Northern Virginia Mobile Home Park Operator Gets Tagged w/ Fair Housing Lawsuit Alleging Its Policy To Refuse Lease Renewals If Any Resident In Household Lacks Proof Of Legal Status Disproportionately Affects Latinos

In Fairfax County, Virginia, The Washington Post reports:

• Four Latino families being evicted from a mobile-home park because at least one family member is undocumented and doesn’t have a Social Security number filed a federal civil rights lawsuit that advocates said could set a national precedent in fair-housing law.
  
  The families, who live at the Waples Mobile Home Park in Fairfax County, say they and more than a dozen of their neighbors are being forced to move because the park’s managers are refusing to renew their leases if any resident in the household lacks proof of legal status.
  
  ***
  Attorneys for the families are alleging that the requirement for all tenants to have a Social Security card, visa and related documents or a passport is discriminatory because it disproportionately affects Latinos. Similar policies imposed by cities and counties across the country have been overturned in federal courts but few, if any, suits have been filed against private landlords, the attorneys said.
  
  “This type of discrimination is all too common, but the law is unfortunately far from clear,” said Ivy Finkenstadt, managing attorney with the Legal Aid Justice Center,(1) which is representing the families along with the law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. “We are hoping that the federal court in Alexandria will take it one step further and prohibit this practice by a private landlord as well.”
  
  The 150-lot park is owned by a limited partnership headed by Albert J. Dwoskin and managed by the A.J. Dwoskin & Associates property management firm. Mike Dean, general counsel for the firm, and Josephine Giambanco, who is the on-site manager of Waples Mobile Home Park, both declined to comment on the lawsuit on Monday.
  
  Finkenstadt and other lawyers said the evictions have forced low-earning residents who had managed to get an ownership foothold in highly expensive Northern Virginia to slip back into the crowded, high-cost rental market.
  
  The policy of requiring Social Security numbers has been in place for years but wasn’t enforced until mid-2015, residents said. All of the families involved in the lawsuit have children who are U.S. citizens and include at least one adult with a Social Security number. All have lived in the park from between two and six years.
  
  According to the lawsuit, the park management told residents that the documents they sought were necessary to run criminal background checks. When offered other documents that would enable that research, such as Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers or passports from foreign countries, the landlord refused them, the lawsuit said.

For more, see Undocumented Latinos and their families sue after evictions.

For the lawsuit, see Reyes, et al. v. Waples Mobile Home Park Limited Partnership, et al.

-----------------------

(1) The Legal Aid Justice Center provides legal representation for low-income individuals in Virginia, having offices in Charlottesville, Falls Church, Petersburg and Richmond. In a separate, unrelated case, it reached a settlement with the City of Richmond, Virginia in a lawsuit alleging that the city used bullying code enforcement efforts (inspections with armed police escorts, arrest threats, unwarranted condemnation, etc.) targeting mostly non-English-speaking Latino mobile home owners.

NY AG Uses Fair Housing Testers To Squeeze $88K Out Of Three Downstate Real Estate Brokerages To Resolve Allegations Of Housing Discrimination Against Tenants Receiving Section 8 Housing Subsidies; One Agent Admits Use Of Purported Months-Long Waiting List To Discourage (& Essentially Reject) Unwanted Rental Prospects

From the Office of the New York Attorney General:

• Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced [] that his office has secured settlement agreements with three real estate brokerage firms operating in New York City, Nassau County, and Westchester County, following investigations that revealed unlawful housing discrimination against potential applicants with Section 8 housing vouchers.(1)
  
  Local regulations prohibit discrimination in housing on the basis of lawful source of income, a category that includes government vouchers as well any legitimate occupation.(2)
  
  ***
  In 2015, the office received a complaint that Empire State Equities, which manages properties throughout Manhattan and the Bronx, rejected a prospective tenant with a Section 8 voucher. The individual was initially told that Empire would not accept “programs,” but when told that such a denial was unlawful discrimination, Empire claimed that it would accept Section 8, but said that there was a months-long waitlist for the apartment.
  
  The Attorney General’s office then conducted undercover phone tests, asking if Section 8 vouchers would be accepted by Empire. Each time, the testers were told they would be put on a waiting list that ranged from three to four months. Meanwhile, testers who called about the same properties but did not mention Section 8 were told that the units were immediately available. The Attorney General’s office then took testimony from the manager of Empire, who explained that a waitlist was essentially used to reject unwanted prospective tenants.
  
  The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) also conducted compliance testing to determine if Douglas Elliman and Crifasi Real Estate engaged in unlawful housing discrimination. Douglas Elliman has over 70 offices in the country, including several that list properties in Nassau County, while Crifasi lists properties in both Westchester and New York City.
  
  The OAG found that representatives from both companies twice told undercover testers that Section 8 and other government assistance programs would not be accepted at certain properties. The OAG also discovered that Crifasi had no written policy for employees regarding compliance with fair housing rules. Douglas Elliman had a written policy that prohibited source of income discrimination and related training for its employees, yet several listings in Nassau County nonetheless indicated that “current employment” was required for tenants.
  
  ***
  Crifasi will pay a $40,000 fine to New York State, Douglas Elliman will pay $35,000, and Empire will pay a $13,000 penalty.
  
  The Civil Rights Bureau of the Attorney General’s Office is committed to promoting fair housing policies and combating discrimination faced by all New Yorkers. To file a civil rights complaint, contact the Attorney General’s Office at (212) 416-8250, civil.rights@ag.ny.govor visit www.ag.ny.gov.

Source: A.G. Schneiderman Announces Settlements With Three Real Estate Companies For Unlawful Housing Discrimination (Attorney General’s Investigation Identified Evidence Of Systemic Discrimination Against Tenants Seeking To Use Section 8 Vouchers By Three Companies, Including Douglas Elliman, Fourth Largest Real Estate Company In The Country).

Go here for the Spanish version of the press release.

----------------------------------

(1) In 2014, the Attorney General also reached agreements with three NYC real estate brokers and two Buffalo landlords for discrimination against prospective tenants who received government assistance.

(2) It should be noted that the State of New York apparently still does not have a statewide law prohibiting housing discrimination based on a tenant's source of legal income. These cases involved the enforcement of fair housing ordinances passed by local municipalities (New York City, Nassau County, Westchester County). The City of Buffalo is another major municipality in New York State that has passed a similar fair housing ordinance.

Federal Appeals Court To Real Estate Developers: OK To Disregard Fair Housing Act's Design & Accessibility Requirements Where Abandoned, Century-Old Factory Is Near-Gutted, Then Converted Into 163-Unit Residential Rental Building

From a recent Justia US Law Opinion Summary:

• The apartment building, constructed in 1912, was used first as a factory, before it was abandoned. Goldtex purchased the the building in 2010 and hired KlingStubbins to design a plan to convert the entire building into rental apartment units and retail space.
  
  The building was almost gutted for conversion into a residential building with 163 apartment units and ground floor retail space that began accepting tenants in 2013.
  
  A housing advocacy group filed suit alleging violation of the design and accessibility requirements of the Fair Housing Act (FHA), 42 U.S.C. 3604(f)(3)(C).(1) The district court dismissed, citing HUD’s interpretation of the provision—which exempts converted buildings from the accessibility requirements if they were constructed prior to March 13, 1991.
  
  The Third Circuit affirmed, finding the agency’s interpretation entitled to deference. The interpretations are reasonable and reflect a legitimate policy choice by the agency in administering an ambiguous statute.(2)

Source: Justia Opinion Summary - Fair Hous. Rights Ctr. v. Post Goldtex GP LLC.

For the court ruling, see Fair Housing Rights Center in Southeastern Pennsylvania. v. Post Goldtex GP LLC, No. 15-1366 (3d Cir. 2016).

----------------------------

(1) Among the noted alleged violations were:

1. a main entrance door that was too heavy and the lack of an automatic door opener,
2. entry doors on units that were less than 32 inches,
3. units with thresholds into the entry hallway exceeding ¾ of an inch,
4. units with interior doors less than 32 inches,
5. units with passageways less than 36 inches, and
6. units with kitchen counters too high for persons in wheelchairs.

(2) I wonder if there were any violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act with respect to the ground-floor retail space. Just curious.

Owners, Operators Of Supportive Living Facility To Cough Up $630K To Resolve Housing Discrimination Allegations That It Applied A "No Mental Illness" Policy To Flatly Reject Any Tenants Revealing That They Have A Mental Health History, Regardless Of Circumstances & Without Proper Screening Or Assessment

In Washington, D.C., the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) recently announced:

• The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced [] that it has reached a $630,000 agreement with a group of Illinois property owners and a management company resolving allegations they violated the Fair Housing Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 by using rental screening policies that prevented applicants with mental disabilities from living in a supportive living complex the group owned. Read the agreement.
  
  The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in the sale or rental of a dwelling on the basis of disability. In addition, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.
  
  ***
  The case came to HUD's attention after several individuals with mental disabilities filed complaints alleging they were denied residency at the property managed by Eden Management, LLC, due to their disabilities. The individuals filed their complaints with the assistance of HOPE Fair Housing Center, a HUD Fair Housing Initiatives Program agency in DuPage County. HOPE conducted three tests at Eden and also filed a complaint with the Department.
  
  Under the terms of the Conciliation and Voluntary Compliance Agreement, Eden will pay Complainants $630,000, which includes relief and attorneys' fees and costs. The agreement further requires Eden to make significant policy changes, including revising its admissions manual and handbook; updating its non-discrimination statement; establishing a reasonable accommodation policy; and conducting fair housing training for employees.
  
  Furthermore, the company will develop a protocol to apply objective admissions criteria, notify all applicants of their due process rights, and refrain from asking applicants about the existence of mental disabilities or prescriptions during tours of the facility. Eden will also provide a letter to their top three referral sources encouraging individuals to apply regardless of mental disability.

Source: HUD Announces $630,000 Agreement With Illinois Property Owners, Managers Accused Of Discriminating Against Applicants With Disabilities.

See also, O'Connor v. Eden Management for a related federal lawsuit that was filed in connection with this matter, and which was settled as part of the above-referenced HUD Conciliation and Voluntary Compliance Agreement. According to this lawsuit, the plaintiffs alleged, among other things:

• The Eden Defendants have a “no mental illness” policy, which is readily communicated to applicants for housing. Plaintiff O’Connor was denied housing by the Eden Defendants on the mere threshold basis of having a “mental health history” or “mental health diagnosis.”
  
  HOPE Fair Housing Center received complaints about Eden’s “no mental illness” policy and conducted testing that confirmed it. O’Connor and HOPE Fair Housing Center (“HOPE”) challenge the Eden Defendants’ discriminatory policy of categorically denying housing and services to any and all people with mental health diagnoses in violation of the Fair Housing Act of 1968, as amended (“FHA”), the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (“§ 504” or “the Rehabilitation Act”).
  
  ***
  The Eden “no mental illness” policy is uniformly carried out by Eden representatives, who flatly reject any tenants from consideration who reveal informally or formally that they have a mental health history, regardless of their circumstances and without proper screening or assessment.
  

Landlord Faces Housing Discrimination Charges Over Allegedly Burdensome Policy Requiring Tenant Requests For Assistance Animals To Be Accompanied By Doctor's Prescription Form Indicating Doctor's Insurance Carrier Could Be Held Responsible For Any Damages Caused By Animal

In Washington, D.C., the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) recently announced:

• The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced [] that it charged a group of Utah property owners and their property manager with violating the Fair Housing Act by refusing to allow a single mother and her son, who has disabilities, to keep an assistance animal and by using burdensome policies and forms for reasonable accommodation requests for assistance animals at four properties. Read HUD's charge.
  
  ***
  The case came to HUD's attention when the woman filed a complaint alleging that the owners of Pinnacle Highland Apartments in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, discriminated against her family by refusing to allow her son, who has a mental disability, to keep an assistance animal. HUD's charge alleges that the woman asked that the development's "no-pets" policy be waived as a reasonable accommodation, but NALS Apartment Homes LLC, the property manager, denied her request.
  
  The charge further alleges that owners and managers had discriminatory policies, including requiring tenants with disabilities who requested reasonable accommodations related to assistance animals to submit a doctor's prescription form in which the doctor indicated that the doctor's insurance carrier could be held responsible for any damages caused by the assistance animal.
  
  The woman filed her fair housing complaint with the help of the Disability Law Center, a [non-profit] HUD Fair Housing Initiatives Program agency based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Disability Law Center also filed a complaint with HUD, and HUD's charge alleges that DLC was injured by respondents' allegedly discriminatory conduct across the four properties.(1)
  
  ***
  Read HUD's notice regarding service or assistance animals.

Source: HUD Charges Utah Management Company And Landlords With Discriminating Against People With Disabilities (Child with disabilities allegedly denied assistance animal).

--------------------------

(1) According to the HUD charge, Disability Law Center conducted fair housing tests at 3 rental complexes to investigate the landlord's housing practices.

Baltimore Jury Slams Notorious Zombie Debt Buyer w/ $38 Million Verdict For Garnishing People By Obtaining Money Judgments From Lawsuits It Had No Right To File

In Baltimore, Maryland, WBAL-TV Channel 11 (via Public Citizen's Consumer Law & Policy Blog) reports:

• A Baltimore jury hit a Las Vegas debt collector with a $38 million judgment, the largest judgment against a debt collector in Maryland history. The money from the class-action lawsuit will be split among 1,589 people.
  
  "What we asked the jury to do was to not just return the illegal money that was taken, but to also return the profits that were made from that money," said Phillip Robinson, an attorney with the Consumer Law Center LLC. Robinson said debt collection company LVNV Funding LLC re-invested the money collected from Maryland residents.
  
  "The jury did the right thing and found for damages," Robinson said.
  
  Robinson said that in 2013, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals held that a judgment in favor of an unlicensed collection agency was void, but LVNV kept collecting up until last week.
  
  "It filed thousands of lawsuits without the right to do so, and from those lawsuits, it garnished people," Robinson said.
  
  "We had one person testify that he works, makes $8.75 an hour, and he was being garnished for this debt, so his take-home pay every two weeks was reduced by $100, so he had $400 to take home," said Scott Borison, an attorney with the Legg Law Firm LLP.
  
  Borison said jury trials are unusual in class-action lawsuits.
  
  "This was a company who knew they did something wrong, and rather than just own up to it and give the money back voluntarily, they insisted we go to trial," Borison said.
  
  Robinson said people should always seek legal guidance if a debt collector takes them to court.
  
  "Just do not accept the premise that the person suing you has the right to do so. You have rights, and there are resources to help you," Robinson said.

Source: Jury hits debt collector with $38M judgment (LVNV Funding LLC to appeal).

Manhattan DA Scores Criminal Usury Guilty Plea From Online Payday Lender; Defendant Forks Over $3 Million, Agrees To Cough Up Add'l $6 Million In Forfeiture Proceeds; Two Others Also Admit Guilt For Roles In Excessively High-Interest Loan-Peddling Racket

From the Office of the New York County (Manhattan) District Attorney:

• Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., announced the guilty pleas of CAREY VAUGHN BROWN, 57, as well as two companies he operated and controlled, CREDIT PAYMENT SERVICES, INC. (“CPS”) and MYCASHNOW.COM, INC. (“MYCASHNOW”), to Criminal Usury in the First Degree for engaging in a scheme to make multiple short-term, high-interest loans – known as “payday” loans – to Manhattan residents.
  
  As part of a plea agreement executed May 12, 2016, BROWN has already forfeited $3 million, and is bound by the terms of the agreement to pay an additional $6 million in forfeiture to victims. Under the terms set forth in a forfeiture order, a compensation fund will be set up by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office’s Asset Forfeiture Unit to compensate verified victims of BROWN’s payday lending scheme. BROWN is also required to perform 250 hours of community service under the plea agreement.
  
  ***
  In New York State, it is a crime for an unlicensed lender to charge more than 25 percent per annum interest on any loan less than $2.5 million.
  
  As part of his guilty plea, BROWN admitted that, between 2001 and 2013, he owned, controlled, or was the final decision-maker for MYCASHNOW, an online payday lender that, at BROWN’s direction, made loans to customers featuring an annual percentage rate of well over 25 percent. These loans were made around the country, including to customers in New York.
  
  ***
  Co-defendants RONALD BEAVER, 57, JOANNA TEMPLE, 60, previously pleaded guilty to Attempted Criminal Usury in the Second Degree on December 14 and December 17, 2015, respectively, for their roles in the payday lending scheme.
  
  BEAVER served as the chief operating officer and TEMPLE served as legal counsel for BROWN’s payday lending business; SCENIC CITY LEGAL GROUP, P.C., a company TEMPLE formed after deriving at least 90 percent of its business from BROWN’S payday organization, also pleaded guilty to Attempted Criminal Usury in the Second Degree.

Source: DA Vance Announces Guilty Pleas Of "Payday" Lenders For Criminal Usury Scheme (Three Individuals and Two Payday Lending Companies Convicted of Issuing or Attempting to Issue Short-Term Loans with Interest Rates Exceeding 300 Percent).

County Tax Lien Sales To Aggressive Collection Agencies Leave Vulnerable Akron-Area Seniors Facing Foreclosure Over Inflated Lien Claims

In Akron, Ohio, WEWS-TV Channel 5 reports:

• Summit County detectives are assisting a growing number of seniors who are facing foreclosure after homeowners tax liens are sold to aggressive collections agencies.
  
  65 year old Dan Vercuski is facing the loss of his Coventry Township home, a home he owns free and clear, but is now set for a summer sheriff's sale.
  
  Vercuski admits he owed $13,000 in back taxes to Summit County for several years, but said he was never told his tax lien was sold to Woods Cove LLC, or that the foreclosure process was being pursued on his home over a four year period.
  
  "I wasn't notified for years that this was happening," said Vercuski. "I wasn't told until my home was given a date for sheriff's sale, by then it was too late."
  
  Summit County detective Michelle Porter confirmed Vercuski was being charged 18% interest by Woods Cove LLC, causing the tax debt to balloon to more than $40,000.
  
  Porter said more and more seniors are falling victim to his dilemma and are facing foreclosure.
  
  "Senior citizens need to respond when they're first told about a tax delinquency, this way they can make arraignments with the county," said Porter. "Once the tax lien is sold to a collection agency, then the payment requirements become a lot tougher."
  
  Porter said Summit County detectives handled 1300 cases in trying to help seniors in 2015, and that number is expected to grow significantly in 2016.
  
  Vercuski said he now stands to lose $200,000 in equity in his home because he doesn't have enough income or a high enough credit rating to be able to get a loan and make the required payments on the tax debt.
  
  Vercuski is now turning to legal aid to see if there is anything that can be done to save his home of more than 30 years.

Source: More N.E Ohio seniors are losing homes after tax liens are sold to collection agencies.

Stripped Of Broker's License, Sleazy Real Estate Operator Gets Six Years In State Prison For Running Scam That Conned Financially Strapped Homeowners Into Relinquishing Control Of Their Homes In Exchange For Phony Short Sale Promises, Then Using Properties In Rent Skimming Racket By Duping Renters Into Leases

In Indianapolis, Indiana, the Indianapolis Business Journal reports:

• A former Indianapolis real estate broker was sentenced to six years in prison [] after being found guilty last month of defrauding homeowners and renters on the city’s south side who were having financial difficulties.
  
  David Garden received a 24-year sentence, but 18 years were suspended. He also was ordered to pay restitution to his victims in an amount to be determined later by the court.
  
  Garden was found guilty by a jury April 6 of 11 counts of forgery, 10 counts of theft and one count of corrupt business influence.
  
  He was prosecuted for a real estate scam that involved 14 victims, taking advantage of homeowners facing foreclosure and potential renters. He operated as a real estate agent under several business names, including Star Homes, Inc., Garden Homes Realty, Christian Home Realty, and Five Star Realty.
  
  Garden gained control of the properties under the false pretense of assisting homeowners in obtaining a short-sale of their home, the prosecutor’s office said. Instead, he placed tenants in the properties without the knowledge or consent of the property owners.
  
  In one instance, Garden gained control of a home that was already in the foreclosure process and personally occupied if for about 13 months without making payments to the owners or the mortgage lender, the prosecutor’s office said.
  
  Garden’s real estate license was stripped in April 2014 by the Indiana Real Estate Commission over dozens of rules violations. He was fined $26,000 in civil penalties and ordered to pay $15,000 in restitution and costs.
  
  “Many of the victims in this case were in a dire financial position,” Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said in a written statement. "They were faced with the prospect of losing their home, and they were misled by David Garden that he would help them salvage what they could out of the home’s value. Other victims trusted Garden, who presented himself as a legitimate real estate agent, to find safe rental homes for their families. Instead, Garden took advantage of these victims, leaving them without a home and out thousands of dollars.”
  
  Investigators said several properties he rented to individuals and families were in deplorable condition, including some that were issued vacate orders by the Marion County Superior Court. Despite the order that the properties were to remain vacant, Garden took money from renters knowing that they could never live there.

Source: Former real estate broker Garden sentenced to six years.

Newark Con Artist Gets Three Years In Failed Effort To Use Forged Deed To Hijack Title To Church Out From Under Local Pastor; Head County Recording Official: We Get People Coming Into Our Office Trying To Pull This Crap At Least Twice A Week!

In Newark, New Jersey, The Star-Ledger reports:

• Bishop Frank Garris Jr. knew something wasn't right when he tried to do a walk-through of the Newark church he had just closed on.
  
  He wanted to inspect the property, but the alarm at Clinton Avenue Presbyterian Church wouldn't shut off – even after Garris entered the code to do so.
  
  Newark police arrived and so did Ramon Hamlett, a 35-year-old Newark man claiming to be the pastor.
  
  "He said, 'What are you doing in my church?' '' Garris recalled. "I don't know how long this guy thought he could get away with this."
  
  What Garris discovered last year was that Hamlett was trying to steal the church property.
  
  But Hamlett didn't get far when he tried to take over the church by filing a fraudulent deed with information that is easily accessible at the Essex County Register of Deeds and Mortgages in the Hall of Records. He eventually was arrested and later pleaded guilty to theft by deception and tampering, and was sentenced to three years in prison.
  
  What Essex County officials want residents to know is that there are more people out there like him than they would believe, scammers who create and file fraudulent deeds to transfer property titles without owners' knowledge.
  
  "There are people trying to (commit) a fraudulent act at least twice a week,'' said Essex County Register Dana Rone.
  
  ***
  The Ramon Hamletts of the world, [], are out to do harm with fraudulent deeds. Rone said some even use them to obtain bank loans and leave property owners stuck with the debt. Others may try to keep the bank from foreclosing on their property. A family member can attempt to circumvent a will to make himself the sole owner of a relative's home. An individual could dupe renters at a large apartment building, claiming to be the new owner and telling occupants to redirect payments to him.

For more, see How people can secretly steal your property in New Jersey.

Connecticut Man Gets Pinched For Allegedly Swiping $220K Condo Out From Under His 84-Year Old, Dementia-Stricken Mom With Forged Deed

In Stamford, Connecticut, the Stamford Advocate reports:

• The 62-year-old son of a Shippan woman suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and dementia has been charged by police with forging a quitclaim deed that purportedly gave him possession of his mother’s $220,000 condominium.
  
  According to the arrest affidavit charging Marcos Robalino with criminal attempt at first-degree and second-degree larceny, police received a complaint last November from Robalino’s niece that he was trying to scam his ailing mother out of her Shippan Avenue condo.
  
  The woman told police that her 84-year-old grandmother was suffering from dementia and that her uncle Marcos was living at his mother’s condo.
  
  The woman said her Uncle Marcos lacked family allegiance and was out only to benefit himself and a narcissist. She said her grandmother’s other five sons and two daughters allowed her uncle Marcos to live at the condo after he went through a divorce because he had nowhere else to go. Robalino’s mother had since been moved into another of her son’s homes, as her mental health waned.
  
  But in 2015, not living up to the financial and maintenance obligations he had promised and agreed to when he moved in, an eviction proceeding by the family had been filed against him.
  
  In November after being evicted, Robalino presented a quitclaim deed apparently signed by his mother, giving him possession of the condo for $1.
  
  A number of family members explained to police investigator Paul DeRiu that Robalino’s mother had slipped so far mentally that her signature could not have been legally obtained.
  
  A judge at the Housing Session at the Norwalk Courthouse, where Robalino was evicted, would not recognize the document and Robalino’s eviction proceeded.

Source: Son charged in scam to take elderly mom’s condo in Stamford.

Woman Gets Pinched For Allegedly Using Forged Deed To Swipe Title To House Owned By Her Brother; Investigator: Notary Admitted That Victim Was Not Present & Signature Was Already On Document When It Was Notarized

In Pine Bluff, Arkansas, The Commercial reports:

• A Pine Bluff woman was arrested [] after she allegedly forged her brother’s name on a property deed.
  
  Tangela Tate, 35, was taken into custody after her brother contacted police [] to report that the signature on a warranty deed for a house on West 24th Avenue had been forged, Detective Michael Merritt said in a probable cause affidavit presented in district court Monday.
  
  According to the affidavit, the man said Tate had prepared the form, and he showed detectives that the signature on the form and his signature were different.
  
  Merritt said in the affidavit that he spoke to the notary and was told that Johnson was not present when the deed was notarized, and said Tate brought the form in with a signature already on it.
  
  When Tate was interviewed, she allegedly said she did not sign the form, and said the house belonged to her, and “she did not know why her brother was trying to keep her from it.”
  
  Pine Bluff District Judge John Kearney set a $10,000 bond for Tate after ruling prosecutors have probable cause to charge her with first-degree forgery.
  
  Tate said she would hire her own attorney.

Source: Woman arrested after allegedly forging signature on property deed.

Bankster Dodges $1.3 Billion Judgment For Stuffing Crappy Home Mortgages Into Investor Portfolios; Federal Appeals Court Accepts BofA's 'We Didn't Mean To' Defense, Saying Racket Wasn't Really A Fraud - "At Most An Intentional Breach Of Contract", Ruling Gives White-Collar Wrongdoers "An All-Purpose Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free Card"

Financial columnist Michael Hiltzik writes in the Los Angeles Times:

• If I'm ever dragged into court for a financial fraud, I want to throw myself on the mercy of Judge Richard C. Wesley.
  
  Wesley is the U.S. appeals court judge in New York who, with his colleagues Reena Raggi and Christopher F. Droney, found a loophole in federal fraud law big enough for the nation's second-largest bank to fit through without even scratching a fender. In a ruling written by Wesley and issued [last week], the three judges tossed out a $1.3-billion judgment against Bank of America for stuffing thousands of lousy mortgages into the portfolios of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2007 and 2008 by pretending they were high-quality loans. Their ruling turned on the curious question: "When is a fraud not a fraud, but just, sort of, a lie?"(1)
  
  Anyone concerned about white-collar crime should be find the appellate court's logic appalling. One who does is Dennis Kelleher, a former corporate lawyer who is now CEO of the financial watchdog group Better Markets.(2) "You wonder why the American people are so cynical," he told me after the decision came down. "It's because there's an endless reservoir of ways to figure out how to hold no one accountable for illegal conduct."
  
  In Monday's decision, the appellate judges didn't actually question that the mortgages sold to Fannie and Freddie by BofA (originally via Countrywide Financial, the subprime lender BofA acquired in 2007) weren't the quality they were claimed to be. Indeed, they didn't really address at all that question, which was analyzed in great detail by the trial court judge who imposed the $1.3-billion penalty, New York Federal Judge Jed S. Rakoff.
  
  ***
  The judges based their ruling on the contracts that Countrywide had reached with Fannie and Freddie, pledging to provide those government-sponsored firms with "investment quality" mortgages. There was no evidence, the appellate judges found, that the executives who signed those contracts intended at the time to stuff the pipeline with toxic junk. It just turned out that way.
  
  Because there was no intent to defraud when the contracts were signed, the judges ruled, this whole affair is merely a case of breach of contract, not fraud. The penalties for a breach are much lower than those for fraud--often, the guilty party has to give back the money it got from breaking the contract. According to the judges' analysis, a mere breach of contract can't be elevated into a case for fraud.
  
  ***
  The biggest danger with the court's exoneration of the bank, however, is that it provides a road map for white-collar wrongdoers to evade responsibility. Breach-of-contract damages, as Kelleher says, have "zero deterrent effect -- there's no downside for committing the fraud." You either get away with it and pocket the gains, or you get caught, and have to give back the money. The way to stamp out fraud, however, is to make punishment greater than the potential gains.
  
  That course was closed off by the appeals judges. Wrongdoing executive now know they only have to dredge up a preexisting contract "breached" by their behavior--since few businesses enter into contract plotting in advance to make it the vehicle for fraud, this becomes an all-purpose get-out-of-jail-free card.
  
  It's quite possible that the appeals court happened upon a loophole that had been lying around for years. If that's the case, Congress should close it, quick. On the other hand, Judge Rakoff anticipated and rejected that argument, and even pointed out that Congress closed the loophole by amending the mail fraud statute -- in 1909. It's also likely that the government will appeal the latest ruling to the full 2nd circuit court, and thence, if necessary, to the Supreme Court.
  
  The loophole Judges Wesley, Raggi, and Droney identified should hearten anyone motivated by pure greed in financial dealings. For the rest of us, it's a ticking time bomb, until Congress or the courts extinguish the fuse.

For the story, see The legal technicality that let BofA skate on an alleged billion-dollar mortgage fraud.

See also, ProPublica/The New Yorker: Bank of America’s Winning Excuse: We Didn’t Mean To (A federal appeals court overturned a $1.3 billion judgement against Bank of America, ruling that good intentions at the outset shield bankers from fines for subsequent fraud):

• [T]he 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals looked at that judgment and asked this question: If a entity (in this case, a bank) enters into a contract pure of heart and only deceives its partners afterward, is that fraud?
  
  The three-judge panel’s answer was no. Bank of America is no longer required to pay the judgment.

------------------------------

(1) See United States, ex rel. O'Donnell v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., Nos. 15-496, 15-499 (2d Cir. May 23, 2016):

• On appeal, Defendants argue that the evidence at trial shows at most an intentional breach of contract—i.e. that they sold mortgages that they knew were not of the quality promised in their contracts—and is insufficient as a matter of law to find fraud.
  
  We agree, concluding that the trial evidence fails to demonstrate the contemporaneous fraudulent intent necessary to prove a scheme to defraud through contractual promises. Accordingly, we reverse with instructions to enter judgment in favor of Defendants.

(2) Mr. Kelleher, on behalf of Better Markets, Inc., submitted a "friend of the court" brief in this case in support of upholding the trial court's $1.3 billion judgment against Bank of America.

West Virginia Jury Hammers Notoriously Sleazy Loan Servicer With $2.5 Million In Punitive Damages For Failure To Reasonably Investigate Homeowner's Credit Report Dispute That He Was Being Falsely Reported To Be In Foreclosure

In Beckley, West Virginia, the West Virginia Record reports:

• A Wood County man will receive more than $2.5 million after a federal jury said a mortgage service company didn’t investigate his repeated disputes of his credit report.
  
  A federal jury on May 23 awarded $6,128.39 in compensatory damages and $2.5 million in punitive damages to David M. Daugherty of Vienna. He had sued Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC and Equifax Information Services LLC in Raleigh County in 2014. The defendants had the case removed to federal court.
  
  After a six-day trial before Judge Irene Berger, the jury ruled in favor of Daugherty, saying Ocwen willfully violated the Fair Credit and Reporting Act. One component of that act requires that a company investigate all disputes. Daugherty had filed several disputes with Ocwen after receiving Equifax credit reports showing him behind on his mortgage payment.
  
  Ocwen, however, said Daugherty had other negative accounts and wouldn’t have been given the loan. Ocwen also said its investigation of Daugherty’s dispute was sufficient.
  
  Jed Nolan, one of Daugherty’s attorneys, said Ocwen’s investigation was nothing more than checking basic information such as Daugherty’s Social Security number and his loan account numbers.
  
  “Mr. Daugherty had a balloon note mortgage, and he had to pay an $80,000 balloon payment,” said Nolan, with the law firm of Hamilton Burgess Young and Pollard. “He wasn’t behind on his mortgage payments, yet the credit report showed he was five months behind. It said he was in foreclosure, and he wasn’t. Ocwen even acknowledged he wasn’t in foreclosure.”
  
  Daugherty and Equifax settled before the case when to trial.
  
  “The thing is, the company doesn’t even have to get the investigation right,” Nolan said. “They just have to do a thorough job of investigating a dispute. Ocwen wasn’t doing that. It wasn’t doing a reasonable investigation. Ocwen wouldn’t look at the rest of the information.”
  
  Nolan said he thinks the jury came up with the $2.5 million figure for punitive damages when Ocwen testified that it was the company’s policy to not look past that basic information when investigating a dispute.
  
  “I can’t say what the jury thought, but it seems to me that it wasn’t just a matter of Ocwen made a mistake looking at the report,” Nolan said. “I think the jury got frustrated Ocwen wasn’t looking beyond these basic information points and not verifying what they were told was accurate.
  
  “I don’t think the jury was swayed by sympathy. They sent a strong message that you have to follow the law. You have to investigate these disputes. They said Ocwen didn’t do enough to investigate his complaint. It wasn’t just a negligent mistake. It was willful.
  
  Daugherty was represented by Nolan as well as Steven Broadwater, Ralph Young and Christopher Frost at Fayetteville-based Hamilton Burgess as well as Sarah Brown with Mountain State Justice in Charleston. Ocwen was represented by Jason Manning, John Lynch and Jonathan Kenney of Troutman Sanders in Virginia Beach, Va.

Source: Jury awards man $2.5M in punitive damages over mortgage credit report.

Federal Lead Paint Police Hit Lewiston-Auburn, Maine, Putting Local Landlords, Contractors On Notice To Comply w/ Applicable Laws Relating To Pre-1978-Built Homes Or Face Being Belted w/ Fines

In Lewiston, Maine, the Sun Journal reports:

• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched an effort to clean up lead paint in Lewiston-Auburn.
  
  Curt Spaulding, the EPA's regional administrator in Boston, said the effort was unique to Lewiston-Auburn, the area with the highest number of lead-poisoned children in the state.
  
  The agency has put painting and renovation contractors, landlords and property management companies on notice that it will begin inspecting work projects in Lewiston-Auburn in June. Inspectors will work to ensure federal law is being followed and the EPA may fine those who are not in compliance, according to a news release.

For more, see EPA focuses on Lewiston-Auburn landlords in new lead paint effort.

For the Environmental Protection Agency press release, see EPA Begins Effort to Reduce Children's Exposure to Lead Paint in Lewiston/Auburn, Maine Area:

• Under the initiative, EPA will provide educational materials on lead paint rules to affected companies. EPA will also outline steps the Agency is taking to increase compliance on the part of these entities with the federal lead-based paint Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule under the Toxic Substances Control Act. EPA's RRP Rule became effective in April 2010.

Go here for links to examples of landlords getting hammered by the EPA for getting tripped up by the federal RRP Rule, and here to file a complaint reporting violations with EPA.

Go here for Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule Frequently Asked Questions.

Go here for the federal Renovate Right brochure that landlords and contractors are required to give to tenants before renovating more than six square feet of painted surfaces in a room for interior projects or more than twenty square feet of painted surfaces for exterior projects or window replacement or demolition in housing, child care facilities and schools built before 1978.

Go here for EPA Lead Paint Renovation Compliance Guide for landlords, property managers, contractors, and maintenance personnel working in homes, schools, and child-occupied facilities built before 1978.

Squatters Find A Home In Sin City, Hijacking Possession Of Vacant Foreclosures w/ Impunity & Little Fear Of Prosecution; Violent Crime Epidemic, Shortage Of Law Enforcement Resources Leave Little Time For Cops To Investigate Fake Leases, Pursue 'Free Housing' Opportunists; "It's Been A Total Circus," Says One Resident

In Las Vegas, Nevada, The New York Times reports:

• Squatters have descended on every corner of the Las Vegas Valley, taking over empty houses in struggling working-class neighborhoods, in upscale planned communities like Summerlin, and everywhere in between. And they often bring a trail of crime with them.
  
  While some unauthorized tenants are families seeking shelter, police officers here say they are more frequently finding chop shops, drug dealers and counterfeiters operating out of foreclosed homes. One man who the police say was squatting has been charged with murdering a neighbor during a burglary.
  
  ***
  Residents say the explosion of squatters has shattered their sense of security, leaving them wary of any new neighbors at a time when the city is still trying to climb back from the depths of the recession.
  
  “Things get out of hand pretty quickly when these people move in,” said Jacquelyn Romero, 59, who has lived in the neighborhood for about 15 years. “We’re trying to do almost like a neighborhood watch, just to keep ourselves safe.”
  
  ***
  The problem has grown so acute that the Nevada Legislature passed a law last fall to make it easier to arrest squatters, who often brandish phony leases in hopes of staying longer in the homes they have taken over.
  
  “People drive through neighborhoods and look for houses that appear to be vacant,” said Lt. Nick Farese, who is leading the police department’s antisquatter efforts. He said that squatters occupied homes across this entire city of 600,000 people, adding that “we have seen a direct correlation between squatter houses and crime — burglaries, theft, robberies, narcotics.”
  
  ***
  But with a transient population of down-and-out gamblers and a glut of homes that have already been foreclosed, opportunists can still take their pick of thousands of empty houses. Inside one, squatters had scrawled a warning to stay away on a wall: “Violent tweekers on guard.”
  
  In North Las Vegas, Deborah Lewis has seen just about every kind of squatter at the house next door since the owners walked away four years ago. [...] “It’s been a total circus — you name it, we’ve had it next door,” Ms. Lewis, 58, said. “It’s scary, because you don’t know if these people are packing. One guy came over here, and he was looking in our window. Scary.”
  
  ***
  The new law has hardly been a cure-all, though. Investigating fake leases cases takes time, police officers say, and usually involves finding the legal owner — and owners who walked away from underwater mortgages are not always in the mood to help.
  
  And years of budget cuts during the recession have left local police departments short on resources.
  
  “One of the biggest challenges is carving out time to combat squatters in the middle of the violent crime epidemic we’re facing,” Lieutenant Farese said. “There’s a lack of budget, a lack of manpower.”

For more, see Squatters See a New Frontier in the Empty Homes of Las Vegas.

NYC To Begin Squeezing Landlords Of 12 Buildings ("Dirty Dozen") Out Of About $30K/Month In Tenants' Housing Subsidies Unless They Quickly Clear Up Over 2,000 Violations

In New York City, Gothamist reports;

• In an attempt to put more pressure on some of New York's worst landlords, the city is trying something new: the Department of Social Services will withhold rent payments for eight notorious landlords' tenants who receive public assistance, unless the landlords quickly resolve 2,000-plus violations spread across 12 buildings in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Queens. More than 350 of those violations are classified as "immediately hazardous," such as inadequate fire exits, rodents, lead-based paint, and lack of heat, hot water, electricity, or gas.
  
  ***
  Those 12 buildings, which the city has dubbed the "Dirty Dozen," are home to over 1,800 tenants, 72 of whom are on public assistance.
  
  In order to legally withhold rent payments for those 72 tenants, the city is invoking the 1962 Spiegel Law, which allows its Human Resources Administration/Department of Social Services to stop making payments if conditions in the building are "dangerous, hazardous, or detrimental to life and health." HRA/DSS has sent letters to the landlords informing them that if they don't request a re-inspection to show that they've corrected the violations within 15 days, the city can start withholding rent, which will amount to about $30,000/month.
  
  It's possible it won't get to that point: the city invoked the Spiegel Law in two test cases against landlords in the Bronx last year, and both landlords fixed the violations before any rent payments were withheld.

For the story, see City Threatens Rent Strike Against 8 Of The 'Worst Landlords'.

Q&A For NYC Renters Living In Buildings Facing Foreclosure

In New York City, am New York reports:

• Finding out that your apartment building is being foreclosed on -- for whatever reason -- can be a confusing and stressful time for any renter in New York City.
  
  Maybe you've heard rumblings in your hallway, or maybe you've received a notice on your door telling you that everything you know about your living situation may soon change; regardless, there are important facts to know when it comes to protecting your rights as a tenant.
  
  From building maintenance to potential eviction scenarios [...]:

• What is the notice that was posted on my building’s door mean?

• What if I am named as a defendant on a foreclosure, but I don’t own the building?

• Do I still pay rent during a foreclosure? If so, who do I pay?

• Does my landlord need to maintain the building during foreclosure?

• I received a notice that I have a new landlord. Can I be evicted?

• Can a new landlord raise rent while I still have a lease from my old landlord?

• How can I confirm that the new landlord of my building is the legitimate owner?

• What should I do if I believe my rights as a tenant are being violated?

For the answers to the above questions, see Foreclosures explained: What NYC tenants need to know.

Another Pilfering Lawyer Pinched By Manhattan DA Joins Prison Parade, Gets 2 1/3-To-7 Years In State Slammer For $800K+ Swindle; Victims Include Two Dead Clients, Heirs, Parties In Real Estate Deal

From the Office of the New York County (Manhattan) District Attorney:

• Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., [] announced the sentencing of JOHN TODOROVICH, 63, an attorney, to 2 ⅓-to-7 years in state prison for stealing more than $800,000 from two former clients’ estate accounts and a deposit owed to a former client related to the sale of his apartment.(1) On April 4, 2016, the defendant pleaded guilty in New York State Supreme Court to two counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree and on April 25, 2016 the defendant pleaded guilty in New York State Supreme Court to one additional count of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree.
  
  “John Todorovich took an oath to act in his clients’ best interests, but he violated that oath by draining their accounts,” said District Attorney Vance. “Theft and fraud committed by attorneys erodes confidence in the entire legal profession. I thank the prosecutors in my Office’s Financial Frauds Bureau for putting a stop to this theft and I encourage anyone who believes that he or she may have been the victim of this type of fraud to call my Office’s Financial Frauds hotline at 212-335-8900.”
  
  As admitted in the defendant’s guilty plea, TODOROVICH, who specialized in trusts and estates as well as real estate transactions, previously owned John B. Todorovich, a law practice previously located at 355 Lexington Avenue in Midtown. On April 26, 2010, while serving as the co-executor of the estate of a former client, the defendant stole $267,000 from the estate’s account by transferring the money into his business and personal accounts. In a second theft, from August 12, 2011 to July 31, 2012, while serving as the executor of the estate of a former client, TODOROVICH stole approximately $368,000 in a similar manner.
  
  On August 16, 2012, TODOROVICH was representing the seller of a property located at 83 East 7th Street. A potential buyer provided the defendant with a check for $220,000 as a deposit for the property to be held in escrow. Instead, TODOROVICH deposited the check into his Interest on Lawyer Accounts and, over the next two months, made numerous transfers of the funds to his personal accounts, depleting the deposit almost entirely.
  
  TODOROVICH spent more than $800,000 of the stolen money on personal expenses, including memberships to country clubs and car payments for a Mercedes.

Source: DA Vance: John Todorovich Sentenced To 2 1/3-To-7 Years In State Prison For Stealing More Than $800,000 (Attorney Convicted of Stealing From Estate and Escrow Accounts).

See, generally, Frederick Miller, "If You Can't Trust Your Lawyer .... ?", 138 Univ. of Pennsylvania Law Rev. 785 (1990) for more on the apparent, long-standing tolerance for deceit by many in the legal profession:

• This tolerance to deception is encouraged by the profession's institutional civility. Seldom is a fig called a fig, or a shyster a shyster. No, our euphemisms are wonderfully polite: "frivolous conduct," or a "lack of candor;" or "law-office failure;" or, heaven forbid, a "peculation," a "defalcation," or a "negative balance" in a law firms's trust account.
  
  There is also widespread reluctance on the part of lawyers --- again, some lawyers --- to discuss publicly, much less acknowledge, that they have colleagues who engage in deceit and unprofessional conduct.
  
  This reluctance is magnified when the brand of deceit involves the theft of client money and property, notwithstanding that most lawyers would agree that stealing from clients is the ultimate ethical transgression.[...] The fact is, however, that theft of client property is not an insignificant or isolated problem within the legal profession. Indeed, it is a hounding phenomenon nationwide, and probably the principal reason why most lawyers nationwide are disbarred from the practice of law.

---------------------------

(1) The Lawyers’ Fund For Client Protection Of the State of New York manages and distributes money collected from annual dues paid by members of the state bar to members of the public who have sustained a financial loss caused by the dishonest conduct of a member of the New York bar acting as an attorney or a fiduciary.

For similar "attorney ripoff reimbursement funds" that attempt to clean up the financial mess created by the dishonest conduct of lawyers licensed in other states and Canada, see:

• Directory Of Lawyers' Funds For Client Protection (now includes a listing for Canadian client protection funds, courtesy of the American Bar Association);
• Check the USA Client Protection Funds Map;
• Check the Canada Client Protection Funds Map.

Maps available courtesy of The National Client Protection Organization, Inc.

See generally:

• N.Y. fund for cheated clients wants thieving lawyers disbarred, a July, 2015 Associated Press story on this Fund reporting that the Fund's executive director, among other things, is calling for prompt referral to the local district attorney when the disciplinary committee has uncontested evidence of theft by a lawyer injuring a client or an admission of culpability;
  
  When Lawyers Steal the Escrow, a June, 2005 New York Times story describing some cases of client reimbursements ("With real estate business surging and down-payment amounts rising with home prices, the temptation for a lawyer to filch money from a bulging escrow account and later repay it with other clients' money has never been greater, said lawyers who monitor the thefts."),
  
  Thieving Lawyers Draining Client Security Funds, a December, 1991 New York Times story that gives some-real life examples of how client security funds deal with claims and the pressures the administrators of those funds may feel when left insufficiently financed as a result of the misconduct of a handful of lawyer/scoundrels.

Securities Feds File Civil Suit Accusing Two Texas Lawyers With Raiding Client Escrow Accounts To The Tune Of $13.8 Million

In Washington D.C., the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission recently announced:

• The Securities and Exchange Commission [] announced fraud charges against two attorneys accused of making undisclosed risky investments and in some instances outright stealing money they obtained in escrow accounts from small business owners seeking commercial loans.
  
  The SEC alleges that Jay Mac Rust and Christopher K. Brenner collected $13.8 million acting as escrow agents between their clients and a purported loan company called Atlantic Rim Funding.
  
  Rust and Brenner assured clients that their deposits of 10 percent of the desired loan amount would be held safe and only used to purchase liquid, government-backed securities that Atlantic would then leverage to obtain their loans.
  
  According to the SEC’s complaint, Atlantic had no ability or intention to obtain these loans. Yet when that became obvious to Rust and Brenner they each continued to make misrepresentations to clients and collected more money anyway. Rust siphoned $662,000 and Brenner took $595,000 in client funds to pay themselves and others, and they gambled on risky securities derivatives with the remainder of the money.
  
  Rust and Brenner each opened numerous securities accounts at broker-dealers to make these trades, and avoided scrutiny by lying that the money being used was their own cash rather than client assets.
  
  SEC examiners detected the scheme when examining one of the brokerage firms where trades were being placed.
  
  “We allege that these attorneys betrayed the trust of their clients by luring them with promises of small business loans that never materialized. They continued to recruit new escrow clients to repay earlier clients and did everything but keep client money safe as they represented they would,” said Andrew M. Calamari, Director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office.

For the press release, see SEC Charges Two Attorneys With Defrauding Escrow Clients.

See also, CFO.com: Texas Attorneys Accused in $13M Escrow Scam (The SEC says J. Mac Rust and Christopher Benner siphoned off client funds to pay themselves and invest in risky securities).

For the SEC lawsuit, see Securities & Exchange Commission v. Rust, et al.

76-Year Old Lawyer Loses Last Case Of His Career, Bowing Out w/ Guilty Plea To Raiding Client Trust Account Of Over $5 Million

In New York City, the New York Law Journal reports:

• A disbarred lawyer pleaded guilty in federal court earlier this [month] to defrauding clients out of more than $5 million.
  
  Stuart A. Schlesinger [] admitted to one count of wire fraud before Southern District Judge William Pauley.
  
  Schlesinger's attorney, Murray Richman of the Bronx, said his client, once a name partner at the now-disbanded firm Julien & Schlesinger, allocuted to fraud in excess of $5 million. A wire fraud conviction carries a sentence of up to 20 years.
  
  The Southern District U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI announced Schlesinger's arrest in December 2015 for stealing personal injury settlement proceeds (NYLJ, Dec. 18, 2015). Schlesinger, 76, waived indictment in the case.
  
  By the time of his arrest, Schlesinger had already been disbarred by the Appellate Division, First Department, for several months. He resigned from the bar, saying he could not successfully fight disciplinary misconduct claims of misappropriating some $600,000 in settlement funds.
  
  Schlesinger graduated from Fordham University School of Law and was admitted to the bar in 1965. Richman said his client would make an effort at restitution. "It's a sad day to see a lawyer fall so far," Richman said.
  
  Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 16.
  

Source: Disbarred Attorney Admits Defrauding Clients of $5M (may require paid subscription; if no subscription, GO HERE, then click the appropriate link to the story).

See, generally, Frederick Miller, "If You Can't Trust Your Lawyer .... ?", 138 Univ. of Pennsylvania Law Rev. 785 (1990) for more on the apparent, long-standing tolerance for deceit by many in the legal profession:

• This tolerance to deception is encouraged by the profession's institutional civility. Seldom is a fig called a fig, or a shyster a shyster. No, our euphemisms are wonderfully polite: "frivolous conduct," or a "lack of candor;" or "law-office failure;" or, heaven forbid, a "peculation," a "defalcation," or a "negative balance" in a law firms's trust account.
  
  There is also widespread reluctance on the part of lawyers --- again, some lawyers --- to discuss publicly, much less acknowledge, that they have colleagues who engage in deceit and unprofessional conduct.
  
  This reluctance is magnified when the brand of deceit involves the theft of client money and property, notwithstanding that most lawyers would agree that stealing from clients is the ultimate ethical transgression.[...] The fact is, however, that theft of client property is not an insignificant or isolated problem within the legal profession. Indeed, it is a hounding phenomenon nationwide, and probably the principal reason why most lawyers nationwide are disbarred from the practice of law.

---------------------------

(1) The Lawyers’ Fund For Client Protection Of the State of New York manages and distributes money collected from annual dues paid by members of the state bar to members of the public who have sustained a financial loss caused by the dishonest conduct of a member of the New York bar acting as an attorney or a fiduciary.

For similar "attorney ripoff reimbursement funds" that attempt to clean up the financial mess created by the dishonest conduct of lawyers licensed in other states and Canada, see:

• Directory Of Lawyers' Funds For Client Protection (now includes a listing for Canadian client protection funds, courtesy of the American Bar Association);
• Check the USA Client Protection Funds Map;
• Check the Canada Client Protection Funds Map.

Maps available courtesy of The National Client Protection Organization, Inc.

See generally:

• N.Y. fund for cheated clients wants thieving lawyers disbarred, a July, 2015 Associated Press story on this Fund reporting that the Fund's executive director, among other things, is calling for prompt referral to the local district attorney when the disciplinary committee has uncontested evidence of theft by a lawyer injuring a client or an admission of culpability;
  
  When Lawyers Steal the Escrow, a June, 2005 New York Times story describing some cases of client reimbursements ("With real estate business surging and down-payment amounts rising with home prices, the temptation for a lawyer to filch money from a bulging escrow account and later repay it with other clients' money has never been greater, said lawyers who monitor the thefts."),
  
  Thieving Lawyers Draining Client Security Funds, a December, 1991 New York Times story that gives some-real life examples of how client security funds deal with claims and the pressures the administrators of those funds may feel when left insufficiently financed as a result of the misconduct of a handful of lawyer/scoundrels.

Another Lawyer Cops Guilty Plea To Fleecing Client Cash; Admits To Raiding Trust Account To The Tune Of $760K, Then Blowing Most Of It Gambling

In Carlisle, Pennsylvania, WHTM-TV Channel 27 reports:

• A Carlisle attorney who had notoriety as part of Jerry Sandusky’s defense team has admitted in court to stealing about $760,000 from clients for personal uses that included gambling at casinos.(1)
  
  Karl Rominger, 42, pleaded guilty [] to one felony count of theft by deception and 18 misdemeanor counts of misapplication of entrusted property. Sixty-three other counts were dismissed, including felony theft and money laundering charges.
  
  Rominger faces up to 56 years in prison at sentencing and he must pay restitution to victims.
  
  He surrendered his law license after the investigation began in March 2014.
  
  His attorney said Rominger is getting treatment for his gambling addiction.

Source: Ex-attorney Rominger pleads guilty in theft case.

See, generally, Frederick Miller, "If You Can't Trust Your Lawyer .... ?", 138 Univ. of Pennsylvania Law Rev. 785 (1990) for more on the apparent, long-standing tolerance for deceit by many in the legal profession:

• This tolerance to deception is encouraged by the profession's institutional civility. Seldom is a fig called a fig, or a shyster a shyster. No, our euphemisms are wonderfully polite: "frivolous conduct," or a "lack of candor;" or "law-office failure;" or, heaven forbid, a "peculation," a "defalcation," or a "negative balance" in a law firms's trust account.
  
  There is also widespread reluctance on the part of lawyers --- again, some lawyers --- to discuss publicly, much less acknowledge, that they have colleagues who engage in deceit and unprofessional conduct.
  
  This reluctance is magnified when the brand of deceit involves the theft of client money and property, notwithstanding that most lawyers would agree that stealing from clients is the ultimate ethical transgression.[...] The fact is, however, that theft of client property is not an insignificant or isolated problem within the legal profession. Indeed, it is a hounding phenomenon nationwide, and probably the principal reason why most lawyers nationwide are disbarred from the practice of law.

----------------------------

(1) The Pennsylvania Lawyers Fund for Client Security was established to to reimburse victims of attorney dishonesty in the practice of law; to preserve the integrity and protect the good name of the legal profession; and to promote public confidence in the legal system and the administration of justice in Pennsylvania.

For similar "attorney ripoff reimbursement funds" that sometimes help cover the financial mess created by the dishonest conduct of lawyers licensed in other states and Canada, see:

• Directory Of Lawyers' Funds For Client Protection (now includes Canadian recovery funds, courtesy of the American Bar Association);
• Check the USA Client Protection Funds Map;
• Check the Canada Client Protection Funds Map.

Maps available courtesy of The National Client Protection Organization, Inc.

See generally:

• N.Y. fund for cheated clients wants thieving lawyers disbarred, a July, 2015 Associated Press story on this Fund reporting that the Fund's executive director, among other things, is calling for prompt referral to the local district attorney when the disciplinary committee has uncontested evidence of theft by a lawyer injuring a client or an admission of culpability;
  
  When Lawyers Steal the Escrow, a June, 2005 New York Times story describing some cases of client reimbursements ("With real estate business surging and down-payment amounts rising with home prices, the temptation for a lawyer to filch money from a bulging escrow account and later repay it with other clients' money has never been greater, said lawyers who monitor the thefts."),
  
  Thieving Lawyers Draining Client Security Funds, a December, 1991 New York Times story that gives some-real life examples of how client security funds deal with claims and the pressures the administrators of those funds may feel when left insufficiently financed as a result of the misconduct of a handful of lawyer/scoundrels.

Ex-Connecticut Federal Prosecutor Cops Guilty Plea For Siphoning Over $600K In Cash Belonging To Mobster-Client From Trust Account While In Private Practice; Gets Easy 30-Day Prison Term After Former Law Firm Reimburses Pilfered Loot

In Bridgeport, Connecticut, the Connecticut Post reports:

• As the state’s top federal prosecutor, H. James Pickerstein stood upright against some of the toughest criminals.
  
  But after getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar of convicted Danbury mobster James Galante — and taking more than $600,000 — Pickerstein’s usually stoic composure crumbled as he begged Galante not to turn him in.
  
  “That will kill me as a lawyer. Don’t ruin my career,” Pickerstein begs Galante in an excerpt of a recording released by federal authorities. “I was jammed up with my firm. I’m broke. My son hasn’t worked. My wife’s medicine is $3,500 a month.”
  
  On Tuesday afternoon, a contrite 70-year-old Pickerstein, a Fairfield resident, was sentenced to 30 days in a minimum security prison.(1)
  
  “You violated one of the cardinal rules of practicing law using your client’s funds as your own money,” U.S. District Judge Victor Bolden told Pickerstein before a courtroom packed with silver- and white-haired lawyers from the tri-state area, some of whom worked with Pickerstein, others who battled against him.
  
  “Even more troubling,” Bolden said, “is that you did not appear to have intended to pay the funds back.”
  
  However, the judge also said he found himself in the presence of an “extraordinary” person, adding, “The (prison) time is for you to truly love yourself.”
  
  Between August 2011 and October 2013, according to federal authorities, Pickerstein embezzled more than $600,000 from a trust account held for Galante, the Danbury trash magnate.
  
  Pickerstein used about half of the money to pay down his federal and state tax liabilities. He spent the rest on himself and his family, including more than $8,000 at clothing stores in Fairfield.
  
  Authorities said when Galante discovered the accounting discrepancy in November 2013, Pickerstein sent him an email and a letter falsely representing that most of the missing money was used to pay Galante’s legal bills from Pickerstein’s law firm.
  
  A year later — and after his release from prison — Galante secretly recorded a conversation with Pickerstein, confronting him about the money.
  
  Pickerstein admitted that he had used a “chunk” of the money for himself, and that he had, in fact, “written off” the legal bills.
  
  In January, Pickerstein pleaded guilty to mail fraud for the crime.
  
  Pickerstein’s lawyers, Andrew Bowman and William Dow III, urged the judge not to incarcerate their client because Pickerstein is a good person who found himself in a deep financial hole.
  
  Galante’s lawyer, Hugh Keefe, added that his client, who was reimbursed by Pickerstein’s former law firm, did not want Pickerstein to go to prison.
  
  “My client was recently in prison and understands what it does to good people,” Keefe said.

For more, see Former federal prosecutor gets 30 days for stealing $600,000 from mobster.

See, generally, Frederick Miller, "If You Can't Trust Your Lawyer .... ?", 138 Univ. of Pennsylvania Law Rev. 785 (1990) for more on the apparent, long-standing tolerance for deceit by many in the legal profession:

• This tolerance to deception is encouraged by the profession's institutional civility. Seldom is a fig called a fig, or a shyster a shyster. No, our euphemisms are wonderfully polite: "frivolous conduct," or a "lack of candor;" or "law-office failure;" or, heaven forbid, a "peculation," a "defalcation," or a "negative balance" in a law firms's trust account.
  
  There is also widespread reluctance on the part of lawyers --- again, some lawyers --- to discuss publicly, much less acknowledge, that they have colleagues who engage in deceit and unprofessional conduct.
  
  This reluctance is magnified when the brand of deceit involves the theft of client money and property, notwithstanding that most lawyers would agree that stealing from clients is the ultimate ethical transgression.[...] The fact is, however, that theft of client property is not an insignificant or isolated problem within the legal profession. Indeed, it is a hounding phenomenon nationwide, and probably the principal reason why most lawyers nationwide are disbarred from the practice of law.

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(1) Apparently, the light sentence for a former federal prosecutor has left members of the local criminal defense bar scratching their heads wondering if this guy got preferential treatment for his prior association with the local feds, leading one local criminal defense lawyer to write, Why don’t my clients get deals like this?

NC Bar Gives Sticky-Fingered Attorney His Walking Papers For Filching Clients Of Nearly $110K Of Trust Account Funds For His Personal Use

In Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the Winston-Salem Journal reports:

• Winston-Salem attorney Devin Ferree Thomas, a personal-injury attorney with offices in Winston-Salem, Greensboro and Raleigh, has been disbarred by the N.C. State Bar.
  
  ***
  According to a March 18 bar filing, Thomas was disbarred for having committed a criminal act, specifically embezzlement. Thomas was accused of transferring at least $109,500 from clients that had been placed in attorney trust accounts to two personal accounts from Oct. 28, 2014, through Feb. 20, 2015.
  
  The bar said Thomas used some of those funds for personal expenditures. That included making monthly rental payments for his residence in Winston Factory Loft Apartments.
  
  Thomas was given 30 days to cooperate with the bar in terms of giving clients their files and funds.(1)

Source: Winston-Salem personal-injury attorney disbarred by N.C. State Bar.

See, generally, Frederick Miller, "If You Can't Trust Your Lawyer .... ?", 138 Univ. of Pennsylvania Law Rev. 785 (1990) for more on the apparent, long-standing tolerance for deceit by many in the legal profession:

• This tolerance to deception is encouraged by the profession's institutional civility. Seldom is a fig called a fig, or a shyster a shyster. No, our euphemisms are wonderfully polite: "frivolous conduct," or a "lack of candor;" or "law-office failure;" or, heaven forbid, a "peculation," a "defalcation," or a "negative balance" in a law firms's trust account.
  
  There is also widespread reluctance on the part of lawyers --- again, some lawyers --- to discuss publicly, much less acknowledge, that they have colleagues who engage in deceit and unprofessional conduct.
  
  This reluctance is magnified when the brand of deceit involves the theft of client money and property, notwithstanding that most lawyers would agree that stealing from clients is the ultimate ethical transgression.[...] The fact is, however, that theft of client property is not an insignificant or isolated problem within the legal profession. Indeed, it is a hounding phenomenon nationwide, and probably the principal reason why most lawyers nationwide are disbarred from the practice of law.

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(1) The Client Security Fund was established by the North Carolina Supreme Court and is administered by a board of trustees appointed by the North Carolina State Bar Council. Its purpose is to reimburse, in whole or in part in appropriate cases and subject to the provisions and limitations of the Supreme Court's orders and State Bar rules, clients who have suffered financial loss as the result of dishonest conduct of lawyers engaged in the private practice of law in North Carolina. The fund does not reimburse otherwise reimbursable losses sustained by any one applicant as a result of dishonest conduct of one attorney in an amount exceeding $100,000.

For similar "attorney ripoff reimbursement funds" that sometimes help cover the financial mess created by the dishonest conduct of lawyers licensed in other states and Canada, see:

• Directory Of Lawyers' Funds For Client Protection (now includes Canadian recovery funds, courtesy of the American Bar Association);
• Check the USA Client Protection Funds Map;
• Check the Canada Client Protection Funds Map.

Maps available courtesy of The National Client Protection Organization, Inc.

See generally:

• N.Y. fund for cheated clients wants thieving lawyers disbarred, a July, 2015 Associated Press story on this Fund reporting that the Fund's executive director, among other things, is calling for prompt referral to the local district attorney when the disciplinary committee has uncontested evidence of theft by a lawyer injuring a client or an admission of culpability;
  
  When Lawyers Steal the Escrow, a June, 2005 New York Times story describing some cases of client reimbursements ("With real estate business surging and down-payment amounts rising with home prices, the temptation for a lawyer to filch money from a bulging escrow account and later repay it with other clients' money has never been greater, said lawyers who monitor the thefts."),
  
  Thieving Lawyers Draining Client Security Funds, a December, 1991 New York Times story that gives some-real life examples of how client security funds deal with claims and the pressures the administrators of those funds may feel when left insufficiently financed as a result of the misconduct of a handful of lawyer/scoundrels.