Attorney General Todd Rokita takes strong stance in support of Israel
Within hours of the horrific attack on Israel, Attorney General Rokita on social media addressed the unprecedented terrorism that claimed the lives of innocent civilians:
“The attack on Israel is a direct result of America’s current weakness on the world stage. It started with Biden's election, continued with his bungling of the Afghanistan exit, bowing to China, and most recently, giving $6 billion to Iran, who is sponsoring this war against Israel.
Biden is weak to the world, but he overreaches into our own state sovereignty and the personal lives of Hoosiers daily. I will keep successfully fighting him off when it comes to our state. And I will keep fighting China, as promised. I call on the Governor to light up the Statehouse in white and blue in support of our brothers and sisters in Israel.”
This was quickly followed by a letter to Governor Holcomb advocating for lighting the Indiana Statehouse in blue and white in solidarity with Israel and noting the death of Mayor Ofir Libstein of the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council -- who recently visited Indianapolis.
“Dear Governor Holcomb,
This weekend, the world watched in shock and horror as Hamas invaded Israel in the deadliest attack against the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Iranian backed terrorists are targeting women, children, and other innocent civilians. A good friend to many in Indiana, Mayor Ofir Libstein of the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council, who recently visited Indianapolis to instill pride in Jewish youth, was among those murdered Saturday morning protecting his home and family. And recent reports show at least 9 American lives have been lost. This is an attack on democracy and our shared values.
Israel has been a longstanding ally of the United States, and Indiana specifically. Multiple Israeli companies have established themselves in Indiana, many of which are a result of your recent economic development efforts. Indiana leads the National Guard’s partnership in homeland defense cooperation with the Israeli Defense Force’s Home Front Command. And many of the Jewish faith call our state home because Hoosiers share their democratic values and a vision of a secure, free, and prosperous world.
Allies all over the world are using iconic landmarks to show their support for Israel. The Israeli Embassy has suggested illuminating Capitol Buildings in Blue and White, the colors of the Israeli flag. Lighting the Indiana State Capitol would not only be a meaningful gesture to our Jewish community in Indiana, but it would send a powerful message of unwavering support to our friends in the Middle East. Therefore, I add my voice to the many, no doubt who are requesting that you direct our relevant agencies to highlight our Statehouse – the most visible symbol and manifestation of our state government – in blue and white light, so it is clear during the evening hours that Indiana stands with Israel.
Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I look forward to hearing about any developments related to this matter.”
Attorney General Todd Rokita secures $49.5 million multistate settlement with Blackbaud for data breach
Attorney General Todd Rokita continued his leadership in the fight to hold tech companies accountable for consumer privacy today, announcing a $49.5 million multistate settlement with the software company, Blackbaud.
“Nonprofits doing their great work rely and depend on vendors like Blackbaud to protect sensitive and private information,” Attorney General Rokita said. “This type of leak is unacceptable, and we fought back on behalf of Hoosiers.”
Attorney General Rokita, with the Attorney General of Vermont, led a coalition of 50 attorneys general to investigate the incident and negotiate a settlement after its deficient data security practices and response to a 2020 data breach that exposed the personal information of millions of consumers. Under the settlement, Blackbaud has agreed to overhaul its data security and breach notification practices and also make a $49.5 million payment to states.
As lead state, Indiana will receive nearly $3.6 million from the settlement, more than any other state.
“While it doesn’t make up for Blackbaud’s negligence, I am glad we have held them accountable for their actions,” Attorney General Rokita said.
Blackbaud provides software to various nonprofit organizations, including charities, schools, churches, and healthcare organizations. Blackbaud’s customers use their software to connect with donors and manage data about their constituents, including demographic information. Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, financial information, donation history, and protected health information were also given to the company.
This type of highly sensitive information was exposed during the 2020 data breach, which impacted over 13,000 Blackbaud customers and their respective consumer constituents.
The settlement resolves allegations that Blackbaud violated state consumer protection laws, breach notification laws, and HIPAA by failing to implement reasonable data security, which allowed hackers to gain access to the network.
Blackbaud also failed to provide its customers with timely, complete, or accurate information regarding the breach, which is required by law.
As a result of their actions, the proper notification to consumers, whose personal information was exposed, was significantly delayed or never occurred at all. Blackbaud downplayed the incident and led its customers to believe that notification was not required.
Under the settlement led by Attorney General Rokita and his office, Blackbaud has agreed to strengthen its data security and breach notification practices going forward.
Indiana’s settlement is attached.
Attorney General Todd Rokita secures restitution from landlord for survivor of domestic violence
Attorney General Todd Rokita secured a measure of justice for a survivor of domestic abuse when he obtained a landlord’s commitment to pay the survivor $12,000 and to improve policies addressing domestic violence among tenants.
“Our team works to combat domestic violence at every opportunity,” Attorney General Rokita said. “We aim to involve all Hoosiers in efforts to assist survivors and bring perpetrators to justice. Landlords, for their part, certainly need to be part of the solution.”
An investigation conducted by the Attorney General’s Homeowner Protection Unit found that a survivor first contacted her leasing office for assistance in the summer of 2022 after being physically abused by her co-tenant. Allegedly, employees of TRI-TWG Lakewood Holdings LLC provided erroneous information about her ability to terminate her lease or exclude the abuser from the leased unit.
The survivor alleged that she was told she would need to pay an early termination fee or qualify for an apartment using her own income for them to be able to assist her. As a result of this misinformation, the survivor experienced additional alleged abuse over the course of several more months. Timing in these circumstances can be critical to allow for physical separation from alleged perpetrators.
“A lack of training and understanding of the law protecting victims of domestic violence put this woman and her children in serious danger,” Attorney General Rokita said. “She eventually got her lease terminated with the assistance of an attorney from Indiana Legal Services, but it should never have taken as long as it did.”
This episode also exposes an inadequacy in current state law — which fails to require landlords to provide any information to tenants who report being victims of domestic violence or abuse. Instead, the law requires the tenants to know about the proper paperwork they must file in order to get a lease terminated on the basis of domestic abuse.
“Our office appreciates the steps this landlord has taken to ensure this never happens again,” Attorney General Rokita said. “A good next step might be for the Indiana General Assembly to strengthen Indiana laws protecting domestic abuse victims living in rental properties.”
The current statute contains no specific Attorney General authority for enforcement and no requirement that a landlord provide any information to a tenant about their rights when a tenant facing abuse reports a need to terminate their lease or exclude an abuser from the unit.
TRI-TWG Lakewood Holdings LLC has entered into an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance (AVC) requiring them to:
- Pay restitution to the consumer totaling $12,000;
- Make affirmative changes to policies and procedures relating to the proper handling of domestic violence incidents involving their tenants;
- Conduct at least two hours of continuing education training for consumer-facing leasing staff on the topic of domestic violence, including the protections afforded to victims of certain crimes as laid out in Ind. Code § 32-1-9; and
- Remit $2,500.00 to reimburse the Homeowner Protection Unit for costs of the investigation.
The mission of the Homeowner Protection Unit is to protect the rights of all individuals involved in the housing market — including tenants, homeowners, and aspiring homeowners — by investigating and redressing deceptive acts in connection with mortgage lending and violations of relevant state and federal laws.
The AVC is attached.
Attorney General Todd Rokita protects 1.5 million patients from Inmediata’s data breach, leads 33 states
Attorney General Todd Rokita continues his leadership in the fight to hold HIPAA covered entities accountable for patient privacy in the most recent multistate settlement with Puerto Rico-based health care clearinghouse Inmediata for a coding issue that exposed the protected health information (“PHI”) of approximately 1.5 million consumers for almost three years.
“Our office will never back down from protecting patient privacy,” Attorney General Rokita said. “All patients deserve privacy and should feel protected by their health care providers.”
Attorney General Rokita led a coalition of 33 attorneys general to investigate the incident and negotiate a settlement with the company.
Under the settlement, Inmediata has agreed to overhaul its data security and breach notification practices and make a $1.4 million payment to states. Indiana will receive over $131,000 from the settlement.
As a health care clearinghouse, Inmediata facilitates transactions between health care providers and insurers across the United States. On January 15, 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights alerted Inmediata that PHI maintained by Inmediata was available online and had been indexed by search engines.
As a result, sensitive patient information could be viewed through online searches, and potentially downloaded by anyone with access to an internet search engine.
Inmediata was alerted to the breach on January 15, 2019, but they delayed notification to impacted consumers for over three months and sent misaddressed notices. Further, the notices were far from clear—many consumers complained that without sufficient details or context. They had no idea why Inmediata had their data, which may have caused recipients to dismiss the notices as illegitimate.
This settlement resolves allegations of the attorneys general that Inmediata violated state consumer protection laws, breach notification laws, and HIPAA by failing to implement reasonable data security. This includes failing to conduct a secure code review at any point prior to the breach, and then failing to provide affected consumers with timely and complete information regarding the breach, as required by law.
Under the settlement, Inmediata has agreed to strengthen its data security and breach notification practices going forward.
Indiana’s settlement is attached.
Attorney General Todd Rokita and team fight to keep Southport cop’s killer behind bars
Recently, Attorney General Todd Rokita’s appeals team continued their fight to ensure the killer of a Southport police officer remains in prison for at least a half-century.
“Anyone who murders someone, especially a police officer, must be kept off our streets,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Our team is committed to honoring the legacy of Lt. Aaron Allan by ensuring justice is done.”
On July 27, 2017, Lt. Allan stopped to assist a man who crashed his car on Indianapolis' southside. As the officer reached in to help the motorist — Jason Dane Brown -- Brown shot him 11 times. Witnesses told investigators that Brown continued to fire his weapon even as Lt. Allan attempted to crawl away. At the time of his death, Lt. Allan was 38. Lt. Allan's father attended this week's oral arguments on behalf of the fallen officer's family.
The killer is appealing his conviction, claiming the state failed to prove its case against him. On Sept. 19, Attorney General Rokita’s team argued before the Indiana Court of Appeals that Brown’s conviction rests on rock-solid evidence. Brown received a 58-year sentence, with 55 to be served inside the Department of Correction.
Attorney General Rokita thanked Deputy Attorney General Courtney Staton for arguing on behalf of the appeals team.
“We expect justice to prevail,” Attorney General Rokita said. “We will never forget Lt. Allan’s heroism, and we will continue supporting his brothers and sisters in blue who continue selflessly serving Hoosiers.”
Attorney General Todd Rokita takes action against alleged manufactured-home fraudsters
Lawsuit alleges Bartholomew County defendants schemed to evade licensing requirements
Attorney General Todd Rokita has filed a lawsuit against three individuals suspected of scheming to defraud Hoosiers seeking installations of manufactured homes.
“We’re acting on behalf of Hoosiers who in some cases paid tens of thousands for services they never received in a satisfactory manner,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Our team works diligently to protect the proverbial little guy from getting conned by slick hustlers just looking to make a quick buck. We will hold accountable anyone who dupes consumers in violation of our laws.”
The lawsuit alleges the defendants — Steven Singer, Jocel Singer and Aron Singer — engaged in the sales of manufactured homes without a license from the Secretary of State Auto Dealer Services Division. The defendants, residents of Bartholomew County, are also alleged to have promised or completed installations of manufactured homes without a manufactured home installers license.
The defendants allegedly did business at times under such names as Singer Manufactured Homes, Cabin Creek Homes, Rock Creek Homes, and United Palace Home Transport and Sales
One consumer complained about a transaction in which the defendants allegedly failed to arrange for installation of a manufactured home as agreed, failed to install working appliances as agreed, and otherwise failed to meet their contractual obligations to the complainant after she paid them $36,000 in cash. The defendants also allegedly failed to deliver a title to the manufactured home — on which the complainant ultimately had to spend additional money to make livable. The complainant later learned the defendants lacked proper licensure to sell and install manufactured homes.
The defendants’ alleged wrongdoing spanned many years.
In 2014, the defendants allegedly received a cease-and-desist order from the Manufactured Home Installers Licensing Board — but thereafter worked to hide their transactions from authorities by both insisting on cash and by conducting advertising/sales online using various social media accounts and marketplaces.
In February of 2023, the Indiana Secretary of State sent the defendants another cease-and-desist notice relating to alleged violations of dealership licensing requirements.
If you purchased a manufactured home from any of the listed defendants or paid them for the installation of your manufactured home in the last five years, please file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Homeowner Protection Unit here: https://www.in.gov/attorneygeneral/consumer-protection-division/licensing/
The lawsuit is attached.
Attorney General Todd Rokita warns Hoosiers to use caution during National Cybersecurity Awareness Month
October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and Attorney General Todd Rokita wants Hoosiers to be prepared for cyber criminals.
“The world we live in relies more and more on technology every day,” Attorney General Rokita said. “This is making our businesses and even our schools vulnerable to these types of attacks. The best thing Hoosiers can do is educate themselves and stay on high alert.”
Making sure your business has the appropriate cybersecurity controls has become a necessary step in today’s economy. The average cost incurred by a business from a data breach is now more than $4 million, and the average cost of a healthcare data breach has skyrocketed to over $10 million.
Cyber-attacks do not only affect schools and businesses, but they also affect individuals and can potentially destroy people's lives by taking their hard-earned money.
To keep you and your family protected, Attorney General Rokita is sharing the following tips:
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Monitor your credit. Credit monitoring services track your credit report and alert you whenever a change is made, such as a new account or a large purchase. Most services will notify you within 24 hours of any change to your credit report. Most major credit cards now offer these monitoring services at no cost to the consumer.
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Place a fraud alert on your credit report. A fraud alert tells lenders and creditors to take extra steps to verify your identity before issuing credit. You can place a fraud alert by contacting any one of the three major credit bureaus.
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Consider placing a free credit freeze on your credit report. Identity thieves will not be able to open a new credit account in your name while the freeze is in place. You can place a credit freeze by contacting each of the three major credit bureaus:
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Equifax: 1-888-766-0008
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Experian: 1-888-397-3742
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TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289
Contact Attorney General Rokita. If you believe you are a victim of identity theft, visit gov/attorneygeneral or call us at 1-800-382-5516. For additional tips, you may also visit identitytheft.gov, a site maintained by the Federal Trade Commission.
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