Oregon daily emerald., April 02, 1981, Page 5, Image 5

SALEM (AP) - Two Portland
women told a Senate committee
Wednesday that their homes
nearly were sold out from under
them because of debts totalling
less than $2,000.
They testified in support of
bills to protect homeowners
from having their homes sold
without their knowledge to pay
off debts to collection agencies.
Mary Scott, 53, said she fell
behind in payments on a credit
card and auto loan because she
—making the news—
From Associated Press Reports
SALEM — Some students couldn’t sit quietly for long
Wednesday during testimony on a bill that would restrict the
issuance of drivers’ licenses to 16- and 17-year-olds.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Charles Hanlon, D-Cornelius,
would grant licenses for those under 18 under certain
conditions, including driving to and from jobs, school and
during family emergencies. No action was taken on the bill.
Hanlon told a Senate Transportation Committee that a
disproportionate number of accidents and injuries are
caused by drivers in that age category. The measure, he said,
also would conserve fuel and cut down on traffic congestion.
Chairman Dell Isham, D-Lincoln City, asked whether that
would seriously affect youngsters’ dating activities.
' ‘It didn’t interfere with my dating when I was 16 and 17,”
said Hanlon. “I’m sure love will find a way.”
PORTLAND — Oregon’s largest irrigated farm, SimTag
Farms, has been declared dissolved as of Dec. 31, 1980, by
U S. District Judge Owen Panner.
Panner said Tuesday he would appoint a trustee to
manage SimTag Farms through the present farm manager,
Ellis Charvet. They will consult with partners P.J. Taggares
and Jack Simplot, who have developed 28,070 acres of state
land they sublease south of Boardman
Attorneys for Taggares and Simplot agreed that the
farm’s assets will be liquidated and sold as soon as possible
Taggares said he was confident a buyer can be found for
the farm. A court-appointed arbitrator, Edwin Howell, has set
the price at $35.5 million. He said the farm was worth $62.7
million, but had $27 million in liabilities.
Simplot, however, said with the farm losing $5,000 a day,
prospective buyers will have to have “a pretty big bank roll.”
was injured on the job and una
ble to return to work. She said
she received a notice in 1980
from a collection agency and
was told by Legal Aid that she
could lose her home if she didn’t
pay the judgment. The debts
totaled about $1,700 and her
home was valued at $56,000,
she said.
She said Legal Aid arranged
with the collection agency for
her to pay off the debt in
monthly payments of $25. Leslie
Thomas of Portland also tes
tified that her home nearly was
sold to pay a $1,062 debt.
"I was lucky. I was able to get
legal help," Scott told the Sen
ate Revenue Committee.
Several bills were introduced
this session following news
reports that former lobbyist
Robert Harris bought up homes
at sheriff's sales for a fraction of
their real value to satisfy per
sonal debts. For example, he
reportedly bought a northeast
Portland home for $176 at a
sheriff’s auction. The home’s
assessed value was $61,800.
"Unfair and inequitable situa
tions have come to light in
which homeowners have lost
valuable homes they have saved
for all their lives because they
were simply unaware their
homes were sold,” Sen. Jim
Gardner, D-Portland, told the
committee. "The state cannot
condone the injustice of permit
ting huge profits to be made on
such sales behind the
homeowner’s back.”
State police try to pull over
bill limiting unmarked car use
SALEM (AP) — A Senate bill that prohibits the
use of unmarked police cars for traffic control
would remove an effective tool for catching the
speeding or drunken driver, a state police officer
said Wednesday.
The bill (SB368), sponsored by Sen. John
Kitzhaber, D-Roseburg, also requires dismissal of
traffic citations issued by an officer in an un
marked car.
Maj Harris Kirby told the Senate Transpora
tion Committee that state police have 128 un
marked cars, most of which are used by criminal
investigation and game officers.
"These people couldn't take action against a
drunk driver,” he said after the hearing. "They
couldn’t do nothing."
Kirby said state police now use about 15 of the
unmarked cars around the state primarily for
traffic control.
The car is especially effective against speed
ing truckers and other drivers who use citizen’s
band radios to warn others of the location of
police cars.
Kitzhaber and others said the best prevention
of speeding violations is the visibility of a marked
police car.
Kitzhaber added that he was concerned that
anyone with a flashing light could stop motorists.
But Kirby said officers in unmarked cars must
be uniformed and be equipped with sirens and
special warning lights to issue the tickets Those
officers only issue tickets during daylight hours,
he said.
No action was taken on the bill.
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