The Cisneros Firm

As of 8:13 am this map of road closures is inaccurate. #canyonefire2 https://t.co/8odz4jryGB

Attention General Contractors: Last month California passed a bill that will allow your subs employees or would be employees misclassified as independent contractors to recover against YOU for wage and benefit claims (both in a private action with attorney fee recovery and through the labor board). You need a strong sub contract agreement with your subs ASAP. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/fa/billTextClient.xhtml

Quality business and real estate legal service in Southern California.

If you have a claim against a city, county or state agency, division or entity, make sure you file a claim within 6 months or you may lose your right to bring to bring the matter to court under the California Tort Claims Act. Even if you do not intend to pursue a lawsuit, you should still consider filing your claim within six months to preserve your rights. If you have questions about what to include in your claim, please do not hesitate to contact The Cisneros Firm.

Attention Mortgage Brokers: If you use a processor, who is paid as an independent contractor, make sure that person has both a real estate license and an MLO endorsement. Otherwise, these people need to be paid as W2 employees. See Business & Professions Code 10166.03 (c) An independent contractor who is employed by a mortgage loan originator may not engage in the activities of a loan processor or underwriter for a residential mortgage loan unless the independent contrac...tor loan processor or underwriter obtains and maintains an endorsement as a mortgage loan originator under this article. Each independent contractor loan processor or underwriter who obtains and maintains an endorsement as a mortgage loan originator under this article shall have and maintain a valid unique identifier issued by the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry. For more information on how to obtain the MLO Endorsement, please see the following information from the California Department of Real Estate: http://www.dre.ca.gov/Licensees/MLOLicense.html#1 #MLO #mortgage #processor #independentcontractor #mortgagebroker #mortgageloanoriginator #DRE

Just a reminder that minimum wage goes up to $10.00 per hour effective January 1, 2016 and that your employees' paycheck stubs need to include ALL of the following: 1. Gross wages earned 2. Total hours worked (not required for salaried exempt employees) 3. The number of piece-rate units earned and any applicable piece rate if the employee is paid on a piece rate basis... 4. All deductions (all deductions made on written orders of the employee may be aggregated and shown as one item) 5. Net wages earned 6. The inclusive dates of the period for which the employee is paid 7. The name of the employee and the last four digits of his or her social security number or an employee identification number other than a social security number 8. The name and address of the legal entity that is the employer 9. All applicable hourly rates in effect during the pay period, and the corresponding number of hours worked at each hourly rate by the employee I also suggest that if you own or operate a commission based business, you include the calculation of how you calculated the commissions. Don't forget, commissioned sales persons (inside and some outside) are entitled to at least minimum wage and overtime wages during each pay period they work - it is not an aggregate calculation. This means that for a 40 hour work week, all commission salespersons need to be paid at least $400 gross per week effective January 1, 2016. Make sure your employment agreement reflects these new rates.

Commercial Real Estate Brokers and Agents: I hope you are aware of the new agency disclosures required under California law as of January 1, 2015 - you now need a separate disclosure statement as well as a special form of advising your client which category you fall into once the PSA is signed. Your contracts may need some revising due to the new enactment. Let me know if I can be of assistance.

Lately I have had an influx of clients who should have called me months or years ago...DO NOT HIDE FROM YOUR LEGAL ISSUES. They always come back to bite you and my ability to help is severely diminished as time passes. I had one client get stuck with a $130,000 judgment because he waited 4 years to try and do anything about it. Another evaded service and failed to tell me that a process server was actually at his door - warrant for him. There is always a resolution or at least a way to soften the blow. Paying an attorney for 1-5 hours to redraft your contracts, especially related to employment matters, saves tens of thousands down the line.

A common misconception is that attorney's fees are always recoverable in civil disputes. In fact, the law is clear that unless a statue (employment laws are a great example) or a contract provides for recovery of attorney's fees, you do not! This is important to know before you enter into a business transaction. Given the rising cost of litigation and the extremely high cost of private arbitration, I favor mediation before litigation clauses as a precursor to recovery of attorney's fees and frequently recommend them to my clients. This way, you avoid the cost of litigation, but actually get a good feel for the strengths and weaknesses of the case from a neutral third party before it gets too costly.

Anyone who practices law in the state of California MUST have a license to do so. This includes advising of liability issues, drafting contracts and other legal documents and advertising as an attorney. I just received a LinkedIn update asking me to congratulate someone on being a managing member of a law firm who is not licensed in California. You can check your attorney's status here: http://members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/MemberSearch/QuickSearch

Employers with Commission Sales Persons

Note to OC Civil Litigators: Judge Glass HATES demurrers and MSJ's - he commented several times in yesterday's seminar I attended that he despises these two motions.