Illinois Funeral Task Force- Sad:Politics as Usual-YourFuneral Guy.

My hopes for reform in the Illinois Funeral Directors Association Preneed Ponzi Scheme were dashed upon the rocks yesterday. Mr Duane Marsh Executive Director of the IFDA has said in several Newspapers articles that the IFDA is behind the Legislative Task Force.

The Light Bulb went off in my head Yesterday when I received an e-mail from the IFDA.

“IFDA E-News Bulletin
May 6, 2009We have supported HR0177, which creates a task force to investigate preneed in Illinois, and specifically the IFDA Preneed Trust. We hope this new bill will not dilute the gathering of further information to insure all areas of concern are examined.”

The Aha moment:

The Legislators in the House of Representatives who are appointing the majority of the  task force are folks who the IFDA has  lobbied and donated money to for years. A full overview of the IFDA Preneed Ponzi scheme suggest the Lobbying and donation money came from the IFDA Preneed Trust.

Since 1996, the IFDA and its political action committee have contributed nearly $263,500 to politicians and political parties. Nearly $98,000 of those contributions took place after June 2006, when the comptroller’s office sent the warning letter to the IFDA.

Illinois Funeral Task Force investigating IFDA Ponzi Scheme turns out to be politics as usual.

Here is how it breaks down:

3 members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Michael Madigan received campaign funds from the IFDA  PAC according to the Springfield, Il State Journal Register article:

House Speaker Michael Madigan has been among the group’s biggest beneficiaries, collecting $16,000 in contributions, twice what he collected from the IFDA and its political action committee during the previous decade.

3 members appointed by the Minority leader of the House of Representatives.

Republican Tom Cross (minority leader since 2002)

1 member appointed by the State Comptroller

1 member appointed by the Director of the Cemetery and  Burial Trust Division of the Illinois Comptrollers office.

1 member appointed by the Director of the Division of Insurance within the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

1 member appointed by the Secretary of the Department of Professional Regulation.

Doing the Math.

CONCLUSION: THE MAJORITY OF THE IFDA INVESTIGATION TASK FORCE WILL BE APPOINTED BY TWO or more POLITICIANS and Administrators  WHO THE IFDA LOBBIED FOR YEARS!

The lobbyists:  Tom Cullen and  Illinois Senator Roland Burris.

Funeral Industry|Funeral Cost Blog By Your Funeral Guy-R.Brian Burkhardt

World Largest Funeral Corp.| Big Financial Trouble-yourfuneralguy

The Worlds Largest Funeral Corporation had dramatic losses in the first Quarter of 2009

The Worlds Largest Funeral Corporation issued it’s financial report after the closing bell on Wednesday. The Financial results for the first quarter of 2009  for  Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) does not look good. This report can be taken as a survey of the funeral industry at large. Losses Abound.

Snippet:”Funeral gross profit decreased $24.3 million as decreases in funeral services performed

“Cemetery gross profit decreased $13.2 million due to a decline in cemetery property sales and lower cemetery trust fund income”

“The cremation rate increased 190 basis points to 42.9% in the first quarter of 2009 compared to 41.0% for the same period of 2008, which resulted in lower revenues of approximately $4.7 million”

Essentially in the first quarter(Q1) of 2009. There were tens million dollars of losses  for the World’s Largest  Funeral and Cemetery Corporation. The 42% cremation rate has been confimed by Newspaper reports around the country.  Preneed  Trust losses were blamed on the economy.

According to the CEO President Tom Ryan: “we experienced a significant decrease in comparable funeral volume that was more than anticipated”

This is just another strong indication of the coming funeral earthquake in the funeral business.

Funeral Industry|Funeral blog by yourfuneralguy.

Source: www.Entrepeneur.com

Jack Kemp State Funeral for a Hero?-yourfuneralguy

National Cathedral where Jack Kemp's Funeral Service will take place Friday.

It appears that  New Funeral precedent maybe set Friday. A  possible State funeral for a Congressman, Cabinet Secretary, Presidential candidate, football hero.  Maybe it will not be a full State funeral with a riderless horse and caisson.  The man  to be honored is Jack Kemp. The time 2pm,  Friday, 5/08/2009 National Cathedral, Washington DC. This is just part of the funeral arrangements for Jack Kemp.

The man with ideas for all seasons is Jack Kemp the bleeding heart conservative, and civil rights champion.. In Football he went from $100 dollar draft pick to the most valuable player in the AFL. I first saw him on the football field  in 1960 when I was 8yrs old. By  In 1965 I was a big fan and was amazed as he threw the football to fame  with the Buffalo Bills.

I remember the compassion in his voice. Compassion i heard my teenage year and compassion I heard in the election of 2008.  Not being a supply sider in the Reagan years I lost touch. Hailing from Chicago I was floored by what he  did as HUD Secretary and his compassion for the poor under George H.W.Bush.

Last fall the look on his face will never be forgotten. It was the look he gave Sean Hannity when he insisted on attacking the character of Barack Obama. Liberals and conservatives alike were in awe.

Jack Kemp is a hero and deserves a “State Funeral” not because of what he stood for but how he stood. Another Hero of mine, Jim Wallis  said it well in the Huffington Post

“I thank God for Jack Kemp, perhaps one of the earliest pioneers of  compassionate conservatism.In his passing, I pray

Jack Kemp 1988 in his run up to the Presidential Primaries.

that his legacy would increase….Jack will be remembered as both a lesson and an example for political leaders of the future.

Watch I will on Friday to see if there will be a State funeral for my hero.

Funeral Industry| Funeral blog by Your Funeral Guy, Funeral Director, Illinois and Virginia.

This is not political commentary, only a statement on funerals and heros. Hope Obama shows.

“Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio a nation turns it’s lonely eyes to you”-Paul Simon

National Cathedral pic from Flickr under the creative commons license from  ~MVI~’s photostream

Kemp run up to the Presidential Primary pic from flickr under the creative commons license  from Ray Gronberg’s photostream

Funeral Director of Excellence Speaks on Illinois Preneed Funeral Mess-YourFuneralGuy

Illinois Funeral Directors have had a 59 Million Dollar Funeral scandal.

Anyone speaking excellently on a disaster should always be welcome. In the case of the Illinois Funeral Directors Association Preneed Funeral Mess both Funeral Directors and the public have been hurt.  Any time people misappropriate  funeral funds some one has to pay. MarsellusM710 offers a unique perspective. Let me say he is not one of the IFDA bad Guys.

Funeral Guy and Friends,

I would like to direct your attention to a press release that I found on the Illinois Comptrollers website trying to find the SB1682 in its entirety as it has not been posted on the IL legislative site over the weekend.  Funeral Guy, you need to link this to your blog, please. www.comptroller.state.il.us/newsrelease

Anyway, I read the news release from his (Hynes) office dated 4/30/09, and I owe an apology to Nancy Nelson of AARP. she states and I quote “Pre-paying for a funeral in Illinois shouldn’t mean buyer beware” she further states “AARP strongly supports efforts to improve consumer protections and put an end to fraudulent and abusive practices in the pre-pay funeral industry”.  I tip my hat to her for still having confidence in the majority of us who do our jobs. I made an error in judging her on her comments.

Funeral Directors lost trust in their Association and the public lst trust in Funeral Directors.

Had her comments in this release been in the Springfield State Journal-Register as such,  I probably would not have reacted like I did to her comments as quoted in the SJ-R, nothing against Mr. Rushton, who has been very fair to us in funeral service in his articles and has done a great job in covering the issues.

I hope all of the consumer groups understand that it was  the failure of a the Cemetery Care and Burial Trust Div. of Hynes’ office who oversees the funeral and burial funds act , to act properly and swiftly against the third party / Corporate fiduciary under its watch when its auditors knew it was tanking and allowing more time for the financial catastrophe. If they would have called it when they saw it, It could have been dealt with better because the write down would have been less, and we could have had a housecleaning at IFDA sooner.

The Comptroller wants to punish us who have $500,000.00 in trust under a trustee license from his office and managed those funds well. ( and kept those funds from the IFDA Services, Inc’s. portfolio), are being penalized and not allowed to have any in house control of any funds.  No skin off my hide really, someone else gets to compile the report for me come next March 15 to turn in to Mr. Hynes’ office.  The good business people loose another rein in having direct control of the investment of funds due to the actions of a few.

IFDA Defrauded 59 million then came up on the wrong side of funeral legislation in Illinois istockphoto picture of IL Statehouse

IL Rep. Lisa Dugan (D) of Bradley, IL wants to “act quickly to to put these important consumer protections in place”.  I say not so fast, sister!
If the opportunity to overhaul the whole Funeral and Burial Funds Act  is before us, I say lets take line by line and truly overhaul and fix it. It still lacks some protections and teeth on the front end of the act, where most infractions occur, as Mr. Wm. McNary of the Citizen Action/Illinois points out. Mr. Hynes states in the release that “his office will push for additional reforms….”.  there are some other loopholes that need addressing.
There is a newly formed House Funeral and Burial Pre-Arrangement Investigation Task Force that needs to be heard from.  My biggest concern as a funeral home owner is that there will be a piling on of unnecessary regulation.

Rushing this legislation through is nothing short of having Mr. Hynes look good for his potential run at the Governors office or U.S. Senator. I really wish someone would take him to task on the actions of his people not to respond to the crisis sooner. Can you say ACCOUNTABILITY?  As I have said before, had any one funeral home entity done harm to its’ Trust accounts, his office would have been on it like flies on stink and placed in receivership, no questions asked.

It sounds like I’m taking a verbal swing at the Comptroller. Not really, I just would like to know why he and his people in the CCBT Div. didn’t respond to their discovery sooner. In the IOC’s defense though,  I’m sure the former Attorney for the IFDA Board, Mr. Cullen and  former Ex.Dir. Mr. Dixon kept them at bay along with the others in the IFDA hierarchy. (Cook’n the Books ENRON Style)

I can live with the proposed changes. We all knew this would be coming.  It is still a hindsight, knee jerk reaction.

Respectfully,
MarsellusM710

This post contains the opinions of MarsellusM710, not Your Funeral Guy( Funeral Director IL &VA.)

Funeral Industry|Funeral- blog byYour Funeral Guy

“Government Leaders” to Talk in Illinois Funeral Scam.-yourfuneralguy

Illinois Senator Roland Burris(on right) and Government Regulators will give information in a Funeral Scandal Lawsuit

“Depositions are in” in the Calvert  Six Funeral Director Lawsuit against the IFDA. The matter of the lawsuit against the Illinois Funeral Directors “misuse” or theft of  almost 60 Million Dollars will soon be before a Court of Law.

According to the law firm for Calvert Funeral Homes and the other Funeral Directors bringing suit against the

“IFDA:

“Wexler Wallace filed Plaintiffs’ Derivative Complaint on January 28, 2009.  Defendants’ continue to deny responsibility and their responses to the Derivative Complaint are due on April 29, 2009.

Wexler Wallace has issued numerous third-party subpoenas, including a subpoena to U.S. Senator Roland Burris (D-IL) seeking documents relating to the Senator’s issuance of IFDA’s trustee license when he was Comptroller and the Senator’s lobbying activities on behalf of IFDA after he became aware of the Preneed Trust’s deficit.  Wexler Wallace has also issued subpoenas to the Illinois Office of the Comptroller and the Illinois Banking Division of the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, which are the Illinois governmental agencies charged with overseeing the Preneed Trust.  Wexler Wallace has also subpoenaed the accounting firms that audited the Preneed Trust and other entities that are believed to have information relevant to the lawsuit”

So what does this mean for the IFDA and the Regulators in the State of Illinois? It means that these government leaders who were responsible for Regulation of the IFDA preneed Trust will have to explain themselves and give up  information.

Specifically: United States Senator from ” ILLINOIS”  Senator Roland Burris

State of Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes.

Officers of the Banking Division of the Illinois Department of Regulation.

Accounting firms and other entities that have audited the  IFDA Preneed Trust.

It is  my contention that both sides area at fault in this situation for failure to do Due Diligence. Check it out

Funeral Industry|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

Burris wih ex Governor Blagovitch pic from flickr under the creative commons license from

chicagopublicradio ‘s photostream

Wall Street Journal says a quiet No to Funeral Preneed|yourfuneralguy

Wall Street Journal refered folks to NO FUNERAL PRENEED today.

5/2/09-Today the Wall Street Journal referred Americans to the no funeral preneed people, the  Funeral Consumers Alliance. This is a good thing. IF YOU WANT TO COME IN UNDER THE AVERAGE COST OF A  FUNERAL- It is best not to do funeral preneed or prepay a funeral.

In the article today “Planning for your Funeral here is a guide to smart shopping” the WSJ quoted Joshua Slocum.

“Go to funerals.org and click on the tab that says “find a local FCA.” Clicking on “funeral self-help — answers to frequent questions” under the main menu, then scrolling down and clicking on “funeral arrangements,” will pull up a list of publications including “Four-Step Funeral Planning: Where to Start When You Don’t Know How to Start!”

One of the biggest decisions you will face is whether to pay in advance for arrangements you make. Joshua Slocum, the alliance’s executive director, cautions against advance payments. He says many people don’t understand the fine print in their contracts, consumers could lose earnings on money being held in trust by a funeral home, and contracts can get lost.”

What has attracted people to preneed or prepaying a funeral for a generation has been the promise that one can lock in today’s prices for funeral and not have to pay more later.

In this economy this is simply not the case. It is my opinion that “any honest Funeral Director will not sell you Guaranteed Preneed” now. In this fragile economy investments can not be guaranteed now or in the near future.

They certainly cannot guarantee any investment or bank account 5-20 years out.

A Funeral is always a business contract.

As i have said before it is best for the funeral consumer to not do funeral  preneed or prepay a funeral.

The two scandals mentioned at this blog the IFDA Preneed Trust mess (Illinois Funeral Directors Association) and the National Prearranged Services(NPS) scandal alone are reason enough not to prepay a funeral.

In the article the Wall Street Journal said a quiet “No” to funeral preneed.

Funeral industry|funeral blog by your funeral guy.

UPDATE: MAY 3rd 2009 This blog post encourages you to avoid guaranteed preneed, other non guaranteed approaches may be viable. Certainly reputable life insurance is an option.

Your Funeral guy is not affiliated with Joshua Slocum, and is simply pointing out here that the Wall Street Journal has quietly steered the folks away from preneed.

Wall Street Journal pic from flickr under the creative commons license from

Enrico Fuente’s photostream

Revealed|Preneed Law Proposed in Illinois Funeral Scam-YourFuneralGuy

The Illinois Funeral Directors Association had a Scandal Where 59 Million of the Folks money disappeared!

News- May 1st, 2009 It has been revealed that a new preneed law has been proposed in the Illinois Funeral Directors Association(IFDA) Scandal. Hopefully the new Law will protect peoples funeral money who choose to put  dollars into prepaid funerals.

The Illinois Funeral Directors Association lost 59 Million plus in a ponzi scheme involving insurance. The funeral funds went to high IFDA salaries, loans to board members, a funeral museum that failed, and other things still under investigation.

This was all revealed in a press release by the Illinos by the Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes yesterday

“”SPRINGFIELD, IL — Comptroller Dan Hynes is proposing stronger regulations to protect consumer investments used to pay for funeral and cemetery goods and services.”

” Hynes said the legislation (SB1682) is needed to help prevent shortfalls similar to the one that occurred with a trust fund intended to pay for consumer funerals that was used by hundreds of funeral directors and administered by the Illinois Funeral Directors Association”

The Springfield, Illinois Newspaper the State Journal Register summed up the bill in an article today.

“Under the bill, which is sponsored in the General Assembly by Sen. Deanna Demuzio, D-Carlinville, pre-need funeral trust funds would have to be managed by corporate fiduciaries. The bill would also establish a consumer protection fund built from $5 fees taken from each pre-need funeral contract sold. The money would be used to pay restitution to consumers if funeral homes don’t live up to their end of deals.”

Sadly this scandal has spread to the National Funeral Directors Association(NFDA). Funds were misused by the current NFDA executive Secretary, Randall L Earl,  when he was IFDA President in 2oo1.(10.6 million loss). He also continued to misuse funeral folks funds in management of the IFDA’s Museum of Funeral Customs. NFDA Executive Secretary Earl has refused to step down. He has been named in three lawsuits.

The Leadership of the NFDA refuses to let go of Randall L Earl. It would be good to let him leave before more of this mess is revealed.

Because of all this in the end there is lack of trust for funeral directors, the IFDA and the NFDA.

Funeral|Funeral Industry blog by Your Funeral Guy