Lowe's Home Improvement "Should Improve its Overtime Policy"

Denton, TX: When George was hired as a designer/sales "specialist" with Lowe's Home Improvement store, he agreed on making only $12 per hour to start. They neglected to tell George that he would be working 50-hour weeks, like most other "specialists" in the store. "According to Lowe's world, specialists don't qualify for overtime," says George, "but I later found out they are violating federal overtime laws."

So what is "special" about a specialist? According to Lowe's it is an exempt position, thus allowing the retail giant to schedule employees such as George 50-plus hours per week with no overtime pay. But George was paid an hourly rate and his job was identical to other "floor" employees who are not classified as specialists and are paid hourly.

George quit his job in 2004, and since then he has done some research online. "I found out that specialists are hourly workers," says George, "and when I was hired, I was paid an hourly wage. The manager at Lowe's told me they could only afford $12 per hour to start, but I figure they can afford a lot more than that with all the overtime they don't have to pay…

"After working at one location for several months I relocated to Las Vegas and they gave me a $2 per hour raise, but I was still getting an hourly rate. The bottom line is that I was led to believe I was hired as an hourly employee. They never said I would be paid so much per year, a salary.

We did get a lunch break and one 15-minute break during the day but I never discussed overtime with my co-workers, partly because I was isolated from everyone else—I just designed and sold kitchens in the kitchen department and only had passing contact with my co-workers. But the main reason had to do with their intimidation factor. Corporations have a way of intimidating their employees. They have the power, they know it and they use it. And I was worried about getting fired.

I never considered asking for overtime because when I talked to anyone, they said the specialist was separate from the regular workers so I just thought this was their corporate setup. But in my previous job as a union carpenter in Chicago, I always got paid time and a half. At that job I had the union backing me up so I knew that I would always get paid overtime—and you could never be intimidated.

I had no idea how many more hours a week I would work over and above the regular 40 hours until I saw the schedule. Throughout my entire employment I worked six days a week, including some Sundays. After working in Vegas for 6 months I quit so I worked at Lowe's for just over a year in total.

I was frustrated because I couldn't stand up to them—that was the bottom line. About half the store comprises specialists and we were all required to work 50 hours per week. I knew about the overtime law—that you are entitled to time and a half over 40 hours per week— but just took it for granted that because I was classified as a specialist I didn't qualify for overtime. I just thought Lowe's corporate interpretation was correct. But that isn't the case."


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Home improvement materials ignite S.E. home

It was a nice evening for shooting hoops, in the driveway of his family’s home on S.E. Lincoln Street, east of S.E 60th Avenue, on July 15. But Jacob Duilio said his basketball practice was interrupted by wisps of smoke coming from behind a neighbor’s house.

“Right away, there was more thick, black smoke than I’ve ever seen,” Duilio told THE BEE. “It looked like the whole house was catching on fire. While I ran around to the front of the house [on S.E. 60th Avenue], I called 9-1-1. The fire trucks were here in a couple of minutes.”

According to official records, Portland Fire & Rescue (PF&R) crews were dispatched at 6:16 pm and arrived at the home, in the 2300 block of SE 60th Avenue, at 6:18 pm.

PF&R Engine Company 19, the first of three stations to respond, radioed back to the fire dispatcher, “There’s heavy fire coming from the back of the house.”

“Our neighbor across the street came over and woke us up,” recalled Mike Hupp, whose home is directly north of the burned house. “They told us to get out of our house.”

Hupp said he got his garden hose and sprayed water on the roof and side of his home in an effort to keep it, too, from catching on fire. “I did the best I could, but the fire was just too intense. I drove our motor home out of the driveway; I think it’s OK.”

“My neighbor watched as the vinyl siding on his house melted and ran down the wall facing the inferno,” Hupp added. “I think the Styrofoam insulation kept our house from catching on fire. The fire next door was everywhere — the whole back area. Fire was coming out of the roof, back, and sides — the flames were burning higher than the trees.”

Although the front of the home looked relatively unaffected, the back and north side of the house burned fiercely.

The Battalion Chief on-scene, PF&R Deputy Chief Ed Fitzgerald, gathered information from neighbors, as firefighters cut vent and water holes in the roof, and attacked the fire from behind the house for more about 40 minutes, before completely dousing the flames.


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Findlay suburb rejects Home depot warehouse, 300 jobs

FINDLAY — Home Depot Inc. "is evaluating its options" to build a warehouse facility in Hancock County after Allen Township trustees Tuesday night rejected a request for an 85 percent tax abatement on the project.

Rejection of the abatement could kill the $39 million project which the home improvement retailer said would create up to 300 jobs. The firm planned to build a 650,000-square-foot warehouse just west of I-75 and north of State Rt. 613.
Trustees of the Findlay suburb voted 2-1 to reject the tax incentive package, which had previously been approved by the Van Buren Schools board of education and the county commissioners. The Ohio Department of Development also had offered the retailer more than $600,000 in tax incentives and infrastructure improvements to move the project forward.

Home Depot originally considered both Michigan and Indiana for the project, before choosing Ohio, state development officials said. Findlay was one of several Ohio cities under consideration.
The distribution center was expected to serve 120 stores throughout the Midwest, with jobs there paying an average of $10.88 per hour, plus benefits, the company said.

"We’re still interested in bringing this center and the jobs to Findlay," Home Depot spokesman Jen King said yesterday. The company was "diappointed with the [trustees’] decision," she said.

Lowe’s home improvement operates a similar distribution center in suburban Findlay.

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How To Get The Best Home Improvement Loan Rate

A home improvement loan is a loan whose purpose is to to make repairs, expansions, or improvements to your house or real estate. Simply put, the best home improvement loan rate is the one that produces payments that are low enough that you can meet them with no problem. If you’re looking for low rate home equity loans, it makes sense that you shop around for a while. After all, how do you know you’ve secured THE best home improvement loan rate unless you’ve consulted several lenders and have a reasonable amount of offers to choose from?
You can only get that elusive good rate when you finally meet a lender who’s willing to work with you when it comes to interest rates, repayment terms, repayment options, and so on. And the primary factor for finding that kind of accommodating lender is your credit and whether it’s good or not. This is something that you can easily check, since there are a number of companies that can offer you a free credit report (no trial) so you can assess your credit situation.
Of course, every lender you approach will claim that they’re offering you the best home improvement loan rate for your particular situation. In many occasions, people apply for, and get, home improvement loans but they fail to secure the best possible rate because they didn’t bother doing their homework before applying (getting their credit report) and they didn’t do research after applying (doing some comparison shopping to find the best deal).
One are of concern for people shopping for the best home improvement loan rate is that they fear that doing some comparison shopping with several different lenders will impact their credit score negatively. While this was a concern a couple years ago, the credit reporting industry has adapted and now if you make all your inquiries within a set period of time (15 days, according to many sources), they all count as one inquiry.
Being a savvy shopper can help you secure the best interest rate considering your personal factors. Here’s what you should be doing.

1. Order your credit reports so you can analyze your credit history. If you spot mistakes, take the necessary steps to have them corrected
2. Get your credit scores. If you opt to get the free credit reports that you’re entitled to each year, they will not include your credit scores. For a complete picture, you should get your credit scores too
3. Start your research by selecting banks and financial institutions that offer home improvement loans among their financial products
4. Consult with those financial institutions, give them an estimate of your credit score, and hear what they have to say. If you’re told that your credit score is too low to secure a good home improvement loan rate, ask for advice on how to improve your credit score
5. Make visits to the lenders’ offices and ask to to talk to a loan officer. Ask about how to get pre-qualified for a home improvement loan
6. Don’t make any commitments to any particular lender until you’ve gotten at least half a dozen separate quotes, just state that you’re comparison-shopping so you can get the best home improvement loan interest rate and terms that you’re currently eligible for.
7. Do an Internet search to see what the competition has to offer, you’ll find that plenty of additional options are only a few clicks away. Compare to what you get through in-person visits
8. Study the different interest rates and other repayment terms offered by all the competitors
9. Work your budget and thoroughly review it to make sure that you’ll be able to meet the monthly payments from each offer
10. Once you’ve decided on one that suits you best, pay another visit to that loan officer and see if you can sweeten the deal

As a general rule, if you’re able to offer a collateral, your interest rate will be lower. That collateral can be your house or any other asset you own. The reduced interest rate reflects the fact that the lender’s risk is lessened by the fact that he has something to fall back on should you default on your loan. In those cases, the lender will be more likely to be more flexible in setting up your loan, especially if you have good credit. By the way, if you have good credit, you have even more options, as you can opt for an unsecured home improvement loan. In this case though, keep in mind that your interest rate will certainly be higher.
The best home improvement loan rate (as in, the lowest one) in not necessarily the best deal though. It won’t do you a lot of good to get the best interest rate if you’re expected to pay sky-high fees for late payments, or if your repayment terms are unrealistic, or if you have to pay a hefty penalty for paying off the loan in a shorter amount of time. What you’re loking for is the most flexible terms, along with low interest and low fees, with as little penalties as possible.

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Home Improvement Loans

Home improvement loans are home loans used to finance improvements on your house or property. These loans are used to maintain or increase the value of your home. This can include repairs, a new kitchen, a new bathroom, an extension or general property improvements. Landscape improvements and swimming pools can also in many cases be considered home improvement. Generally, all actions that can be considered to increase the value of the property in such a way that it increases the expected sales value of the home or the property are to be considered home improvements

Types of home improvement loans

There are several different loan and financing types available:

• First mortgage
• Second mortgage loans (Home equity loans, Home equity line of credit)
• Refinancing solutions
• Unsecured loans (Personal loans)
• Grants

Before considering the loan options you should have a detailed plan for the home improvement you intend to carry out. In this plan you should include both the calculated and estimated costs for the improvements, but also the value improvements you are expecting. In a later stage you will in many cases be required to present this information to the lender, therefore you should also get estimates and quotes from contractors.

Questions to ask yourself when evaluating your home improvement loan options

• Are the improvements you plan to undertake increasing the value of your home more than the loan you apply for?
• What will the monthly payments be?
• What are the tax implications? Possible tax deductions?

First mortgage loans

Typically home improvement loans are given against your first mortgage by your current lender. Discuss the terms and conditions with the lender you already have, but be sure to get other quotes and to make a detailed comparison of your different options. Most commonly the loan is extended for the remaining period of the original mortgage, but you will have to discuss the terms in detail with your mortgage lender. Home improvement loans are usually paid out in payments in proportion to the work that is being carried out and the contractor may be paid directly from the lender. In other cases the borrower may receive the money or the loan only upon proving the payments to the contractor.

Second loans

You may have substantial equity in your home that you can tap, but you should evaluate and compare the different alternatives in detail.

Home mortgage refinancing

By refinancing your mortgage you may be able to lower your payments, defer payments or release some cash for home improvements.

Unsecured loan

A personal loan for home improvement doesn't require you to have equity in your home or borrow against the value of your home. It is a loan disbursed by either a finance company or bank to finance your home improvement project.

Home Improvement Grants

There are Government grants programs available offering financial help to low income families to repair current homes. HUD aims at expanding home ownership opportunities and neighborhood revitalization and have programs to rehabilitate properties in partnership with state housing agencies and non profit organizations


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