I’ve been watching it now for years. But I’ve noticed changes in the past few weeks. Generally, I would see tea partiers or the like raging against the government. Now I’m seeing regular bloggers more and more often. They are outraged. They are disgusted. They want something to change.
We’re crossing some kind of line here in America. I don’t understand what’s happening. I can’t help but believe that something is.
This article is well written and thoughtful. You should read it.
James Pilant
In the three years of the Great Recession, more than 5 million families have lost their American Dream. Through foreclosure or short sale, another 6 million face the same fate during the next 3 years. As more than 10% of us endure this particular type of “homelessness”, with its anxiety, shame, and loss, no one has gone to jail. The few who protest openly are mocked or ignored. Corporate profits are at record levels, driven primarily by the incre … Read More
I saw this and laughed at his opening. I said to myself, “I’ll go up there and click on the ‘like’ button and let him know he amused me. Then I read the whole thing. The author got serious and talked about ethics with a passion that I find compelling.
Please give a read to this post.
James Pilant
OK. I know that what is happening in Columbus these days isn’t nearly as important and certainly doesn’t warrant the media coverage of the situation involving Charlie Sheen. So go ahead and strip public employees of their collective bargaining rights and make teachers scapegoats for all the shortcomings of our educational system. Oops. Sorry. Wrong story. I meant to opine on the really important story unraveling in Columbus: The two-game suspensi … Read More
Mike LaMonica calls us to look at a single home, a beautiful home. I would guess another mortgage foreclosure. I’ve seen houses around here that have been for sale so long, that one of the two word supports has rotted and left the for sale sign in the grass.
I love houses. I like the old ones, brick and sturdy. The mid-sixties ranch house designs are my favorite. It’s a tragedy when a beautiful house goes empty.
LaMonica is right. It is sad.
James Pilant
It all started out with so much promise. In about 2004 construction began on this house at 4191 Ingraham Highway in Coconut Grove, FL. It was an odd shaped lot and I wondered how they would plant a house there. But sure enough it started to go up and took shape. Then the most beautiful day of all came. The builders put up a tastefully done custom sign that said, “FUTURE HOME OF THE JONES FAMILY” and I thought it was a nice and personalized touc … Read More
Can your bank tell you to get out of your home and then … do nothing. Yes. This couple was told to leave but the bank decided not to take possession of the property!
What happens then? Read this fascinating story from the web site, From the Ruins.
James Pilant
Arthur and Brenda Ray went back to see the spot where their home on Goodyear Avenue once stood during a blustery February snow storm. There was nothing but a sheet of clean, white snow. “I had a nice porch to sit on,” Arthur said, “and I had a garage. My own garage.” The couple bought the house in 1995 and lived there until 1999. In August of that year Arthur came down with walking pneumonia and was hospitalized for three weeks. Arthur was being … Read More
I was delighted to read this posting about the importance of the study of history. Our gallant author here is confronted with a problem I have faced many times: “I’m just here to study business. I’ll never use any of this other stuff.” There are many students who have that belief, the idea that anything not directly related to working is a waste of time.
A human with a job skill can work at a job. A human with an education can serve as a citizen and fully operating human being able to understand the forces surrounding him. Those forces being the historical, the literary, the other arts, and the beliefs that lay beneath our veneer of civilization. Work is important but it is only one factor is a life well lived.
This author writes a good essay. I recommend you visit the blog and see what else is said there.
James Pilant
The busy halls buzzed with activity, and hummed with the pressing weight of so many voices. I stood across from a new friend, a young man I met in one of my classes. “So, why do you dislike history so much?” I asked. My friend grimaced, and made a slightly exasperated sigh. “For the same reason I dislike Calculus so much. I’m just going in to business, I don’t need it. I will never use it in the real world. “That is ridiculous,” I said. “you will … Read More
This is a detailed legal analysis of the FCC order regarding net neutrality. If you have an interest in net neutrality and the legal issues surrounding the order and its aftermath, you have a very fine references source here.
James Pilant
I would like to thank Marvin for inviting me to blog here for a while as part of his merry band of cyber experts. I teach cyberlaw and other subjects at Florida International University College of Law in Miami, FL. I typically write about copyright, Internet freedom, and human rights law. Although my first post will be about net neutrality, I hope in the future to blog on my other interests, including copyright, fair use, the First Amendment, … Read More
Another lawyer has joined the good fight in the battle over Mortgage Foreclosures.
Please extend a warm welcome to Cynthia Starkey at her web site.
James Pilant
This is my first attempt at blogging, but I think it is the best way to keep people informed about what is happening in the world of foreclosure defense. Me? I have been a lawyer for twenty (plus) years (yikes… time flies!) I have always practiced in the commercial litigation area (civil law) – primarily businesses suing other businesses. Eleven years ago, I started an estate planning practice. I prepare wills, trusts and other estate planning … Read More
For almost two years banks have been foreclosing on homes and many times the only evidence of ownership was a notarized piece of paper with the signature of a “robo-signer,” often a person with no legal training whatever, often people who had no concept of the effects of the documents to which they attached their names.
In Deutche Bank v. Triplett, the banks were told, “No.” This is part of a chain of decisions where the courts have said to the banks, “You cannot foreclose without actual documents showing ownership (my interpretation).”
In other words, signing a notarized statement that your bank owns the property is not enough to foreclose on property.
With the MERS system in use by many of the big mortgage firms (Countrywide for example), there is an absence of proper paperwork in at least hundreds of thousands of cases. MERS only has computer records, no paperwork. This computer program run by a private company saved banks from the hassle of going through the process of changing ownership without bothering with that time-consuming paperwork like filing documents at the county court-house or paying the state mandated fees for transferring ownership.
Some judges believe that evading state law and taxes is illegal.
Building on the landmark Wells Fargo v. Jordan Decision, Ohio’s 8th District Court of Appeals (Cuyahoga County) ruled this week that an affidavit alleging that a foreclosure plaintiff held the note prior to filing of a complaint for foreclosure is not sufficient evidence to support a foreclosure judgment. In Deutche Bank v. Triplett, the court of appeals held: “… Deutsche Bank’s affidavit of ownership, sworn out more than a year after the fore … Read More
Anger and a lot of it.
Pilant's Business Ethics Blog 
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