Kelly Kearsley wrote this story this afternoon:

By Kelly Kearsley
The News Tribune

A Federal Court in Tacoma temporarily shut down a telemarketing firm Monday following a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission alleging that the company lied to consumers about helping to reduce their credit card debt and violated telemarketing sales rules.

MCS Programs – headquartered on Earnest S. Brazill Street in Tacoma – telemarketed “rapid debt reduction,” promising to negotiate lower credit card rates for consumers that would allow them to pay off their debt faster, according to the FTC.

The company – which operated nationwide and in Canada – charged between $690 and $899 for their services.

But the FTC alleges that in most cases consumers credit card rates remained the same.

“We have a lot of consumers complaining that the company did absolutely nothing for them – that they weren’t able to reduce their rates at all,” said Bob Schroeder, assistant regional director of the FTC’s Seattle office.

He wouldn’t say how many complaints the agency received, only that “there were a lot of unhappy customers” in the United States and Canada.

The FTC says that MCS Programs also broke telemarketing sales rules including calling people on the National Do Not Call Registry. The company did business under a few different names including Mutual Consolidated Savings, United Savings Center and USC Programs.

The court froze the company’s assets Monday and appointed a receiver to temporarily take control of the business. The receiver will review the company’s documents and operations and determine whether the business can be run in a way that’s legal, Shroeder said.

The FTC lawsuit names Paul Morris Thompson as the company’s owner, president and chief executive officer and Miranda Cavendar as its chief operating officer. The News Tribune was unable to reach Thompson or Cavendar Monday evening.

Seattle's daily and monthly parking rates are among the highest in the country according to a new parking survey by Collier International.

Colliers, a real estate service firm, lists downtown Seattle's median daily parking rates as $28.00 a day and $290.00 monthly.

The nation's highest rates are in Manhattan where midtown parking costs $44.00 a day or $550.00 monthly.

Others on the list:

Boston $34.00 and $402.50
San Francisco $25.00 and $350.00
Chicago $31.00 and $325.00
Los Angeles $28.20 and $205.00

The world's most expensive parking is in London, $1,020.00 monthly, Colliers said.

Tacoma and Olympia parking rates were not surveyed.

The state Attorney General's office, Secretary of State and Better Business Bureau are warning people not to be misled by two Pierce County businesses claiming to be charities.

Telemarketers from the organizations -- called Jobs for the Homeless and American Homeless and Disadvantage (sic) Workers - are contacting people and asking them to buy trash bags, light bulbs and gift cards at jacked up prices.

They say that the money spent on the items will go to help the homeless or support employment for people with disabilities, according to joint news release from state officials and the BBB.

But state records show that the two organizations are not registered as charities, meaning that "they can't suggest that the money they collect from the sales of their products will be used for any benevolent purpose," the news release says.

Consumers have filed complaints with the three agencies about the businesses. People who had agreed to give "donations" to groups in exchange for gift cards were instead mailed invoices saying they owed more money, according to the news release.

In some cases, people never received the products that they paid for.

Jobs for the Homeless is a sole proprietorship run by David B. Archibald with a mailing address in Tacoma and a physical address in Fife, according to the Department of Revenue Web site.

American Homeless and Disadvantage Workers is run by Biancco M. Gardner and uses the same mailing address as Jobs for the Homeless.

Gardner told the Secretary of State's office that he plans to register as a charity, the news release states.

Before you donate money to a charity:

-- Make sure the charity is legitimate. You can do this by checking with Web sites and consumer agencies including the Secretary of State's Web site and the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance at www.give.org.

-- Give to organizations that you are familiar with and trust.
-- Ask exactly how your money will be used.
-- Pay by check and protect your personal information.
-- Keep records of your contributions.

If you believe you are the victim of a charity fraud, call the Attorney General's office between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. at 1-800-551-4636 or file a complaint online.

Pierce County office vacancies rose 1.28 percent in the second quarter as companies consolidated office quarters and others awaited positive signs from the economy before expanding, a new survey says.

That survey by Colliers International said Pierce County marketplace vacancies hit 11.90 percent in the last three months.

Part of Pierce County's increase in vacant office space came from two additions to the inventory, Tacoma's Old City Hall and the South Hill Business and Technology Center.

Old City Hall had once been scheduled for conversion to condominiums, but the owner was unable convince two office tenants with longterm favorable leases to vacate early. The building's vacant spaces are now back on the market as offices.

On South Hill, Benaroya Companies of Seattle is converting a former microchip plant into the South Hill Business and Technology Center. Former electronics production buildings will be converted to office space, adding to the unleased inventory.

More Class A office space is coming on line laters this summer in Tacoma with the opening of Pacific Plaza, the former Park Plaza South parking garage. The garage has been updated and several floors of office space have been added atop the structure.

The biggest customer for Boeing's new generation 747, the 747-8, says it expects that flight test delays on Boeing's 787 Dreamliner will spill over into the 747-8 program.

German carrier Lufthansa, which has ordered 20 of the four-engine 747s, says it won't cancel or defer its planned purchase because of those delays.

"I'm sure the delay of the 787 will mean that they have pull in more engineering resources, and that will (mean) even further delays, as a consequence for the 747-8," said Lufthansa chief financial officer Stephan Gemkow. "I would not be surprised to learn this some weeks and months in the future." Gemkow spoke at an investor conference last week.

The 747-8's schedule has already been adversely affected by the laggard Dreamliner because Boeing pulled engineering talent from the larger plane project to help remedy problems with the Dreamliner.

The Dreamliner's first flight was postponed again last week by last minute issues with the strength of the wing-body joints.

Boeing has said it will announce a new schedule for that flight in a few weeks. The Dreamliner is already nearly two years behind.