Non-Real Estate Licensees Are Not Entitled to Finders Fee in PA: AVVO ANSWER.

No. 530

If you make a deal with a Pennsylvania real estate broker for a finder’s fee, be aware that such a bargain is not enforceable in court. Real Estate brokers, like lawyers, are not ethically permitted to share fees with non-licensed people. Here’s a link to an AVVO ANSWER I gave on the subject.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Mark Twain in the Electronic Age

No. 529

I read reports that the publisher of the “doorstop” Autobiography of Mark Twain, Part 1 (over 300 pages and just getting started) has so greatly (ten times) exceeded the publisher’s initial projections of initial hardcover sales that it cannot print and ship copies fast enough using its full capacity around the clock. The Publisher has even hired extra-large trucks.

Good news for them. But in case you’d like to read this century-in-the-making publication, don’t – repeat don’t — buy and cart around the hefty book. This is the electronic age. Amazon’s Audible.com will sell you the audio version or, if you prefer to use your eyes, Amazon will sell you the Kindle version.

There’s never a shortage of copies and delivery is instantaneous. The Kindle version costs about one-third the hardback price, too. I bought the audio, as I usually do with long books. It will keep me company on long walks and long tedious chores.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Law Firm Advertising with an Electronic Message Center.

No. 528

A Pittsburgh law firm recently erected a sign at their suburban location that contained an electronic message center. Very smart. The electronic message center is to traditional signage as email is to snail mail. The message can be changed in an instant — and constantly. That keeps the message fresh and interesting.

Apparently, they don’t yet know the power they possess. The message center is still communicating mundane info, like their telephone number and the kind of cases they handle. No clever observations like the current one on a traditional letter board down the road that has been catching the attention of drivers for decades: “Jeff Reed kicked himself out of a job!”

Be patient. They will catch on pretty soon.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Stink Bugs Attend Landlord Tenant Seminar in Force But They Did Not Earn Any CLE Credit

No. 527

Thanks to the lawyers who attended my Continuing Legal Education seminar at the Community College of Allegheny County last night, especially those who collected dozens of stink bugs who started appearing everywhere about 30 minutes into the program. The lawyers earned 3 hours of CLE credit. The stink bugs were ejected from the room and earned no credit.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Some Legal Problems May Not Be Capable of a Litigation Solution.

No. 526

I observed an interesting case today. It involved two parking tickets and a person with a serious handicap. There were no parking places near her place of employment that could accommodate her van with a wheel chair gate. She had parked twice in a location where parking was prohibited but where the sidewalk was at the right elevation for the wheel chair gate. The City was represented by a lawyer from one of the largest law firms in town, who brought along a high ranking City administrator and two uniformed officers. The court appearance by this entourage probably cost the City at least a grand. The tickets totaled around $200.00, give or take some pocket change.

The defendant, who worked for a county agency, stated that the problem of providing her a suitable parking place had been passed around the City bureaucracy endlessly. No one could find a solution. At length, the county office where she worked moved to another location where she could park.

The defendant parked in a no parking zone because the City had not provided suitable on-street handicapped parking near where she worked. Did the City have a duty to provide handicapped parking at a location near defendant’s place of employment? If so, must that duty be discharged at any cost?

If there was ever an example of the futility of litigation to remedy a particular problem, this is it.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Expanding Electronic Filing in the Courts.

No. 525

Electronic filing of pleadings has been successfully implemented in State and Federal Courts. Now it is time to consider going further.

Why not permit electronic filing of briefs and reproduced records in the Pennsylvania Commonwealth, Superior and Supreme Courts? It costs several hundred dollars to copy and mail the typical reproduced record and multiple copies of briefs. Electronic briefs are not only faster and cheaper to produce, but could be easily edited to create links to cited cases or portions of the electronic record.

Why not permit electronic submission of uncontested motions in Common Pleas Court? They could be routed through the Court’s website, to keep track. If the Court has questions, they can be sent to counsel (with cc to opposing counsel) by email. The motions would be due by 9:30 AM and 1:00 PM, the same as always, and late motions would wait in the uncontested motions electronic file until the next time motions are due. After electronic signature, the orders would be filed electronically with the Department of Court Records.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Tenant Protection in Foreclosures Applies to Deeds in Lieu

No. 524

The “Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act” (PTFA) provides that tenants of foreclosed-upon owners cannot be summarily evicted by the foreclosing lender, but are entitled to the full term of a written lease or a minimum of 90 days after notice to quit. An exception was created when a purchaser who intends to live in the premises takes over, subject to receipt of a prior 90-day notice by the lender. In other words, if the lender never gave a 90-day notice to vacate, the tenant retains his right under the statute to continue to occupy the premises to the end of the term of the written lease, or 90 days, whichever is longer.

It is also worth noting that this statute was amended at Section 1484 of P.L. 111-203, the “Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Act.” Under the amendment, notice of foreclosure is sufficient to trigger the tenant’s protections under PTFA, even if title is subsequently transferred by a deed in lieu of foreclosure. This means that the Tenant protections apply even though the foreclosure never proceeded beyond the initial notice, despite the fact that the property was voluntarily conveyed by a deed in lieu of foreclosure. The amendment also extended PTFA to 2014.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

A Pack of Lies.

No. 523

Campaign advertising is wearing me out. The biggest problem is that those negative ads, regardless of who produces them are outright lies. Sure, there is always a little truth blended in. That’s the definition of a very credible lie. And if you disqualify those candidates who run undignified, untrue advertising, you hardly have anyone left to elect.

And yet, who said that nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public?

Category: Uncategorized

Freddie Mac Requires Mortgage Servicers to Review Verifications.

No. 522

Freddie Mac has mandated mortgage servicers to review all verifications to foreclosure documents relating to Freddie Mac cases to insure that the proper formalities were followed and that the person verifying the document had personal knowledge of the facts contained therein. Thanks to April Charney, an attorney in Jacksonville FL, for forwarding the following notice to a real estate attorney’s listserve known as Dirt.

SUBJECT: FORECLOSURE PROCEEDINGS

Freddie Mac is deeply concerned by recent news articles which report that affidavits used in foreclosure proceedings may have been executed inappropriately and without proper notarization. The practices described in these reports violate both applicable law and Freddie Mac’s contractual Servicing requirements as set forth in the Freddie Mac Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide (“Guide”).

Process review

Each Servicer must conduct a review of its Servicing operations with respect to Freddie Mac foreclosures which are either: a) currently pending or b) within the applicable judgment review period in each State.

Specifically, the Servicer must determine whether:

â– The Servicer’s policies, procedures and processes were and continue to be adequate to ensure that the affidavits executed in connection with these proceedings are in compliance with applicable law, including that the individuals signing the affidavits (“Affiant”) had personal knowledge of the facts and that signatures were properly notarized; and

â– The Servicer’s employees and/or third parties responsible for executing affidavits supplied by the Servicer in these proceedings followed the above-described policies, procedures and processes, including those which required the Affiant to have personal knowledge of the facts and those which required proper notarization. If the Servicer cannot reasonably communicate with any such employee or third party directly, the Servicer should verify this information with the employee’s or third party’s former supervisor, to the extent possible.

Notification

The Servicer must complete its review by October 18, 2010.

In the event that the Servicer’s review creates any question as to whether: 1) its policies, procedures or processes regarding the execution of affidavits were adequate to ensure compliance with both applicable law and Freddie Mac’s Servicing requirements, or 2) its employees and/or third parties followed the proper policies, procedures and processes, the Servicer must immediately notify Freddie Mac at SRPMconfirmations@FreddieMac.com or (800) FREDDIE (and select “Servicing”).

The Servicer must also remedy any deficiencies identified in order to ensure compliance with applicable law and Freddie Mac’s Servicing requirements.

Freddie Mac reserves all rights and remedies available to it under the Guide and other Purchase Documents.

Sincerely,

Tracy Mooney

Senior Vice President

Servicer Relationship & Performance Management

Category: Uncategorized

Guide to Recessions since the Great Depression, courtesy of “My Dog Ate My Blog.”

No. 521

Below is a link to “My Dog Ate My Blog” a very entertaining blog that bills itself as “almost educational.” At the moment, the top post is an infographic created by E. J. Fox, a guest blogger, showing the Great Depression and every other recession since then. A recession is a period when the GNP contracts. This infographic shows exactly how much the economy shrank and grew every year since the early thirties. Several things appear that might surprise you.

1. The Great Depression only lasted a little less than three years. There were several years of very respectable growth before the recession of 1937 hit.

2. The post war recession of 1945 and the recession of 1937 were far deeper than anything seen since.

3. The “Great Recession of 2008” was only a blip on the radar screen compared to 1937 and 1945.

Of course, I recognize that most non-economists measure recessions by unemployment and thus think that the 2008 recession has never gone away. The Infographic shows unemployment during all of the periods of economic downturn, too. I’ll take today over the recessions of 1937 and 1945 any time.

So check it out on My Dog Ate My Blog.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

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Welcome

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.

Pittsburgh Legal Back Talk

Legal topics of interest to lawyers and consumers with a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania focus.

1410 Posts and Counting

Categories

Non-Real Estate Licensees Are Not Entitled to Finders Fee in PA: AVVO ANSWER.

Mark Twain in the Electronic Age

Law Firm Advertising with an Electronic Message Center.

Stink Bugs Attend Landlord Tenant Seminar in Force But They Did Not Earn Any CLE Credit

Some Legal Problems May Not Be Capable of a Litigation Solution.

Expanding Electronic Filing in the Courts.

Tenant Protection in Foreclosures Applies to Deeds in Lieu

A Pack of Lies.

Freddie Mac Requires Mortgage Servicers to Review Verifications.

Guide to Recessions since the Great Depression, courtesy of “My Dog Ate My Blog.”

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