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SEPTEMBER 2024 888-889-8899 DellutriLawGroup.com
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Growing Together With You
PYTHON PANIC
‘Serpent Invasion,’ DLG Style!
“How was your weekend?” I asked my staff member Elizabeth as she strolled into the office on a recent Monday.
This isn’t my first brush with a python. During college, I shared a house in Tampa with my brother and three other guys, one of whom kept a big Burmese python as a “pet.” When I came home early one morning from my job at a nightclub, my brother announced, “The snake’s out.” “What do you mean, the snake’s out?” I asked in horror. You have to understand: This snake was a big one. He ate big, big rodents — not just little mice. “That snake is a killer!” I said. “Why aren’t you worried?” My brother said the python had just been fed the previous day, and my roommates figured they would catch him before he needed to eat again in a couple of weeks. But I wasn’t about to set foot in that house until the snake was back in captivity. I slept in a waterbed there, with a heater. I figured that snake would sense the heat, slither between the covers, and find me — its prey, just nestled there, waiting to be eaten. When you wake up in your bed with a snake around your neck, and it’s a constrictor, it creates a problem. So I got out of Dodge. Fortunately, they recaptured the snake a couple of days later. My staff member, Elizabeth, is no shrinking violet. She is kind of a daredevil, hunting and having adventures. When I asked her one Monday if she had been camping over the weekend, she said she had gone on an alligator hunt. “Excuse me?” I said. “You and a friend on a little boat? Hunting alligators? Are you nuts?” Clearly, Elizabeth has that killer instinct. But I’m not going to lie. I think this snake hunt has her a little rattled. At night, she barricades herself into her bedroom because she doesn’t want to wake up with a snake around her neck. I can relate.
“It was going great until my son’s snake got out,” she said. I knew Elizabeth’s son kept a Burmese python as a pet.
“What do you mean, it got out?” I asked. Her son had opened the python’s cage to clean it, she said, and when he stepped away for a moment, the snake escaped! This python has been roaming around Elizabeth’s house ever since, and no one knows where it is. Every morning since then, when Elizabeth walks in the door, we get The Snake Report. I love “Swamp People: Serpent Invasion,” a History Channel series about intrepid python hunters in the swamps of the Southeast. Well, now DLG has its own version. Just like the python hunters on “Swamp People,” Elizabeth is stalking a Burmese python — except that the hunt is in her own house rather than the Everglades. First, Elizabeth tried setting a trap. She baited the snake’s cage with fresh prey — a mouse — in hopes of trapping him there. Unfortunately, in a move reminiscent of “The Night Serpent,” a “Swamp People” episode, the python slithered into the cage under the cover of darkness, ate the mouse, then exited the cage and vanished again. She tried a new tactic. Taking a cue from a YouTube video, she baited her bathtub with a mouse, then covered the floor of the tub with flour. The strategy? After the snake eats the mouse, it exits the tub covered in flour and leaves a trail wherever it goes. Still no luck. The snake is continuing to play a reptile version of hide-and-seek. DLG is not alone in its python drama. A non-native reptile originally found in southeast Asia, Burmese pythons became popular as exotic pets in the 1970s. Some grew so large that owners released them into the wild, where they have become formidable predators of wading birds, marsh rabbits, and white-tailed deer.
Meanwhile, the hunt goes on! We are all awaiting the next episode of “Serpent Invasion: DLG Style.”
–Carmen Dellutri
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Master the Game WE FIND THE KEYS TO VICTORY IN THE FINE PRINT
Bullies come in many different types, and some of them work for debt- collection agencies. Consumer debt has been rising steadily since the end of the Great Recession to a record $17.8 trillion, and a growing share of credit card holders are behind in their payments. Creditors’ use of lawsuits to pursue delinquent borrowers has soared in recent years, and many of the consumers they sue fare poorly. Being harassed by creditors and debt collectors can be annoying and unnerving at best, and frightening at worst for clients who are unsure about what to do. Consumers facing any of these problems should take steps to get legal advice.
One of our clients, a sweet older woman, came to us for help with a lawsuit against her by a debt collector seeking more than $40,000. The woman admitted that she owed the money, but only because she had given the card to her adult son, who ran up a lot of charges. This client wanted to pay the debt anyway, but she was retired, surviving on Social Security, unable to work, and had no savings. We took this consumer’s case pro bono. Credit card companies typically hold consumers to long, hard-to-read legal agreements in tiny print. In studying our client’s credit card agreement, our attorney discovered that the state law cited in the agreement imposed a statute of limitations that had expired three months earlier! We quickly filed a defense
and, after several rounds of back-and- forth with the debt collector’s attorney, we reached a settlement that paid our client’s legal costs and even gave her a modest payment. In this case, as in many other credit card and debt collection lawsuits, legal acumen and tenacity were needed to ensure the best outcome. Knowing when to consult an attorney can make the difference between years of further stress and debt and putting an end to the problem. Consumers have rights under both federal and state law. If you are being sued over debt, or if you are being harassed or abused by a creditor or debt collector, call us for a complimentary strategy session today. We care that you are treated fairly, and we will make every effort to protect your rights and interests.
“Carmen Dellutri and his staff are best-in-class. It’s just that simple. I’ve known Carmen for the better part of two decades, and he has NEVER let me and my family down. He and his team are polite and professional and return calls and emails promptly, which in today’s day and age might be the highest compliment I can give. When I need legal help outside of his specialties, he has never failed to refer me to another great attorney who meets my needs. If Carmen says he can help, believe it. (And hire him!)” –D.S. Testimonial Our Clients Say It Best
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Sept. 6 is National Read a Book Day and Carmen has written several books! If you want a free copy of one of his books, please give us a call at 239-210-7253 and we will mail you a copy for free!
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A referral is the greatest gift we can receive from a client or fellow business! Last month we had ... • 54 referrals from friends, family, or previous clients • 21 returning clients for new matters • 19 referrals from other attorneys • 5 referrals from doctors and other professionals • We also send out referrals to our trusted referral partners! A Huge Thank-You to Our Referral Partners! What’s the Good News ? “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 THESSALONIANS 5:11
BAKED SAUSAGE WITH APPLES AND FENNEL Inspired by GoodHousekeeping.com
INGREDIENTS • 2 apples • 1 fennel bulb •
• 1 tsp fennel seeds • 2 tbsp fresh oregano leaves • 2 tbsp olive oil • 2 tsp honey • 2–3 oz dry white wine
8 raw, flavored sausages
• 2 red onions cut into wedges
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 400 F. 2. Cut apples into six wedges and slice off any core, leaving the skin on. Place in a roasting pan. 3. Slice fennel in half and remove the core. Chop and add to pan along with sausages and apple wedges. 4. Using a pestle and mortar, break up fennel seeds and sprinkle over the pan. Add oregano. 5. Next, drizzle oil, honey, and wine over the ingredients, then toss all together. 6. Roast for 40 minutes, tossing occasionally until sausages are golden and fruit and veggies are tender.
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Inside This Issue
1 Pet Python Escapes, Leaves Trail of Fear (and Flour) 2 Smart Legal Strategies to Battle Debt Collectors Our Clients Say It Best 3 Celebrate National Read a Book Day Baked Sausage With Apples and Fennel Follow Us on Social Media! 4 Bizarre Laws That Are Still on the Books! LAWS GONE WILD!
AMERICA’S MOST BIZARRE LEGAL RELICS protect feathery friends from their greatest foes. We’re not sure the cats are on board with this rule. If you’re caught flirting in New York, you could pay a $25 fine. In the early 1900s, flirting was such an issue that cities held an annual Anti-Flirt Week. This law aimed to help women feel safer on the streets by diminishing catcalling from passing motorists. Reportedly, a second offense would require the offender to wear horse blinders in public! While these laws may seem silly, no one enforces them anymore — even though they’re still on the books. Instead of holding any weight, they offer a glimpse into the concerns of our forefathers. The next time you encounter a strange law in your town, take a moment to ponder the history; you never know what you might learn about the place you call home.
Thanks to our country’s perpetually in flux judicial system, countless laws are still on the books that echo times long gone. They’re outdated and absurd, often leaving citizens wondering, “What necessitated that rule?” Let’s look at some bizarre laws from across the U.S. (even if no one enforces them)! If you’re in Wyoming, avoid tattooing any horses.
a quick errand? Wait, what? Don’t tie that long-necked beauty to the wrong anchor point in Atlanta. It’s believed this rule was enacted to prevent animal abuse, but it is unclear why lawmakers got so specific. Get married in Texas by publicly announcing yourselves as husband and wife three times. Make it legal with three public announcements, even if only one spouse
This law was made to stop people from making horses unrecognizable to their owners. Apparently, that was a big enough issue back in the day that it needed to be codified. Don’t tie your giraffe to a telephone pole or streetlamp in Georgia. Isn’t it embarrassing when there’s nowhere to tie up the family giraffe on
is present for the proclamation. The requirement states that both parties must be willing participants, over 18, and unrelated.
All cats in New Jersey must wear three bells to alert birds of their whereabouts.
Outdoor cats are notoriously dangerous to the local wildlife populations, and Cresskill, New Jersey, decided they needed a law to
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