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+--- Thread: Is this bullshit? I think maybe it is. (/thread-4796.html)
Is this bullshit? I think maybe it is. - Cracker - 02-08-2011
I am not an attorney, nor do I have a great fondness for them (except for my attorney, he kicks ass and he's hot as hell). This is kinda fucked up though:
By J. Scott Trubey
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Federal regulators are suing a prominent Henry County law firm in connection with a bank failure, reflecting the government's widening legal efforts to recoup losses from Georgia’s banking meltdown.
The civil lawsuit against Smith Welch & Brittain and one of its partners, J. Mark Brittain, alleges malpractice in Brittain’s handling of certain loans that Neighborhood Community Bank made to a Henry developer from 2005 to 2007.
Neighborhood Community failed in June 2009, and its failure cost the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s insurance fund an estimated $66.7 million.
The suit is the fourth brought by the FDIC in the wake of the state's 55 bank failures, the most in any state since mid-2008. Three are against law firms or lawyers.
Christine Mast, an Atlanta attorney representing Brittain and his firm, said in an e-mail that Neighborhood Community was to blame for its failure and that the loans in question “were at risk for default from the beginning.” The FDIC, she added, was seeking out “deep pockets” from which to recover losses.
The FDIC-led liability lawsuits in Georgia are part of an effort to restock the insurance fund that protects depositors.
Two law firms that did work for the failed Integrity Bank of Alpharetta were sued late last year by the FDIC for legal malpractice.
In January, eight bank insiders at Integrity Bank of Alpharetta — including state Sen. Jack Murphy, the new chairman of the Senate banking committee — were accused of gross negligence in a $70 million suit by the FDIC.
Experts predict more FDIC suits in failed bank cases as the government combs through the remains of institutions to try to recoup losses.
“This is the tip of the iceberg as far as the FDIC is concerned,” said Tony Plath, finance professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Smith Welch & Brittain is the largest law firm in Henry County and among the most prominent Southside firms. Its client list includes Atlanta Motor Speedway, Wal-Mart Stores East, the cities of Locust Grove and Hampton and numerous banks, development firms and businesses.
In the Neighborhood Community case, the FDIC is seeking damages “in excess of $6 million,” plus legal fees.
The FDIC suit claims the bank hired Brittain to process loan documents for land purchases by Henry developer Jeff Grant. Brittain had previously, and also during the time of loans, served as a lawyer for Grant and companies he owned.
The suit says Grant misrepresented the price of property he wanted to buy.
In three instances, Grant obtained loans using an inflated property price and used the amount over the actual purchase price as collateral to the bank and put some of the funds into various companies he controlled.
Grant is not named as a defendant in the case. Attempts to contact him were not immediately successful.
In one case, the suit alleges Grant was to acquire a property for $3.36 million, with $625,960 deposited in a CD account. But the actual purchase price was $2.64 million, and the difference was used to fund the deposit and for one of Grant’s companies, the suit says.
Brittain, who worked for the bank in each of the cases, is accused of creating two conflicting sets of “settlement statements” to facilitate the plan.
Neighborhood Community was deeply troubled when the bank failed. In its last earnings statement, the bank said about one-third of its loan portfolio was either delinquent, in default or foreclosed.
The suit said bank officials discovered the alleged wrongdoing after Grant defaulted on various loans. The FDIC continued to pursue the case after Neighborhood Community failed.
“The FDIC went through a very deliberative process before deciding to bring this suit and we believe the claims are meritorious,” said Rickman Brown, an attorney with Dietrick, Evans, Scholz & Williams, who represents the FDIC in the case.
Mast, the defendants’ attorney, disagreed.
“When the bottom fell out of the market, the banks and now the FDIC had no choice but to cast about for sources of recovery, and unfortunately the lawyers, who are often perceived as the deep pockets, are targeted as if they were the insurers of the success of the loans,” she said in an e-mail. “In this case, those borrowers and guarantors who truly owe the money are largely left alone, and pre-litigation efforts to pull the veil off of the bank's underwriting and post-closing servicing of the loans has been resisted.”
A spokesman for the FDIC declined to comment about active litigation.
Negligence claims against attorneys and other outside contractors were actively pursued during the Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s, but haven’t yet been a large part of the current cycle of litigation, said Kevin LaCroix, an attorney and failed bank litigation expert with Oakbridge Insurance Services in Beachwood, Ohio.
Regulators filed suit in about a quarter of all bank failure cases in the S&L crisis.
“In that respect it is not surprising that the FDIC is setting about to pursue these kinds of claims now,” LaCroix said."
Should the FDIC be able to sue closing attorneys if the loans fail? That is total bullshit. It's another example of our government trying to take from people who have made a decent life to pay for the stupid mutherfuckers who made a mess of their own. Why should attorneys have to pay if their client defaulted? WTF?
This country needs to slam on the brakes RIGHT NOW. Be responsible for YOURSELF. If you default, pay that shit back $200 a month for the rest of your life and leave the rest of us the fuck alone.
I can't believe this happens. Jesus.
RE: Is this bullshit? I think maybe it is. - Maggot - 02-08-2011
Just wait till the beginning of this summer......things will get a bit hotter.
RE: Is this bullshit? I think maybe it is. - username - 02-09-2011
I tried Cracker. 19 hits on this post (I think I was at least 5 of them) but I just.couldn't.do.it. ADD is tough. Maybe tomorrow, lol.
RE: Is this bullshit? I think maybe it is. - IMaDick - 02-09-2011
As far as I can tell the post is real. whether anything in it is real or not is any lawyers guess.
I'm not so sure that fucking up lawyers is such a bad thing, our whole fucking government is made up of lawyers, that's why we get 2500 page bills going through congress.
Do you know why lawyers wear neck ties?
RE: Is this bullshit? I think maybe it is. - BlueTiki - 02-09-2011
I'd like to read the complaint.
It's curious that the article never mentions charges being brought against any attorneys by the state bar association.
And what about criminal charges against Grant?
Sounds like fraud to me.
RE: Is this bullshit? I think maybe it is. - Cracker - 02-09-2011
"Quietly, late on Christmas Eve 2009, during the Christmas-New Years news lull, the Obama Administration pledged UNLIMITED taxpayer-financed assistance to bankrupt, government-run Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This allowed the Administration to exceed the $400 billion loss limit without seeking Congressional approval (which in itself may be un-Constitutional)."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/24/AR2009122401588.html
This pisses me TF off. Clinton, Bush, and Obama all share responsibility in this, but it has been Obama's mission for a long time: http://iusbvision.wordpress.com/2008/09/30/obama-sued-citibank-under-cra-to-force-it-to-make-bad-loans/
People don't get angry enough about ACORN. I don't think they realize how this organization got every inner city lazy fucking idiot a home loan over the last 5 years and how it is these loans that caused the great foreclosure collapse. We have to stop entitlement now before we have to claim that way of life.
RE: Is this bullshit? I think maybe it is. - Cracker - 02-09-2011
Going after attorneys is bullshit. Go after the defaulters. Make them pay the money back.
RE: Is this bullshit? I think maybe it is. - BlueTiki - 02-09-2011
(02-09-2011, 12:56 AM)Cracker Wrote: Going after attorneys is bullshit. Go after the defaulters. Make them pay the money back.
And . . .
Have the debt "forgiveness" be included as income, tax it at the max rate and slap a fucking fed lien on their asses until it is paid!
No forgiveness of penalties and interest, either.
And the fucks who used their home as an ATM machine . . . same thing, too.
RE: Is this bullshit? I think maybe it is. - Cracker - 02-09-2011
(02-09-2011, 12:44 AM)BlueTiki Wrote: I'd like to read the complaint.
It's curious that the article never mentions charges being brought against any attorneys by the state bar association.
And what about criminal charges against Grant?
Sounds like fraud to me.
Grant is probably broke. The attorney is the only one left standing with any money. You can't sue the bank because the bank is gone.
Everyone in the mortgage industry KNEW the prices were inflated. They KNEW they were making bad loans. I'm just not sure what they expected to happen. Did they really think people who didn't have any other assests or a job would make good on the loans? Or was there ALWAYS the promise of government money when it went bad? I think there is more to this story.
RE: Is this bullshit? I think maybe it is. - Cracker - 02-09-2011
(02-09-2011, 01:02 AM)BlueTiki Wrote:(02-09-2011, 12:56 AM)Cracker Wrote: Going after attorneys is bullshit. Go after the defaulters. Make them pay the money back.
And . . .
Have the debt "forgiveness" be included as income, tax it at the max rate and slap a fucking fed lien on their asses until it is paid!
No forgiveness of penalties and interest, either.
And the fucks who used their home as an ATM machine . . . same thing, too.
Exactly.
I wish I would have known this shit 6 years ago. I just used to laugh at people who got interest-only loans. I didn't realize taxpayers would be on the hook for those loans. I wouldn't have laughed.
RE: Is this bullshit? I think maybe it is. - BlueTiki - 02-09-2011
(02-09-2011, 01:02 AM)Cracker Wrote:(02-09-2011, 12:44 AM)BlueTiki Wrote: I'd like to read the complaint.I think there is more to this story.
It's curious that the article never mentions charges being brought against any attorneys by the state bar association.
And what about criminal charges against Grant?
Sounds like fraud to me.
It's just weird that criminal charges are not mentioned.
FDIC and not DOJ?
Leads me to believe it's only a civil complaint and will remain a civil complaint.
RE: Is this bullshit? I think maybe it is. - Cracker - 02-09-2011
I feel badly for people who lost their jobs then lost their homes. I have zero sympathy for people who bought homes they couldn't afford in the first place.
RE: Is this bullshit? I think maybe it is. - Cracker - 02-09-2011
(02-09-2011, 01:07 AM)BlueTiki Wrote: It's just weird that criminal charges are not mentioned.
FDIC and not DOJ?
Leads me to believe it's only a civil complaint and will remain a civil complaint.
I just think it's fishy. How did someone just notice this? Is there only one attorney at a bank that checks facts on $3 million+ loans? How do they let that kind of money just float out the door without knowing?
Kinda late for the FDIC to begin worrying.
RE: Is this bullshit? I think maybe it is. - BlueTiki - 02-09-2011
FDIC is looking for a settlement.
It's probably just a PR move.
Chicago-style.
Fucking lawyer games.
RE: Is this bullshit? I think maybe it is. - Cracker - 02-09-2011
(02-09-2011, 01:17 AM)BlueTiki Wrote: FDIC is looking for a settlement.
It's probably just a PR move.
Chicago-style.
Fucking lawyer games.
Yeah. What really makes me sick is thinking about the next election. Most people in this country are poor and stupid. A majority, for sure. I don't want them to make decisions anymore that I have to live with. Stupid, poor people make stupid decisions that keep them poor. Every now and then you find a true victim of circumstance, but most of the time it is ignorance or laziness that keeps people down. There are enough people like that now to keep us all down. Stupid people breed like roaches because they don't ever want anything better. Smart people just have as many kids as they can afford. We are outnumbered. I am not optimistic about this country's future.
RE: Is this bullshit? I think maybe it is. - Broke Developer - 02-09-2011
This case is a little different because it sounds like the borrower may have committed fraud; however, I'm sick and damn tired of everyone blaming everything on the "greedy" developers. That's a crock! Had I known what was going on, there is no way I would have signed my name on a development loan, but the FDIC was privy to all the facts and were one of the few who could see the big picture and they did nothing to stop it.
If anyone at all deserves to be sued for the losses resulting from this huge real estate meltdown, it's the FDIC themselves!! Better yet...fire every damn one employee and do away with the department. Hell, they were asleep at the wheel.
Honest developers like myself and many others never dreamed something of this magnitude could actually happen with the measures FDIC supposedly had in place to ensure this would never happen. The ones charged with protecting the American public (FDIC) didn't follow or enforce their own guidelines, rules, and regulations, and now they want to sue others for doing the same thing they did. This is sick because they are the government and they can get away with it. How many of the FDIC auditors that were charged with auditing these failed banks have lost their jobs?
RE: Is this bullshit? I think maybe it is. - Broke Developer - 02-09-2011
Here's a link to the FDIC lawsuit filing:
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/pdf/FDIC%20vs%20Smith%20Welch%20Brittain.pdf
RE: Is this bullshit? I think maybe it is. - Lady Cop - 02-09-2011
Hi Broke, welcome to Mock~~
RE: Is this bullshit? I think maybe it is. - Cracker - 02-09-2011
(02-09-2011, 08:34 PM)Broke Developer Wrote: This case is a little different because it sounds like the borrower may have committed fraud; however, I'm sick and damn tired of everyone blaming everything on the "greedy" developers. That's a crock! Had I known what was going on, there is no way I would have signed my name on a development loan, but the FDIC was privy to all the facts and were one of the few who could see the big picture and they did nothing to stop it.
If anyone at all deserves to be sued for the losses resulting from this huge real estate meltdown, it's the FDIC themselves!! Better yet...fire every damn one employee and do away with the department. Hell, they were asleep at the wheel.
Honest developers like myself and many others never dreamed something of this magnitude could actually happen with the measures FDIC supposedly had in place to ensure this would never happen. The ones charged with protecting the American public (FDIC) didn't follow or enforce their own guidelines, rules, and regulations, and now they want to sue others for doing the same thing they did. This is sick because they are the government and they can get away with it. How many of the FDIC auditors that were charged with auditing these failed banks have lost their jobs?
I enjoyed reading your perspective.
To be honest, I used to blame developers exclusively for the horrendous market collapse. Now I don't. If there weren't lending institutions tied to the government that made all those crappy loans, there wouldn't have been a market for all those houses. I know many developers have taken a huge hit along with all the construction professionals they employed and the real estate agents involved.
After reading up on it, I have to agree completely with your post. This is a dirty business. The people who shouldn't have been able to borrow the money are right back where they started. Many banks and savings & loans didn't survive at all. The construction industry totally tanked. The taxpayers and homeowners have taken a damn bath. The only ones left standing are the effing gov't agents of destruction.
RE: Is this bullshit? I think maybe it is. - BlueTiki - 02-09-2011
(02-09-2011, 08:35 PM)Broke Developer Wrote: Here's a link to the FDIC lawsuit filing:
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/pdf/FDIC%20vs%20Smith%20Welch%20Brittain.pdf
Welcome and thanks for the link.
I'm on page 3.
Number 6 says it all!
FDIC is claiming malpractice. Going for insurance settlement.
Hahahahaha!
Wonder what defendant's response will state?