ji-nll corn plumed on old soybean row in residue. High production levels were attained in Hoke County in previous years. oke Soil & Water onservation District "Soil erosion by wind and water ^is a natural geologic process that ?has shaped our mountains, valleys, iand other features of our land scape," according to Sam Warren, district conservationist for the Soil Conservation Service in Hoke 'County. "But modern man's activities 1th a ve greatly speeded up this pro cess to the point where it has [become a serious environmental iroblem and a -threat to our iroductive agricultural capacity." ic said. ? "The rate at which soils erode idepends upon soil type, steepness Bmof slope, amount of runoff, and ?TOther things. But ironically, the Resolution to much cropland erosion P*may be relatively simple." Warren | Jsaid. "By leaving residues on the f^purtaces. evaporation, runoff, and srosion are reduced. We call this ^?conservation tillage.' " Conservation tillage is a crop -.planting system where residues ajiim previous crops or Held con ditions are left on the land and ^jpurrent crops arc planted in this ^Seedbed. In its purest form, "no jaill" farmers plant crops without plowing or cultivating their land. "Even though special equipment ^and modified planting techniques . varc used, the practice has been ? roil nd for several years and dt>es **an excellent job of conservation t with high production, when good management principles are t'ol j lowed." Warren said. ' .jfp Coy a. Garrett. Soil Conservation HB^crvice state conservationist in Kalciyli. is adament in his remarks. 'Jq .?? w*da Mutual inawanca Company NatomwiOa Mutual F?ra hytuf?nc? Company NatorvwKJa Irta mtuf ?f>ca Company Mom# omct Coiumbua O*?o LAW For Laypersons Have you ever heard about creditors trying to make a debtor pay a debt by lettering the whole world know about the debt? Some creditors have tried to force a deb tor to pay his debt by embarrassing him in front of his friends and neighbors. North Carolina's General Statutes ? 75-53, however, provides that no debt collector shall unreasonably publicize infor mation regarding a consumer's debt. North Carolina's law provides more than just a general prohibi tion against unreasonable publica tion of a consumer's debt. Section 75-53 goes into some detail about what publication is unreasonable. For example, it states that any communication between the creditor and any person other than the debtor or his attorney is an unreasonable publication of the consumer's debt. In other words, the creditor cannot try to embar rass the debtor by telling other people about his debt. There are, of course, exceptions (o the prohibition against com munication with a person other than the debtor or his attorney. Certainly, the debtor or his at torney can give written permission for the creditor to communicate with other people, and the creditor should be free to talk to persons employed by the creditor to collect the debt for him. In addition, the creditor should be free to talk to the spouse of the debtor or to the parent of the debtor if the debtor is a minor and lives in the same household with the parent. Also, the debtor can talk to other people for the sole purpose of locating the debtor, but he can make no men tion of the debt that is due. Lastly, the creditor can and should talk with other people such as his at torney of court officials if he is go ing to use the legal process to col lect the debt. Suppose a creditor lives up to the letter of the law by com municating only with the debtor, but he does it in such a way that other people hear the same message and thus learn about the indebtedness owed by the debtor? Section 75-53 provides that any lorm ?>t communication which or dinarily would be seen or heard b\ any person other than the con sumer that displays or conveys any information about the debt other than the name, address and phone number of the debt collector shall be an unreasonable publication of information about the consumer's debts. What about a creditor who puts up a large poster setting out the names of people who owe him debts so that all people who pass b\ can see the information? Section 75-53 also savs that it is unreason able publication to disclose infor mation about consumer's debt by publishing or posting any list of consumers. An exception for publishing or posting this list, however, is allowed for credit reporting purposes and for the publication and distribution of "stop lists" at places, $uch as cash rejjisicr. where credit is extended and I he person ^ivinjj credit should have a list to warn him. As the General Statutes have done in previous sections on unfair acts in debt collection practices, it again indicates in ? 75-53 that other factual situations in which a consumer's debt is published may be an unreasonable publication and thus prohibited under North Carolina Law. DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES Part III When North Carolina's General Assembly amended G.S. 75-1.1 in OPENING SOON! GARRY'S PUNT 4 BODY 401 By- Pass Next to Car Parts and Accessories Garry Frederick 1977, it made certain that the terms of the legislation prohibited unfair or deceptive acts or practices in debt collections. At the same time, the General Assembly also set oui specifically what acts by debt col lectors should be prohibited under the new law which it enacted. For example, G.S. 75-51 pro vides that no debt collector shall collect or attempt to collect any debt from a consumer by means of any unfair threat, coercion or at tempt to coerce. Since it is ob viously hard to tell what specific acts by threats or coercion the language of G.S. 75-51 prohibits, the General Assembly then listed eight specific acts which it labeled as "unfair" acts. One such act which is labeled by the GeneraJ Assembly to be "un fair" is the use of or threat to use violence or any illegal means to hurt the debtor, his reputation, or his property unless he will pay the debt. A more subtfe act, but one jus; as unfair according to the General Assembly, is for the debt collector to represent to the debtor that nonpayment of the alleged debt may result in his arrest. If the debt collector threatens to refer the debt to another person or agency for collection and at the same time tells the debtor that he will as a result lose some defense he may have to the debt or that he will be subject to harsh, vindictive or abusive collection attempts by that other person or agency, the debt collector will have done an act labeled "unfair" by the new legislation. A debt collector may falsely ac cuse or threaten to accuse a debtor of fraud or of some crime or con duct that would cause him dis grace. contempt or ridicule; this act would be labeled by North Carolina's law as an unfair act us ing threat or coercion. Certainly, threatening to take against the deb tor any action which is not permit ted by law would also be an unfair act, and the new legislation also describes this unfair act specifical ly. The General Assembly took the time to state that the unfair acts which it has described under the label of "threats and coercion" do not necessarily include all possible unfair acts using threat or coer cion. Therefore. another factual situation not covered by the eight specific examples could well be an unfair act under North Carolina's legislation and thus prohibited b\ law. DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES. Part IV North Carolina's law which pro hibits unfair or deceptive acts and practices in debt collections states specifically in G.S. 75-52 that no debt collector shall use any con duct. the natural consequence of which is to oppress, harass, or abuse any person in connection with the attempt to collect any debt. This statute then lists as illustration four specific acts which it labels as unfair and thus pro hibited by North Carolina law. The most obvious act which is prohibited under this section is the use of profane or obscene language or language that would ordinarily abuse a typical hearer or reader. Such conduct by a debt collector would naturally oppress, harass or abuse the debtor. It a debt collector places collect telephone calls or sends collect telegrams to the debtor, section 75-52 indicates that he is doing an unfair act -unless he fully identifies himself and the company he repre sents. the debtor will know whether to accept the collect telephone t^ll or the collect telegram and thus save himself from any cost. Soppose a debt collector con stantly engages you in telephone conversations or constantly causes your telephone to ring? This section provides that if these acts are done so frequently as to be unreasonable or to constitute harassment to you under the circumstances or at times known to be times other than your normal waking hours, then they should be labeled as "unfair" acts. In addition, if the debt collector places telephone calls or attempts to communicate with you at your place of employment when you have instructed him otherwise, he has again used "unfair" conduct under North Carolina's law. G.S. 75-52 indicates that there may be conduct other than the four acts described which should be labeled "unfair" under the law. You. therefore, may be able to identify other conduct by debt collectors which oppresses, harasses or abuses a person with an attempt to collect a debt, and such conduct may indeed be prohibited under this section. A victim of domestic violence is concerned that the physical abuse suffered previously should never happen again or that threatened physical abuse should never occur at all. The protective order, which a District Court may grant upon a showing of domestic violence, pro vides some measure of protection to the victim by ordering a party to refrain from a harassing or interfer ing with the other. When this harassment or interferance occurs again, a law enforcement officer, who has been shown the protective order and has reasonable cause to believe that the other has been violated, must arrest and take into custody the offending person and then bring him or her before an appropriate District Court Judge to show cause why he or she should not be held in civil contempt. Victims of domestic violence are. unfortunately, often concerned about many problems besides the physical abuse springing from the unhappy home situation. For ex ample. the violent person may have thrown the victim out of the residence and refused to let him or her back in. On the other hand, both victim and offender may be still living in the same house, but it may be clear that peace will come only if the offender is excluded from the house and forced to live elsewhere. North Carolina's Do mestic Violence Act gives the District Court Judge authroity to grant a spouse ppssession of the residence of the parties and exclude the other spouse from the residence or even require a party to provide a spouse and his or her children suitable alternative housing. In addition, the judge may also order the eviction of a party from the residence and assistance to the victim in returning to that resi dence. The domestic violence victim might naturally request temporary custody of minor children and support payments for himself or herself and for the children. The judge has the authority under North Carolina law to award temporary custody of minor chil dren and to establish temporary visitation rights: in addition, he may also order a party to make payments for the support of minor children and for the support of the spouse. A final squabble resulting from an unhappy home situation might concern the ownership of personal property in the home, particularly if there is a breakup of the marriage. In order to handle such a situation, the Domestic Violence Act provides that the judge may provide for the possession of per sonal property of the parties in the protective order. So many thorny problems arise from an unhappy home situation in which domestic violence has oc curred. The protective order pro vided by North Carolina's Domestic Violence Act provides a way for a District Court Judge to resolve manv of the problems and hope fully bring about a reduction in the probability of future violent acts. "This article is written as a matter ojgeneral interest only. It is not in he construed as lenul advice, iiittl you should not rely on the statements maile in the article to govern your actions in any specific case. Il yon have a particular question or problem, you should contact an attorney. " Jim Conoly Gary Conoly Ken Conoly EXTERMINATOR EXTERMINATOR EXTERMINATOR Enviro-Chem Co. EXTERMINATORS Household Pest Control 120 W EOINBOROUGH AVE OFFICE 875 8146 RAEFORD. N C HOME 875 4419 SAVE U1.M 8tarao Caaaatta RECORDER Hat AM/EM Radio AKVTM ACAX Wffp t??or*?r ryod?i ?olorr^t*; ?orJo# tao* *huio#l ftvM tout turn SAVE *71" Daiuxa "Jumbo" Storao Caaaatta RECORDER Faaturaa 4-Band Starao Radio S(?r?o CMMIIt racontaf ? AM/' M SW1 A SWJ ??oto ?v?< cootrry ? C f D *v>ri?tor ? 4 ?o? ?*>?<* ?? ??U*OMO0 ???ni 'orw?rrtT?*nryj ?heedonooe ^C* ? lot* *i*ct -rotary controls ?or r>?%* Tr?b* arvi ?* A ngh? vomrn# *198 112 HARRIS AVENUE RAEFORD, N. C.