity with the FBI.”

Some patients have said CCC staff instructed them to leave their private health insurance information off their intake forms. Doing so would allow CCC’s lab to bill the federal government for the patient’s test, even though the patient’s health insurance should have been billed. In Mountain View, a sign previously posted on the door of the CCC office mirrored those instructions.

Gamble, the inspector general’s spokesperson, did not share details of what the OIG and FBI agents were investigating. “We have nothing else to provide at this time,” she said in a statement.

CCC previously denied that its policy was to tell patients to leave off their insurance information.

The company acknowledged the federal search warrant on Monday.

The company acknowledged the search warrant on Monday.

“Although we cannot provide specific comments regarding ongoing investigations, the company intends to fully cooperate with all government inquiries, and remains committed to providing the best service possible to our patients,” CCC said in a statement.

“The FBI was conducting court-authorized law enforcement activity in Rolling Meadows [Illinois] yesterday,” a spokesperson said. “Department of Justice policy prevents the FBI from commenting on the nature of any investigations that may or may not be occurring.”

In a statement released Monday afternoon, a CCC spokesman acknowledged the FBI’s involvement.

“Federal law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at the company’s main office,” he said. “Although we cannot provide specific comments regarding ongoing investigations, the company intends to fully cooperate with all government inquiries, and remains committed to providing the best service possible to our patients.”

Center for COVID Control operated at least three San Francisco Bay Area locations — one each in San Jose, Mountain View, and San Ramon. The company says they are closed indefinitely to re-train staff and ensure regulatory compliance. 

The FBI field office in San Francisco did not immediately say whether agents visited any Bay Area CCC locations. 

As NBC Bay Area has been reporting, some Center for COVID Control patients have complained about not getting their COVID-19 test results. Or, in some cases, getting results even though they never provided a sample to be tested. Federal Medicare inspectors who visited CCC’s lab partner, Doctors Clinical Laboratory, found myriad deficiencies: inadequate staff, improper sample handling, and failure to follow test manufacturers’ directions to read results. In some cases, samples had no identifying labels at all.    

All the while, CDC records show, the federal government has paid the CCC’s lab partner more than $100 million to conduct COVID-19 testing. 

Some patients have told NBC Bay Area that CCC staff instructed them to leave their health insurance information off intake forms. Doing so would trigger automatic billing to the federal government, not health insurers — charging taxpayers more than they should be charged. 

Last week, a company spokesman said that was not CCC policy. 

The FBI did not state the nature of its investigation. 

“Generally speaking, and not to be construed as a comment on the aforementioned, the FBI always stands ready to protect the American people from fraudulent and criminal activity,” the agency said in a statement. “If there is evidence that a federal crime has been committed, the FBI will work tirelessly with law enforcement and prosecutorial partners at all levels, across the state, and throughout the nation to safeguard the public.”

Federal investigators are not the only ones looking into Center for COVID Control. Last week, Minnesota’s Attorney General filed suit against CCC; several states moved to close CCC locations; and various municipalities have said they were looking into CCC’s operations. That list includes the city of Mountain View. 

A database of federal payments to test providers shows that CCC’s partner laboratory, Doctors Clinical Laboratory, has continued to receive payments — $17 million in the past week alone.

When whether those payments should continue, a Health Resources and Services Administration spokesperson said, “HRSA reserves the right to suspend reimbursements and take corrective actions to recover funds for any provider found out of compliance with the terms and conditions of the Uninsured Program, but we cannot comment on the status of any state or federal investigations or the impact of those investigations on any provider’s eligibility to participate.”

Congressman Ro Khanna, of Santa Clara, whose district includes at least two Center for COVID Control sites, said his office would make contact with the Health and Human Services department about the ongoing payments of tax dollars. “We’re going to flag it for HHS today,” he said. “These investigations need to continue. It’s a real concern.” 

The company was also the subject of several recent NBC Bay Area stories. 

“All CCC locations are to be closed until further notice,” a company spokesman said on Friday. Faced with increasing scrutiny, Center for COVID Control said last week that it was voluntarily pausing its operations for a week to re-train staff and achieve compliance. 

A week came and went.  

Doors were then due to re-open Saturday, including three San Francisco Bay Area locations — one each in San Jose, San Ramon, and Mountain View. But on Friday, a CCC spokesperson confirmed that the company’s 300 or so locations will remain closed.

“Center for Covid Control (CCC) is extending its pause on operations and will not be reopening on Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022,” the spokesperson said in an email to NBC Bay Area. “We remain committed to providing the highest level of customer service and diagnostic quality and will not resume collection of patient samples until staffing resources permit us to operate at full capacity.”

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Not all locations are closed voluntarily. Investigators in Massachusetts, for example, forced some Center for COVID Control locations to shut down.

Over the past few weeks, patients have complained that the Illinois-based company and its lab, Doctors Clinical Laboratory, failed to deliver results, delivered inaccurate results, or delivered results when people weren’t even tested. 

In Mountain View, Alan Arndt got a PCR test in December. He’s still waiting for results. “It never showed up,” he said. “I sent [CCC] an email about that. Never heard back on the email. And it’s been like three weeks now.”   

A Medicare inspection of CCC’s Illinois lab partner showed multiple deficiencies, according to a report obtained by NBC Bay Area. The federal inspectors noted, among other things: staff improperly handled temperature-sensitive samples, techs left some samples unlabeled, workers improperly read test results — either too early or too late, and staff lacked proper training. Many patients’ samples are likely to have spoiled, rendering their results useless, the report said.     

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison sued CCC and DCL this week on behalf of patients in that state. 

“They trusted they would get accurate results on time. They didn’t get that. We’re holding these companies accountable,” Ellison said.    

The Minnesota suit says CCC and DCL’s results “are often deceptively riddled with inaccurate and false information.”

CCC and DCL did not comment on the lawsuit. A spokesman did say that the companies’ policy was to not bill the government for testing spoiled samples.   

Between them, the companies have collected more than $100 million from the federal government for COVID-19 testing, according to a CDC database. Center for COVID Control clearly saw a lot of people, because it offered an attractive choice: large signs boasted “FREE” tests and no appointments were necessary. Lines were long at many locations. 

Now, given the scrutiny on CCC’s collection practices and DCL’s reliability, it might be wise for those who got CCC tests to get re-tested. Public health officials in Santa Clara County, home of two CCC locations, urged exactly that if patients question whether their COVID-19 tests were accurate.   

Free Santa Clara County test sites can be found here: https://covid19.sccgov.org/covid-19-testing

On Friday, it was unclear when Center for COVID Control might resume operations. 

“CCC will provide an update on reopening plans when appropriate,” the company said in a statement on its website. 

NBC Bay Area Consumer Investigator Chris Chmura read through the subpoenas and dove into the companies today.

First, we know Uncle Sam has paid them a lot of money for COVID testing: more than $90 million dollars since the pandemic started — most of that money going to the lab. The city of San Francisco says these were literal pop-ups that would appear on the streets of San Francisco one day, do tests, maybe reappear elsewhere,  then disappear. 

The companies are called Community Wellness America and Crestview Clinical Laboratory. They’re headquartered near San Diego and L.A., respectively. 

San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu’s office is demanding these companies turn over lots of inside information:

•  All documents about everyone tested in San Francisco.
• All paperwork connecting the companies
• All policies, procedures, protocols, training, and more.   

Chiu calls the companies “rogue” — based on reports to his office about the people under the tents. 

Chiu said, “individuals who do not appear to be well trained in safe health procedures are asking folks for personal information and they may not have the appropriate licensing or training to be doing what they are doing.”

He also said that Community Wellness America is not licensed to do business in San Francisco and he says it hasn’t responded to his office’s questions.

We called the company today and talked to CEO Steve Sterling, a licensed acupuncturist. He told us his company has done 1.3 million COVID-19 tests at 600 locations in 33 states. as far as what happens on the ground — whether the outfit is licensed or people are trained — he said that’s not up to him. it’s up to contractors and sub-contractors.  

“It looks like we have some transparency and clarifications that we need to address with the people in San Francisco there,” Stirling said. “I’m confident that we can be able to address those concerns and make sure that we are in compliance and everything is satisfactory.”    

As for the lab, Crestview, a representative said “I was not aware of [the subpoena], but I have passed it on to our attorney.” The representative also sought to distance the lab from CWA.

But when we checked this afternoon, the CWA website was still showing a lab requisition form with the t Crestview lab.  We asked the lab about that but did not receive an answer. 

The form is pre-signed by doctor Phillip Milgram near San Diego. His name is also listed on San Francisco’s subpoena. Doctor Milgram’s LinkedIn page says he’s a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist who also practices cosmetic surgery.

Milgram answered Consumer Investigator Chris Chmura’s phone call today but declined to speak with him. 

NBC Bay Area has been looking into the Center for COVID Control for a week. 

Suit Filed

Wednesday, the Minnesota Attorney General filed suit against the company and its lab, alleging misrepresentation, false advertising, and deception. It echoes what NBC Bay Area is hearing from patients here — at locations in San Jose, San Ramon, and Mountain View. 

Accounts from patients

“I certainly think their procedures could have been a lot better,”  said Alan Arndt, a CCC patient.

Arndt says he visited the Center for COVID Control test site in Mountain View in late December and got a free rapid test and a free PCR test.

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As of January 19, Arndt was still waiting on his PCR result. 

“It never showed up,” Arndt said. “I sent them an email about that… never heard back on the email. And it’s been like three weeks now.”   

Arndt is not alone. 

“The place was absolutely disorganized,” said CCC patient Edward Hugener.

Patients around the country have complained.

“We did not get results,” said CCC patient Hannah Puffer. 

Investigators took note.   

Complaints and Allegations

“They trusted they would get accurate results on time,” said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. “They didn’t get that. We’re holding these companies accountable.”   

Wednesday, Ellison’s office filed suit against the Center for COVID control and its lab, Doctors Clinical Laboratory. 

The complaint accuses the companies of often failing to deliver results. And when they do send results, they “are often deceptively riddled with inaccurate and false information,” the suit said.

In addition, the lawsuit says the companies falsely reported results to people whose tests had not been processed, or had never provided a sample. The suit paints a picture of a mess behind the scenes, for example: “tests being stored in trash bags.”

They’re lucrative failures. 

According to a CDC database that tracks federal COVID-19 payments, the government has paid CCC’s lab more than $100 million tax dollars during the pandemic.    

The Minnesota complaint raises a question about whether taxpayers should have even been sent many of the bills. It says the companies’ back-end patient info system included a “default” option of “uninsured” — to bill the government for tests instead of people’s insurance companies.

Arndt has health insurance. Yet he says CCC told him to leave it off his forms. 

“There was a question about your insurance information,” Arndt recalled. “And they said, ‘just don’t bother.’”

Again: Arndt is not alone. 

A complaint from a Center for COVID Control patient to the Illinois Attorney General says: “I asked why the form I filled out was asking for my insurance and why they wouldn’t use my insurance, the person said they just bill the government.” 

Center for COVID Control

We asked CCC about this. 

A spokesperson said: “What you describe is non-CCC policy, not directed by CCC, and of course is unacceptable.”

These companies that have gotten more than $100 million dollars are the same companies — as we have reported — that medicare inspectors say were not properly equipped, were not properly staffed, and did not properly handle samples. 

We asked the CCC spokesperson if the companies billed taxpayers for botched tests. 

His response: no. “A degraded or spoiled sample is not tested, therefore no payer is billed,” he said.

In a December interview with our Chicago sister station — before these allegations arose publically — the man who says he’s CCC’s founder acknowledged some problems. “We want to be in compliance,” said Ali Syed. But Syed also pointed a finger at some of the agencies that are investigating those problems.  

“Our problems come from a shortage of employees. and, the government entities themselves, like the department of health making our life much more difficult,” Syed said.   

Back here in California, Arndt has concerns about his “free” test.

“It didn’t cost me anything, so I’m clearly not upset in that sense,” Arndt said. “I guess I got what I paid for. But it is costing me something in tax dollars and that’s not good.”

Right now, the Center for COVID Control has paused its operations nationally — until Saturday, January 22. The company says it’s re-training staff.

Considering the federal inspection that showed failure after failure after failure, we asked the CDC whether the Center for COVID control and its lab are still authorized to receive your tax money.

We have not yet received a response.

CCC operates test sites around the country, including three in the San Francisco Bay Area – one each in San Jose, Mountain View, and San Ramon. People have complained about not getting results. 

Federal inspectors visited the company’s lab contractor, Doctors Clinical Laboratory, in several states, including Illinois, Maryland, and Wisconsin. In an 81-page report, in case after case, Medicare & Medicaid Services inspectors found failures.

Unlabeled Specimens

For example: a 51-sample shipment from Center for Covid Control. The inspector said “51 out of 51 sample tubes were not labeled with either a patient name or unique identifier,” which means there’s likely no way to know whose was whose.

That same shipment “did not contain any type of refrigerated packs to maintain shipping temperature,” according to the report. That’s an issue because the inspector noted that one of the lab’s equipment suppliers requires techs to “store specimens at 2 to 8 degrees celsius for up to 72 hours after collection.” 

The report says lab workers also failed to follow directions. Sometimes reading test results too early or too late.

The report noted an 11-day stretch in November when the lab got about 84,000 samples. It didn’t have enough people to process them all or deep freezers to store them. So, it was unable to test about half of them — 41,196 — “within the 72 hour time frame” required for tests to be valid.  

One Company or Two?

NBC Bay Area called doctors Clinical Laboratory for its take. The operator answered the phone “Center for COVID Control” and referred us to CCC.   

CCC’s spokesman told us “the companies are separate, no cross ownership.”

The federal inspector, however, says the CCC’s CEO told them that Doctors Clinical Lab’s “data entry and processing staff are employees of Center for COVID Control.”

Either way, we asked CCC why it continued to use a lab that wasn’t able to keep up. We did not get a response to that question. 

CMS said it’s investigating. It “identified non-compliance and is waiting for a response from the laboratory to the deficiencies cited.”

Temporary Closure

A couple of cities and states have shut down Center for Covid Control offices. The company says it voluntarily paused operations at the rest — including the three in the Bay Area — until Saturday for “additional staff training in sample collection and handling” and to “ensure compliance with regulatory guidelines.” 

NBC  Bay Area asked the California Department of Public Health if Center for COVID Control is free to re-open in California. It said it “cannot comment on an ongoing investigation.” 

We’ll find out on Saturday. 

Advice for Patients

So, what do you do if you got tested at Center for COVID Control? If you don’t trust your results, Santa Clara County’s health department tells us you should get tested again.

“Anyone who feels their test was not legitimate should feel free to sign up for another test,” a spokesperson said.

This advice comes at a time when lots of students are headed back to school following the holiday break.

Do the recommendations to upgrade masks include kids, too? The experts NBC Bay Area spoke with said, “yes.”

Dr. Dean Blumberg, who specializes in pediatric infectious diseases at UC Davis Health, explained that masks play an important role in protecting against the omicron variant.

“Vaccinations are the primary way to prevent infection, but masks come in a close second,” he said.

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Blumberg’s recommendation is to send your kids to school wearing at least a surgical mask. He said of surgical masks, “They’re more standardized, and they’ve been found to protect about 70% against transmission.” 

Dr. Karen Hardy, a pediatric pulmonologist at Stanford Children’s Health, agrees.

“You will do better with omicron if you have a surgical mask,” Hardy emphasized.

She explained that surgical masks come in kid sizes. If you need to adjust the size of a surgical mask, Hardy noted the CDC has videos on how to knot and tuck the mask in a safe way for a better fit.

For the next step up in protection, both Hardy and Blumberg recommend wearing a cloth mask over a surgical mask.

For the most protection, they recommended looking for a KN95 or an N95, which also come in kids’ sizes.

“You might want to try different brands for the N95s and see which ones are more comfortable for your child,” Blumberg noted, pointing out that if the mask isn’t comfortable for your child, they probably won’t wear it.

If cloth masks are all your child has, Blumberg said you should make sure to wash the cloth mask daily.

As for when your child should wear a mask at school, Blumberg noted it’s best to always mask indoors, including on a school bus. He added that it’s also best for kids to mask while at recess outdoors if they are not able to social distance – for example, while playing close to others or talking.

Hardy pointed out that masks are now recommended for organized youth sports as well.

“Say your kid is gonna be in soccer, or they’re gonna be playing basketball or flag football, they should wear a mask,” she emphasized. “So if there’s any kind of close contact with kids who are not vaccinated or other children who are infectious, they won’t get [COVID-19].”

For your kid’s mask to work, it has to be worn correctly.

The CDC says to make sure the mask fits snugly over the nose and mouth and under the chin, making sure there are no gaps around the sides. 

The CDC also says not to put a mask on children younger than 2 years old.

If your child’s mask has a wire in the nose, help them bend the wire to properly fit their face. Blumberg said doing this will help make sure the mask has a better seal, plus it will help to prevent fogging if a child wears glasses. He recommended practicing proper mask-wearing with your children and noted most kids he works with wear masks well when shown the correct method.

“I see much more adults wearing masks inappropriately than children,” he observed.

Blumberg recommends sending your child to school with a few extra masks just in case one gets dirty or goes missing.

Fifth-grader Neil Boddapati, who lives in the East Bay, said he’s eagerly preparing his backpack to return from the holiday break.

“I bring at least three backup masks,” he said.