Tag Archives: 42 U.S.C. § 1983

October 21, 2020 · 7:16 AM

REAL ESTATE AGENCIES, TITLE COMPANIES GEAR UP FOR MASS FORECLOSURES … UPDATE!

(BREAKING NEWS, OP-ED) — The information being offered in this post is current as of October 21, 2020 as of 12 noon Eastern Daylight Time and should be considered as to reasons why the foreclosure crisis is imminent. Any opinions offered are the author’s and do not constitute the rendering of legal advice. This post is for educational purposes only.

UPDATE: The webinar was held by a spokesperson for the Fidelity National Title Group (FLORIDA) at 11:00 a.m. EDT. Here’s what came of it all:

(1) FNTG’s “Agent Advantage” presentation was appealing to agents to become REO “handlers” of properties that are likely to face foreclosure, especially after the 1st of January. Homeowners that are in default with government-backed loans are going to get 120 days notice prior to the acceleration of the note. Those who don’t cure their loans will find themselves in the middle of a foreclosure proceeding, whether in a judicial or non-judicial format.

(2) Despite the fact the webinar was geared more toward Florida foreclosures, there were several key items of importance … especially where the title company downplayed what might happen if an REO-type Realtor® were told by the bank to go inspect the property, either by drive-by and/or personal knock-knock … the spokesperson used the language, “they might let their pit bull loose” or something worse, without saying that the Realtor® might get their ass blown away by a pissed off homeowner with a shotgun that doesn’t feel like leaving because they’re scared they’ll get COVID-19.

(3) All of the asset management companies that went away because the last foreclosure crisis dried up are now going to start popping up again and the spokesperson gave several locations of where to find these scalawags when they manifest themselves.

(4) If you’re a tenant, the U.S. Government says you have to be given a 90-day notice to quit. In the alternative, the bank might let you ride out your lease as long as you pay the bank your rent money. Heck, you might even make the bank an offer and finance the property out of the foreclosure!

Part of the issue here is that due to the pending foreclosure crisis … and I believe (in the first person here) that you are being given sufficient warning to understand that there will be a crisis … it’s just a matter of WHEN … how can you liquidate properties that are actually insurable when the titles to most of these properties are clouded? (I could have used another more definitive expletive to describe title conditions but I won’t … you get the picture.)

I believe the investor community will come out in full force looking for bargain basement opportunities to score on what may turn out to be another rash of shadow inventory flooding the market. In order to meet these demands, real estate agents must know how to deal in Real Estate Owned (REO) properties and how to process them, whether it be through short sales or actual seizure by parties that might not be entitled to take them. To that end, real estate companies that handle REO properties are going to be looking to hire (retain) additional agents to handle this mess.

Further, title companies have to issue policies covering the defects in title if these REO’s are going to be liquidated. The problem is … they can’t … not without a Schedule B exception. This means if an investor acquires the property that has been taken “hook or by crook”, chances are he’s going to get a quit claim or special warranty deed that exempts the alleged “grantor” from all liability connected with the purchase of the home, which in essence means that the only thing the home can be used for is rental income, at least until enough time passes when a title company will insure that property. Whatever the case, it’s going to be a free for all in the REO market.

You can bet the banks won’t be the ones doing the foreclosing either. It will be their mortgage loan servicers, who have been paying all of these delinquent bills on behalf of the borrower to the investors of the REMICs and junk debt pools (like LSF9). These shysters will go to great lengths to make their stories plausible, the likes of which make for a great criminal complaint to the county sheriff.

CRIMINAL COMPLAINTS … FALLING ON DEAF EARS?

In my book, if your State has a criminal code or statute that says it’s illegal to record documents in the land records that contain patently false and misrepresentative information, then a criminal prosecution should result. The problem is, 99.9% of homeowners do not understand what their rights are when it comes to challenging criminal issues. Nope, it’s not a citizen’s arrest. It’s a citizens formal declaration to law enforcement that a crime has occurred and a demand to law enforcement to do something about it.

To my knowledge, dozens of complaints have been lodged with county sheriffs all over the U.S. and nothing is being done. Virtually none of these complaints is being investigated. The excuses?

“We don’t have the manpower to investigate white collar crime.”

“This looks to be more of a civil matter rather than a criminal one.”

“I don’t see any injured party here.”

I’ve heard these excuses directly from the mouths of sheriff’s investigators and district attorneys I’ve met with. Two detectives from Osceola County, Florida actually had the chutzpah to tell me that the items I stated in the Osceola County Forensic Examination were “victimless crimes”.

OSCEOLA COUNTY FORENSIC EXAMINATIONDownload

And California attorney Al West was sitting right there beside me and heard it all, in total shock and disbelief. His comment was, “You guys are way in over your head. This is way above your pay grade.”

This is why you have the power to attack the bonds of the sheriff and the district attorney if they refuse to investigate and prosecute your complaint. The bonding information can be acquired through the County Attorney, County Executive or the county’s Risk Manager. You simply complain to the bonding company that the county violated your due process rights regarding redress of grievances under the Constitution and get your 42 USC § 1983 paperwork in order. Start with obtaining the bonding agent’s name and complete contact information. It may take you all the way into the State’s very own risk pool (a big pool of money used to pay off indiscretions carried out by public officers against the injured) in the form of a Tort Claims Action.

Again, I recall a recent post where I posited two cases, one written by Hon. Amy Coney Barrett, where due process rights come into play if “the other side” uses dishonorable means to prosecute a case:

rainsberger-v-benner-7th-app-cir-no-17-2521-jan-15-2019Download

The other case was a ruling from the U. S. Supreme Court:

mcdonough-v.-smith-u.s.-sup-ct-no.-18-485-june-20-2019Download

What’s just as bad is when a judge goes along with all of this bogus paperwork and thinks that he/she doesn’t have to answer for any defective paperwork, even after being put on notice by the court that he/she could be an accessory to fraud on the court and/or perjury and/or subornation of perjury by the foreclosure mill attorney of any witness put on the stand if he ignores your warning.

This is one of the key items we’ll be discussing in the upcoming Foreclosure Defense 101 Workshop this Saturday (October 24, 2020) from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. EDT, which is being offered as a online webinar. Can’t attend? That’s okay. We’re going to make the entire webinar recording available afterwards, so don’t panic … yet. Remember, there is a foreclosure crisis looming and we don’t want you to be a victim … at least not without a fight.

If you don’t know your rights … you don’t have any.

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October 12, 2020 · 6:54 AM

Judge Amy Coney Barrett Should be Nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court … Op-Ed!

(OP-ED) — As the tide of foreclosures starts to swell across America, I felt it my solemn, patriotic duty to inject some interesting perspective as the Senate takes up hearings to confirm President Trump’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Articles depicting the kind of judge Amy Coney Barrett would be goes against the grain of the Democrats’ choice. I’ve read numerous opinions and diatribes about her rulings and one jumped off the page at me. I had to research it and bring it to the forefront because it involves lying in an affidavit. Those of you facing foreclosure are going to want to listen up!

Those of you who have been taken to task in foreclosure may understand exactly where I’m going with this. This involves more than just Black Lives Matter because more than just the black folk have been foreclosed on.

You want civil rights? Then you need to read these two cases. They came out in separate venues nearly six months apart. One case was written by Judge Amy Coney Barrett of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in January of 2019 and the other was opined by the U.S. Supreme Court in June of 2019.

Both opinions have to do with manufacturing false evidence to get a conviction. When I brought this up on my radio show (kdwradio.com), my co-host looked at the Supreme Court case and said, “This is a game changer” … and concluded that the scenario in that case could be applied to foreclosures! Neither of us had seen the Rainsberger case at that time.

mcdonough-v.-smith-u.s.-sup-ct-no.-18-485-june-20-2019Download
rainsberger-v-benner-7th-app-cir-no-17-2521-jan-15-2019Download

Judge Barrett wrote the opinion in the 7th Circuit case. It finds for Rainsberger, who claimed he was deprived of his civil rights based on the phony information either stated or omitted from Detective Benner’s affidavit, which was submitted to the prosecutors to get a conviction.

Ironically, in BOTH cases, a second “bite at the apple” was attempted in an attempt to fabricate evidence to try for a second indictment. Barrett, in writing for the Court, stated that Detective Benner lost his qualified immunity when he lied on the affidavit. Sounds like the Supreme Court, who didn’t even cite the Benner case in their ruling in McDonough, got it right. 42 USC 1983 is a powerful tool. 42 USC 1985 is even more powerful.

Let’s apply these cases to foreclosures and why I’m so keen on filing criminal complaints, whether they’re taken and prosecuted or not.

Mortgage loan servicers hire cheaply-paid employees who are instructed to create, sign and execute assignments, lost note or lost assignment affidavits and corrective assignments. Most of the time where I have seen these come into the recorded realm, I have found numerous instances where the statements made within these documents were false and misrepresentative. The statements contained within these documents are then relied upon to get a “conviction” in foreclosure courts, because like criminal cases, foreclosure cases are “prosecuted” in much the same way, it’s just they’re prosecuted in the civil realm, but the objective appears the same … lie your way through the proceeding by relying on false testimony from others and steal the house by any means possible.

The sad thing about all of this … the mortgage loan servicers who represent the alleged “lenders” in court are getting away with it because judges are allowing the false testimony into evidence. The majority of the time, the aggrieved homeowners do NOT know how to proceed against these documents and false statements, despite the numerous amount of workshops I’ve done and books I’ve authored. Because of COVID, the sensitivity of these issues is heightened because of the perceived exposure to a virus that could be fatal once one is kicked out of their home and forced to live within society, where the potential to contract the “disease”, which is really not a disease but a catalyst to exacerbate pre-existing medical conditions, could afflict them. It’s one thing to be kicked out of your home. It’s quite another to die because you were infected because you were kicked out of your home.

This is why I am conducting an online Foreclosure Defense 101 Workshop. People will not have to leave their homes and fly somewhere and stay in a hotel and inherently put themselves at risk. They can take this 4-hour class in front of their computer and ask questions of the lecturers about the research they are sharing. It’s an inexpensive way to increase your learning curve!

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

I have asked one retired attorney (R. J. Malloy), who for nine years clerked for a U. S. District Court Judge (the late John Underwood) and Al West (my co-author of two different works, The Quiet Title War Manual and The C & E on Steroids!) to join me in giving you the necessary tools to stay in your home while you get your “end game” together. Also joining us in studio will be Ron Gillis, a Florida homeowner who has fought off the bank’s attorneys for over 12 years, just by knowing the “in’s and out’s” of the courts. Gillis may have taken a few hits in defending his home, but he’s also dished out plenty at the bank’s lawyers!

Bottom line: If you don’t know your rights … you don’t have any.

Judge Amy Coney Barrett at least recognizes what the consequences should be if you lie or misrepresent the truth in depriving someone of their life, liberty or property. This is one of the reasons you should be calling your Senators and “yelling” at them to nominate her. Having her on the Court may not sit well with every decision she’s made as a judge. But when it comes to deciding whether those who are truly at fault should be granted a free pass if they lie to further the prosecution of their cases, then We the People need to put someone in the driver’s seat that will take action against the current pandemic of false documents (recorded in our land records) and protect our civil rights in the process.

The one thing foreclosed homeowners didn’t realize … but I bet they do now … is that the criminal complaint against those drafting the paper … if enough people start doing it … can make a difference in the way law enforcement treats our concerns. If those responsible for recording false documents were sent to jail (like Lorraine M. Brown of DOCX fame was), this behavior would stop. However, most law enforcement agencies treat these matters as if they’re civil cases and thus, find easy excuses to bail on the homeowners (i.e. “take it up with the judge”) and not even bother to investigate these cases. To me, this appears to be a travesty of justice right from the start. When the Sheriff doesn’t act, the crime committed in the county land records is allowed to stand. We must demand more from our law enforcement when it comes to perjury and subornation of perjury (from attorneys involved in either creating or assisting in the creation of in these false and misrepresentative documents and from the parties executing these documents and causing them to be publicly recorded).

It’s not your fault the banks and their servicers omitted paperwork and messed everything up when they went to securitize your mortgage loan.

Unfortunately, the documents that were created as depicted in the foregoing video are still being forged and falsified to this very day, even though in March of 2012, the mortgage loan servicers collectively stated they would no longer allow business to be conducted that way. That too, was also a lie. As was exemplified in the documents found in the land records in the Osceola County Forensic Examination by my team and I, there was and still is an ongoing pattern of illicit behavior, which at the time, the County Sheriff, the State’s Attorney, the Department of Justice and the FBI, refused to investigate.

A lie is a lie. A false statement is a false statement. The two cases in this post are no different in their conclusions that one cannot prosecute a case based on false evidence. That’s my take. What’s yours?

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June 27, 2019 · 9:07 AM

U.S. SUPREME COURT NARROWLY OPENS ANOTHER DOOR TO PUNISH FALSE EVIDENCE!

(BREAKING NEWS – OP-ED) — The author of this post is a paralegal and consultant to trial attorneys on foreclosure matters; deals in cancellation and expungement actions and chain of title issues and thus, the material discussed here, while appearing to be a “breath of fresh air” for homeowners fighting foreclosures, is still an opinion NOT to be considered legal, nor should it be construed to guarantee any type of legal outcome or advice.

On June 20, 2019, the United States Supreme Court opined (through Justice Sotomayor) in McDonough v. Smith (see the ruling here: McDonough v. Smith) that the 3-year statute of limitations for bringing a civil rights claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 does not begin to run until the case against McDonough was terminated.  All of the legal pundits have thus jumped into the argument, declaring that this ruling could also apply to foreclosure cases, while others say the ruling only applies to law enforcement officials acting under color of law.

The case surrounds an attack by McDonough (a New York county elections commissioner) against prosecutor Youel Smith for allegedly fabricating evidence (testimony) used to indict him before a grand jury.  The trial ended in a mistrial. Smith then allegedly elicited fabricated testimony again in a second trial, which ended in December of 2012, with McDonough being acquitted of all charges (of forging absentee ballots in a Troy, NY election).

Again, the Supreme Court (as it did in Obduskey) narrowly ruled on the matter.  In this case, it was the statute of limitations for bring a civil rights claim for deprivation of rights, ONCE THE CASE HAS CONCLUDED.  In short, this post’s author deems it necessary to posit that the intention of the Supremes was to indicate that one cannot bring an action (involving a foreclosure matter) until the case has reached Final Judgment.  Then, and only then, can the matter go “federal”.

In this case, McDonough was deprived of his liberty, because he was falsely arrested and detained; thus, depriving him of his liberty (because he was charged using false testimony, which he later discovered).  Thus, when acquitted, he brought the civil rights claim against the prosecutor.   This is where some in the legal community say that a deprivation of rights brought under “color of law” only applies to “law enforcement”.

However, was the prosecutor also an “officer of the court”?  For that matter, aren’t all attorneys licensed by their respective state bar associations “officers of the court”?   Courts address matters at law and in equity.  “In equity” clearly points a finger at foreclosures and that slippery slope we call, “phony assignments”, fabricated for use in getting a positive outcome for the bank’s servicer bringing the foreclosure action.

It’s bad enough that this case exposed wrongdoing by the prosecutor, but to say this doesn’t apply to fraudulent documents placed within the land records of all 3,141 boroughs, counties and political subdivisions across America is at best, only slightly diminished based on the violation of criminal statutes.   In this instance, the validity of the claims against McDonough, even though he was acquitted, are still claims.  There is no doubt that the false testimony was later discovered and applied to the case, resulting in a mistrial.  On the second go-round, these same factors resulted in an acquittal.

In this case, McDonough alleged Smith falsified affidavits, coached witnesses to lie and orchestrated a suspect DNA analysis to link him (McDonough) to relevant ballot envelopes.  Now … apply that to foreclosure mill lawyers, who are also “officers of the court” in relying on suspect assignments that could be shown to contain false and misrepresentative information, in order to wrongfully obtain a final judgment of foreclosure (in a mortgage state); or in deed of trust states, to claim their Trustee’s Deed was valid and forthright … obtained without blemish.

The question in this case is WHEN the statute of limitations began to run.

The case mentions nothing about applying civil rights claims to foreclosure actions.

You can be sure that the bank’s attorneys will bring this up if you attempt a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (or § 1985) claim against the attorney, an officer of the court, for allegedly bringing forward (relying on) evidence later shown to be false and misrepresentative.  Further, the attorney for the bank/servicer brings forward (through his/her own mouth) continued disparaging remarks about the “deadbeat homeowner”, to elicit an emotional response from the judge, who then pronounces judgment in the bank’s favor, because, well, we can’t let phony documents stop “the system of things” from screwing homeowners out of their properties now, can we?

Prosecution of a foreclosure is an in rem action that sounds in equity, while the introduction of fabricated evidence (the phony assignments and affidavits produced in tandem with the foreclosure complaints) smack of “common-law malicious prosecution”, defined in this case, as deprivations of a “Constitutional right”, caused by the prosecutor’s malfeasance (of office) in fabricating evidence.   When applying this to foreclosures, is an “officer of the court”, appearing on behalf of any entity, political or otherwise, still an “officer of the court”, bound by the same code of ethics as criminal prosecutors?

This case was a criminal proceeding, not a civil matter … but …

Another argument for the legal pundits to say this case only applies to “law enforcement”; however, on the back end of the ruling, the following statement appears:

“The better course would be to dismiss this case as improvidently granted and await a case in which the threshold question of the basis of a “fabrication-of- evidence” claim is cleanly presented. Moreover, even if the Second Circuit were correct that McDonough asserts a violation of the Due Process Clause, it would be preferable for the Court to determine the claim’s elements before deciding its statute of limitations.”

The foregoing statement came from the dissenting opinion of Justices Thomas, Kagan and Grouch.  If we were to apply that standard, and deep-dive into the elements of the cause of action itself, then we would have to squarely apply the law (42. U.S.C. § 1983) as it was written:

Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress, except that in any action brought against a judicial officer for an act or omission taken in such officer’s judicial capacity, injunctive relief shall not be granted unless a declaratory decree was violated or declaratory relief was unavailable. For the purposes of this section, any Act of Congress applicable exclusively to the District of Columbia shall be considered to be a statute of the District of Columbia.

(R.S. § 1979; Pub. L. 96–170, § 1, Dec. 29, 1979, 93 Stat. 1284; Pub. L. 104–317, title III, § 309(c), Oct. 19, 1996, 110 Stat. 3853.)
The foregoing federal law specifically says, any “person”.  Does that single out “law enforcement”?  Or does it mean, a foreclosure mill attorney too?
Notice how the word “citizen” in line 2 of this statute is in lower case.  Now, now … you Sovereigns that think that everything that starts with a Capital “C” means you and anything that doesn’t, does not apply to you … this statute applies to everyone.  That’s what our Founding Fathers and Congress intended for it to mean … ANYONE living within the jurisdiction where the crime was committed that was used to deprive (steal) their property.  If you’re going to maintain that Sovereign crap, you’re going to lose anyway.  Federal judges can apply state law too.  And they do.
Now … let’s examine the C&E as it applies here (and to those pesky assignments). 
If you do your homework in applying the foregoing statute, it clearly says you have “redress”, except when the action is brought against a “judicial officer” acting in their “judicial capacity”.  That could mean a foreclosure mill lawyer or a judge presiding over a foreclosure court.  BUT … and I mean to be clear here … it only applies if you brought an action for declaratory relief and the judge, knowing full well there was an issue with the document you allege is phony, and told you to piss off!   Then, it would appear that a “declaratory decree” (as described in the foregoing statute) “was violated”, NOT that it wasn’t available.  The C&E is rooted in (inter alia) a declaratory relief action.
This is why folks who recognize the viability of the C&E are buying up our DVD training kit and learning what’s involved in a C&E!  Understand that bringing this action, whether in an original petition or as a compulsory counterclaim (which in certain instances involving a foreclosure in the judicial realm becomes radically necessary), involves the issuance by a judge of a “declaratory decree”.  The right to bring a declaratory judgment action is available in state court.  If a judge is so inclined as to tell you that you can’t bring this action, when in fact it was available, does not appear to discount the applicability of this statute, to sue the judge for telling you to piss off.
The federal court would have to determine that: (a.) you are a citizen as described in the statute; (b.) this is a suit in equity and at law (if a tort was in play); (c.) a final judgment was issued against you that (d.) relied on a false document; and (e.) you brought a claim for declaratory relief and were told to piss off or that that kind of relief wasn’t available when in fact, it really was … THEN … AFTER THE FACT (that’s when the “damage” was done) … you have a right to bring the action in federal court.
The U.S. Supremes may have opened a narrow door for you (3-year statute of limitations) to reverse what happened; however, can you imagine the costs involved?   Given the heightened pleading standards invoked by the rulings in Iqbal and Twombly, you can’t just amble into court with lame-ass pleadings and expect to get anywhere.  You have to bring your action with “all your ammo” on the table.  You need hard proof.  Declaratory rulings can be utilized in federal court as well.  Even though federal law makes it “discretionary”, if you were to couple that cause of action with a claim for tortious “slander of title” (under state statute) and 42 USC § 1983, then you might have something plausible to go on.
A 42 USC § 1985 claim only applies to conspiracies involving multiple actors and would be harder to prove, unless you were suing the law firm, the robosigner and the notary who acknowledged the document.  The effort would be more expensive because you have more parties to serve and more pleadings and answers that have to be drafted and served.
The matter of “injunctive relief” may be hard to fathom in unwinding a foreclosure where the title to the property was transferred and sold to a third-party buyer.  Hence, you may only end up with “damages” as the result of the improper taking based on fraudulent documents.  Again, just walking into court and telling the judge the assignment is fraudulent doesn’t prove anything.  You have to do your due diligence and build a case.  You have to target the right individuals in order to procedurally succeed in the matter.

The C&E (cancellation and expungement) action is a game-changer (like this case), if properly utilized.  This is why attorney Al West and I put the training kit together.   You can view that kit on the Clouded Titles website shop and get one for your very own.  Heck … go ahead and share it with your attorney.  Everyone needs to know what we know.   We actually give you proof that it works!

And no … my response to this ruling is not an opportunity to push my training kit … however, 42 USC 1983 does in fact talk about declaratory relief issues, which is what C&E’s are couched in.  Something has to matter.  Otherwise, why fight at all?

 

 

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