Bill reintroduced in US House to Authorize Rental of Foreclosed Homes to Occupants.

No. 670

DS News.com reports that Rep. Gary Miller (R., CA) has introduced legislation to authorize rentals to families who have lost their homes to foreclosure for a period of five years. A similar bill was introduced in the last session of Congress, was passed by the House on a bipartisan basis, but was not enacted by the Senate. The text of the current version of the Bill indicates that this leasing opportunity would automatically expire three years from enactment. The DS News.com report states that Bill, known as the Neighborhood Preservation Act, is being considered in the House Financial Services Committee.

CLT

Mike Doyle and the Terrorist Tea Party.

No. 669

Congressman Mike Doyle

Mike Doyle is a Democratic Congressman who represents parts of the City of Pittsburgh and much of the eastern end of Allegheny County. Most of the time he is so quiet you don’t even know he’s there. However he made the big time today.The place was a Democratic caucus called to consider changes in the Debt Ceiling legislation that had been negotiated by Congressional leaders and the President.

Doyle was quoted as stating that the Tea Party members in Congress, who had refused to yield on most points, were acting like terrorists. The Vice President was alleged to have expressed agreement. What did Doyle mean by that? Simply that other members, including Pennsylvania Senator Patrick Toomey, had convinced Doyle that they didn’t care if the debt ceiling deadline expired, it wouldn’t matter anyway. So, in the mind of Doyle, Toomey was like a a suicide bomber.

Of course, Toomey may have been right that the consequences were grossly exaggerated. Or he may have been bluffing and fooled Doyle. We’ll probably never know. But Doyle was sure enough of Armegeddon on August 2 that he felt compelled to vote for a compromise he hated. But is it terrorism?

Terrorism relies illegal acts that involve violence. Did Toomey do anything illegal? Did he threaten violence? Not if he believed what he said. And not if he believed that others who feared default but were not supporting the bill would not permit default to happen.

What he and other Republican hold-outs have done was to force Democratic holdouts like Doyle to relinquish their opposition on the other side and vote for the measure without negotiating additional concessions. That’s not terrorism. That’s called hard ball politics.

CLT

Category: The continuing American Revolution
Tags: Congressman Mike Doyle > Senator Patrick Toomey > Tea Party > Terrorism

Those Disclaimers at the end of emails — worse than nothing.

No. 667

If you get email from lawyers (of course you do) then you have probably seen something like this at the bottom:

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure and/or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy and delete all copies of the original message and any attachments thereto.

What does this mean? If I sent this email to you by accident, you are not permitted to read its contents? Read the disclaimer but not the email?

What rubbish! How are you to even know if the message is intended for you if you don’t read it? After all, I addressed it to you. You assume that its for you.

And by what authority am I ordering you not to use, disclose or distribute it? Cite a case. Just one.

I thought so.

And what about all this other work I want you to do? Contact me and destroy all copies? You don’t have to do any of that and all I have done by this Confidentiality Notice is possibly pique your interest.

Here’s another one, a little stronger:

This transmission (including any attachments) may contain information that is privileged, confidential and/or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that
any disclosure, copying, distribution, or the use of the information contained herein (including any reliance thereon) is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. If you received this transmission in error, please immediately contact the sender and destroy the material in its entirety, whether in electronic or hard copy format. Thank you for your attention.

At least the author thanked us for paying attention all the way to the end of this boring, boring piece of lawyerese. You’re welcome.

The truth is, when a privileged matter is disclosed by accident, there is a very good chance that the privilege has been irrevocably waived. If the transmission was intended to be privileged, I had better protect the privilege by taking measures in advance not to disclose it to the likes of you. Like encryption.

Yes, encryption. If a message is encrypted, the accidental recipient cannot read it. Think about that.

We can also stop being lazy by sending those stupid chains of replies. When the unintended recipient gets one of those, he gets a bonanza — a whole string of emails — both sides of the conversation. As The Lawyerist points out, this can occur when your valid recipient forwards an email to a third party that is attached to a string of emails, including a privileged one. Or more correctly, formerly privileged one. By disclosing the communication to a non-client, he has most likely waived the privilege.

Lawyers are not the only ones who stick these long-winded disclaimers on their emails. I see them at the bottom of non-lawyers’ emails all the time. They even say that the communication may be privileged. Just once, I want to reply to such an email by saying, “I hope its not privileged. I didn’t know I was your lawyer.” But what’s the point?

If you must append such a crazy notice to your email, here’s one that’s a little more truthful.

GENTLE READER: If by now you don’t have any idea who I am or why you received this email, it was probably a mistake. We all make them occasionally. I hope this email doesn’t contain anything privileged, confidential or juicy, because you can forward it to a thousand of your closest friends and I can’t do a thing about it. Please have mercy on me. I am just a poor lawyer with a family to feed. I beg of you.

CLT

Category: Practice of Law
Tags: CONFIDENTIALITY > privilege > stupid disclaimers

A Time to Step Forward.

No. 667

The country was confronted with the first great constitutional crisis in its short history. The presidential election of 1800 had been thrown into the House of Representatives. The Constitution provided that if no candidate achieved a majority in the Electoral College, the election would be decided by the House of Representatives. But after numerous votes, the House proved to be deadlocked.

Aaron Burr, who was supposed to be the Republican choice for Vice President, refused to yield. In the end, Alexander Hamilton, the leader of the vanquished and soon-to-be-extinct Federalist Party persuaded a few of the Federalist members to vote for Jefferson. No easy decision, since both Jefferson and Burr been bitter political rivals of Hamilton. He didnt’t do it for political reasons. He did it for the good of the Country.

Two Hundred and eleven years later, the Congress is deadlocked on another critical vote. No one knows for certain what lies on beyond next Tuesday. We need another Hamilton.

CLT

Category: The continuing American Revolution
Tags: Aaron Burr > Alexander Hamilton > Thomas Jefferson

From the Blogroll

No. 666

Time Management Ninja: What You Should Have Done Last Night.

My Shingle : Century Solo.

22 Tweets: David Morgan, LLB.

Nutmeg Lawyer: Incorporating QR Codes into Your Practice.

Real Lawyers Have Blogs: Lawyers Can Establish Trust With Their Target Audience Online.

That’s Church: State of the Bandwagon.

CLT

Category: Great Lawyers, Personal Productivity, Practice of Law
Tags: 22 Tweets > Blogroll > Nutmeg Lawyer > Pittsburgh Work Injury Law Blog > Real Lawyers Have Blogs > That's Church > The Mac Lawyer > Time Management Ninja

Return from the Dead.

No. 665

A lawyer I know once described disbarment as capital punishment for lawyers. Very apt. Nevertheless, some lawyers do find their way back. The Newsletter of the Disciplinary Board of Pennsylvania recently printed the following comment.

You Can’t (Always) Go Home Any More

Lawyers seeking reinstatement from disbarment or suspension generally have a good chance of succeeding. In 2010, 10 applications for reinstatement from disbarment, suspension, or disability status were granted, and only one denied.

However, reinstatement is not guaranteed, as one former Pennsylvania attorney found out. Frederick C. Sturm III had been disbarred since 1982, as a result of his conviction for mail fraud in an arson scheme, for making false statements in a passport application, and for tax violations. After serving a jail term, he worked for more than twenty years as a paralegal in his wife’s law firm.

He filed a petition for reinstatement. The Disciplinary Board found that the crimes he had committed were so severe that he could not meet his burden of proof under the test in Office of Disciplinary Counsel v. Keller, 506 A.2d 872 (Pa., 1986), even after the passage of nearly thirty years. Also, the Board found that he had not expressed remorse for his actions, and that his answers on certain questions were evasive and not credible. The Board recommended that the petition for reinstatement be denied, and the Supreme Court did so by order dated July 6, 2011.

A lawyer seeking reinstatement has the burden of proof under Rule 218(c) of the Pennsylvania Rules of Disciplinary Enforcement to show that he or she has the moral qualifications, competency and learning in law required for admission to practice law in this Commonwealth and that the resumption of the practice of law within the Commonwealth by such person will be neither detrimental to the integrity and standing of the bar or the administration of justice nor subversive of the public interest.

Category: News Commentary
Tags: disbarment > Disciplinary Board > reinstatement

No More Foreclosures by MERS.

No. 664

Mortgage Electronic Recording System (MERS), a private corporation, announced that it will no longer permit mortgage foreclosures or Bankruptcy claims to be filed in its name. MERS was established to hold record title to mortgages as “nominee”, enabling them to be assigned privately without the need to file assignments. However, the standing to bring foreclosures in the name of MERS has been successfully challenged in several states and caused problems in others. MERS will require foreclosing entities to take an assignment of the mortgage before initiating a foreclosure.

CLT

Category: Mortgage Foreclosure
Tags: MERS > Mortgage Electronic Recording System

Small Task, Big Damages

No. 663

Those of us who have a zoning practice are required to do it all of the time: make a list of the names and addresses of all property owners whose land is adjacent to the property in question. Not too difficult. Yes, you should include properties across the street. And if the tax map shows properties almost touching, include them too. But other than that, its just a little map reading exercise.

Well, Chicago Title Insurance Company did one of those map reading exercises. It probably billed a couple hundred for it. So, read what happened:

CLAYTON, Mo. (CN) – A St. Louis County jury awarded $48.4 million to an ethanol company against a title company that failed to notify property owners near a site where the ethanol company wanted to build a plant near Wichita. The award, after a 2-week trial, is the largest ever in St. Louis County Court.â€¨ Abengoa Bioenergy wanted to build a plant in Colwich, Kan. Chicago Title was supposed to notify nearby property owners in order to obtain zoning to build it, but seven property owners were left off the notification list.â€¨ After zoning was granted, the property owners found out and sued in 2008. Abengoa was forced to build a more expensive, less profitable plant in Granite City, which was finished 15 months after the first plant was supposed to be completed.â€¨ The award includes the higher cost of building the plant in Granite City, the cost of the 15-month delay and the lower revenue from the plant.

Here’s a verdict report with a few more details. It is said to be the largest verdict in St. Louis County history. Wow!

Don’t look for a court opinion, at least not yet. There is only a verdict slip to look at now. But when it is appealed — and it will unless there is a settlement — there will be opinions to read. The article is probably wrong about Chicago Title notifying the adjacent landowners. Almost certainly, Chicago simply prepared the list.

Now, without looking, how many states border Pennsylvania?

CLT

Category: Civil Litigation, Real Estate, Zoning
Tags: Abengoa Bioenergy > Chicago Title Insurance Company

Is September 11 Just an Ordinary Day Yet?

No. 662

The Country had been in shock. People sat in front of their televisions, gaping in disbelief, for days. It took a month for life to return to normal. But it did, and now we are approaching ten years out.

The Tenth Anniversary promises to be an important day of remembrance. The Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, PA and the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York City will be dedicated in ceremonies beginning September 11 and concluding on Monday, September 12. There will be other events, such as the opening of the September 11 Memorial Gardens in Beverly Hills.

But in spite of all this, there are indications that September 11 is becoming an ordinary day. I was taken aback to see that Larry the Cable Guy, a standup comedian, will be performing at the Meadows Casino and Racetrack that evening. What can he possibly say about the subject in a comedy routine? Answer: nothing, he will just ignore it. And September 11 becomes just another September day.

Perhaps this is inevitable. But it is just too soon. Each of us should do something special that day to remember the greatest external attack in American History. For my part, I won’t be going to see Larry the Cable Guy.

CLT

Category: News Commentary, The continuing American Revolution
Tags: Larry the Cable Guy > Meadows Casino and Racetrack > National September 11 Memorial and Museum > September 11 Memorial Gardens in Beverly Hills > Shanksville > Tenth Anniversary > The Flight 93 Memorial

Goldbeck Case Update

No. 661

In the post reprinted immediately below you will find the Post from December discussing the case of Loughren v. Bair, GD 10-021437. Since the post below was written in December, PO’s were filed, followed by an amended complaint whereby Loughren, who filed the original complaint, became the representative party in a class action. Robert F. Dailey of Pierce & Pierce has taken over as counsel for the plaintiff. The Defendants are represented by James Schadel of Weinheimer Schadel & Haber, Pittsburgh.

New PO’s have been filed, with arguments to be heard by Judge Christine Ward at 9:30 AM on August 1.

CLT

Category: Case Update, Civil Litigation, Consumer Protection, Mortgage Foreclosure, News Commentary
Tags: GD 10-021437. > James Schadel > Judge Christine Ward > Loughren v. Bair > Robert F. Dailey

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CLIFF TUTTLE has been a Pennsylvania lawyer for over 45 years and (inter alia) is a real estate litigator and legal writer. The posts in this blog are intended to provide general information about legal topics of interest to lawyers and consumers with a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania focus. However, this information does not constitute legal advice and there is no lawyer-client relationship created when you read this blog. You are encouraged to leave comments but be aware that posted comments can be read by others. If you wish to contact me in privacy, please use the Contact Form located immediately below this message. I will reply promptly and in strict confidence.

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