Third Judicial Circuit Court Of Michigan Gets Cleaned Out - Detroit Land Bank Authority Judge Robert Columbo, Jr. Retires

Third Judicial Circuit of Michigan - Wayne County Judge Robert Columbo, Jr. is stepping down from the bench in retirement.

Since the Court failed to mention his role in the Detroit Land Bank Authority, I did, in the Michigan Attorney Grievance, below.

711 COLEMAN A. YOUNG MUNICIPAL CENTER ● 2 WOODWARD AVE ● DETROIT, MICHIGAN 48226-3413

Retiring Judges Detroit, MI -  Three judicial icons are retiring at the end of the year.  Chief Judge Robert J. Colombo Jr., Judge and former Chief Judge Virgil C. Smith, and Judge Richard B. Halloran will be hanging up the robes at the end of December. All three judges have made a mark on the legal community and their work has left a lasting imprint on the legal community. Judge Richard B. Halloran Judge Richard B. Halloran was appointed to the Third Circuit Court bench in 1998 by Governor John Engler. Judge Halloran is the last of the original Family Court judges on the Third Circuit bench. Judge Halloran has proudly served all of his 20 years as a Circuit Court Judge on the bench in the Family Division. A graduate of Canisius College, Judge Halloran was born and grew up in the Buffalo, New York area. He graduated from the University of Detroit School of Law in 1975 and was admitted to the State Bar of Michigan that fall. Before his judicial appointment, Halloran worked as a civilian attorney with the Department of the Army; quit the law and served as regional vice president of several national real estate firms; served as magistrate in the 36th District Court in Detroit; and, served as an administrative law judge for the Michigan Liquor Control Board. Judge Halloran is widely recognized for his involvement in the fight against domestic abuse. He helped create the first domestic violence docket in the 36th District Court and actively campaigned to help create personal protection orders and making stalking a crime. Additionally, he served on various task force and boards to raise judicial and public awareness of domestic violence and to help call for needed changes in policies and laws regarding domestic violence. He served as co-chair of the Wayne County Coordinating Council to Prevent Family Violence, a member of the Governor's Task Force to create standards for batterer intervention programs, board member on the State Domestic Violence and Treatment Board; and, most recently as a member of the State Bar of Michigan Domestic Violence Committee. As a Circuit Court judge, he created the Personal Protection Order Docket and was instrumental in developing the Solution-Oriented Domestic Violence Prevention Docket that deals with high lethality cases. Judge Halloran has received numerous honors and is especially proud of his work on behalf victims of domestic violence. He also served on the Family Law Council of the State Bar of Michigan, serving as chair of the Section from 2016-17. He was involved in the creation of the LGBTQA Section of the State Bar and served as its chair from 2017-18. Judge Halloran is proudest of receiving the Marilyn J. Kelly Award for outstanding service as a Family Division Judge from the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan in 2017. Halloran also sings in Measure for Measure, a men's choral society. Judge Virgil Smith In 2004, Virgil Smith was appointed by Governor Jennifer Granholm to the Third Circuit Court. Prior to his appointment, Judge Smith held various legal positions and appointments. Moreover, he served in the Michigan House of Representatives and the Michigan Senate. During his tenure as a legislator, he chaired the Economic Development and Energy Committee and served on 21 st Century Commission on the Courts, and Law Revision Commission. Judge Smith chaired the Special Committee on Court Reorganization in 1980. The committee created a standardized Michigan judicial system with the Office of the State Court Administrator. As a Senator, Judge Smith was the first African American Senate Democratic leader. Judge Smith has a long list of awards and acknowledgements for his legislative career, including Legislator of the Year by both the Michigan Judges Association and the Police Officers Association of Michigan. On the bench, Judge Smith served in the Family Division-Juvenile Section and was the Presiding Judge of that division from 2004-2006. On January 1, 2009, Judge Smith became the Chief Judge of the Third Circuit Court, having been appointed by a unanimous vote of the Michigan Supreme Court. He was the first African American chief circuit court judge in the state of Michigan. His accomplishments during his Chief Judgeship included securing financial funding for the court operations and prudently managing those finances. During his Chief Judgeship, he led the charge for efficiency and effectiveness which resulted in innovative court programs and projects such as implementation of the new case management system, eFiling, Court Officers, and child support bench warrant amnesty.   Judge Smith has been recognized by many professional and civic organizations for his forward thinking and contributions throughout his career. Judge Smith was born and raised in the Conant Gardens community of Detroit, Michigan. He graduated from Pershing High School, received his B.A. in political science from Michigan State University, and received his J.D. from Wayne State University Law School in 1972. Judge Smith rides a motorized scooter bike and resides in Detroit. He is married to the former Elizabeth Little and he's the father of one daughter, Jordan, and three sons, Virgil Kai, Adam, and Anthony. Judge Robert J. Colombo, Jr. In November 1982 Judge Colombo was elected to the Wayne County Circuit Court. In 1972, he had graduated cum laude from the University of Miami (Florida) and the Detroit College of Law.   Prior to his election, he spend two years clerking at the law firm Jenkins, Fortescue, Miller & Nystrom, and from June 1975 through December 1976, Judge Colombo served as the law clerk for the Hon. George N. Bashara, Jr. on the Michigan Court of Appeals. For the next six years, from 1977 through 1982, Judge Colombo was an associate at the law firm of Riley & Roumell handling civil, criminal, and domestic relations cases at the trial and appellate levels. His civil practice included commercial business and employment cases and representing public school districts. During his judicial tenure, Judge Colombo has handled civil, criminal, and domestic relations cases. In 1992 Judge Colombo became the asbestos judge for Wayne County Circuit Court. In 1993 he was appointed by the Michigan Supreme Court to handle all of the breast implant cases in the State of Michigan. In 2000 the Michigan Supreme Court appointed him to handle all class action lawsuits brought under the Michigan Antitrust Law against Microsoft. The Michigan Supreme Court appointed Judge Colombo Chief Judge of the Wayne County Circuit Court in October 2013 for a two-year term beginning January 1, 2014. He was reappointed for a two-year term beginning January 1, 2016. Perhaps the most important accomplishment during Chief Judge Colombo's tenure was the creation of a strategic plan for the Court. The process began in February 2016 to develop a five-year strategic plan to assist the Court to identify priorities, lay out future action to continuously improve the Court, and provide a blueprint for the Court's direction. Other accomplishments include the Court's participation in the launching of statewide eFiling, the continued high ratings in public satisfaction surveys, and the court leadership's presentations at the National Association of Court Managers Mid-Year Conference and the World Conference of the Internal Institute of Restorative Practices. Chief Judge Colombo has received numerous awards from civic, bar, and community associations. In the September-October 2018 edition of the Detroit Lawyer, the spotlight was on Robert J. Colombo Jr., the recipient of the Dennis Archer where the legal community celebrated his 36 years of contributions. Chief Judge Colombo exemplifies the ideal of the law as public service. Judge Colombo followed his family into the legal profession. His grandfather, Emil William Colombo, was a principal in the law firm of Colombo, Colombo, Colombo, Vermuelen & Colombo. His father, Robert Colombo, was also a principal in that law firm, as well as a Detroit Recorder's Court Judge and Wayne County Circuit Court Judge until retirement in 1985. Judge Colombo is married to Administrative Judge Jane Colombo (Sullivan) and they have two adult sons, Jimmy and Bobby. The legal community has had the benefit of these three judicial icons on a local, state, and national level. Judge Halloran, Judge Smith, and Judge Colombo may no longer be sitting on the bench, but they have made a lasting imprint on the local, state, and national legal community; and they have left the legal community better from their wisdom and their works. The Mission of Third Judicial Circuit Court is to provide accessible and equal justice with timely dispute resolution. The Third Judicial Circuit has jurisdiction over Civil, Criminal, and Family matters arising in the County of Wayne. The National Center for State Courts has cited the Third Circuit Court as one of the model urban courts in the United States for case flow management and the timely disposition of the Court's docket. For more information, visit our website www.3rdcc.org, follow us at Twitter@3rdccorg, and like us on Facebook @3rdccorg. Michigan Judicial Tenure Co... by on Scribd Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

DOJ Convicts San Diego Legal Geniuses In $50 Million Real Estate - Just Like They Did In Detroit

I swear I thought this was the Detroit Land Bank Authority when they started talking about "Legal Geniuses" (trademark pending) using all their legal expertise to file lis pendens actions to get quiet title judgments to take out NSP2 loans, then file another lis pendens in the name of a fake LLC, to get another quiet title judgment to wipe out the NSP2 loan, to take out a mortgage, then file another lis pendens in the name of the Detroit Land Bank Authority, to get another quiet title judgment to eventually give the property to the attorney for all the work that was done filing fake LLCs to file lis pendens to wipe out all those mortgage loans.

I wonder what Crystal Hopkins and Michael Brady are doing right now?

Chatter says Crystal is in Missouri, probably doing the same damn thing.

JURY CONVICTS SAN DIEGO EXECUTIVE AND BROKER OF $50 MILLION REAL ESTATE FRAUD

Defendants Used La Jolla and Del Mar Mansions to Defraud Lenders

NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – November 20, 2018

SAN DIEGO – Following a two-week trial, a jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts against finance executive Peter Cash Doye and notary public and real estate broker Raquel Reid for their roles in a massive real estate fraud scheme that generated nearly $50 million in fraudulently-obtained loan proceeds.

The evidence presented at trial demonstrated that Doye and Reid defrauded lenders into making enormous loans against four multi-million dollar mansions in La Jolla and Del Mar, then used forged documents to make it appear that the loans had been paid off so they could obtain additional loans from new lenders who believed the mansions were owned “free and clear.”

Doye, a senior executive at the real estate investment firms Conix, Inc. and Variant Commercial Real Estate (“VCRE”), negotiated the financing from unsuspecting lenders and investors based on a host of lies about the collateral used to secure the loans.  To pull of the scam, Doye, Reid, and their co-conspirators created forged real estate lien “releases” and recorded fraudulent records at the San Diego County Recorder’s Office, complicating the chain of title for these homes.  Reid notarized the forged documents, helping to make the fraudulent paperwork appear authentic. 

Doye’s business partner Courtland Gettel and Arizona attorney Jeffrey Greenberg previously pleaded guilty to participating in the scheme, and are serving sentences of 135 and 81 months, respectively. Gettel and Greenberg were also ordered to pay more than $43 million in restitution to victims, and to forfeit the proceeds of the crime.  Gettel was the owner of Conix and VCRE, which refurbished single-family homes, purchased distressed debt, and purchased and refurbished commercial real estate projects.

During trial, the government proved that Gettel, Greenberg, and Doye acquired the high-end homes in La Jolla and Del Mar by claiming they would be used as luxury rentals and investment properties—although in fact, Gettel and Doye lived in the properties along with their families. When they needed money to fund other business deals, Gettel and Doye began negotiating with new lenders, pretending that the first loans never existed or had already been paid off.  Greenberg admitted that he used his expertise as a lawyer to generate and record fraudulent records, making it appear that prior loans were paid off and helping to close the fraudulent deals. 

In late 2014, the lenders began to uncover the fraud and learn that their secured interests in the properties were worthless.  In response to questions from these lenders, Doye, Reid and Gettel denied knowing anything about the fraudulent loans, and created yet more fraudulent documents to cover their tracks. For example, Reid destroyed her notary book and cut up her notary stamp, and then falsely reported to the California Secretary of State that her book had been lost.

“These defendants attempted to use their significant real estate experience to pull off an egregious fraud that created serious consequences for lenders and title owners,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Braverman.  “As this case demonstrates, federal prosecutors are fully committed to protecting the integrity of our lending system by holding such criminals accountable.”

“The FBI will pursue each criminal participant in these sophisticated, multi-million dollar fraud schemes until final justice is served.” said FBI Special Agent in Charge John Brown. “Today, Peter Doye and Raquel Reid join co-conspirators Courtland Gettel and Jeffrey Greenberg as convicted felons for their roles in this massive loan fraud scheme.”

United States District Judge William Q. Hayes remanded both Doye and Reid into custody following the guilty verdicts, and set their sentencing hearings for March 4, 2019, at 9:00 am.  

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Emily Allen and Andrew Young.

DEFENDANTS

Peter Cash Doye                                             Age: 41                       San Diego, CA

Raquel Reid                                                    Age: 38                       San Diego, CA

CHARGES

Count One (both defendants): Wire and Mail Fraud Conspiracy, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349

Maximum Penalties: 20 years’ imprisonment, $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss caused by the offense, $100 special assessment, restitution, forfeiture

Counts Two through Six (Doye only; both defendants as to Count Three): Wire Fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343

Maximum Penalties as to each count: 20 years’ imprisonment, $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss caused by the offense, $100 special assessment, restitution, forfeiture

Counts Seven through Nine (Doye only as to Count Seven, both defendants as to Counts Eight and Nine): Mail Fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341

Maximum Penalties as to each count: 20 years’ imprisonment, $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss caused by the offense, $100 special assessment, restitution, forfeiture

Counts Ten and Eleven (both defendants): Aggravated Identity Theft, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A

Maximum Penalties: mandatory 2 years’ imprisonment, consecutive to any other term of imprisonment, $250,000 fine, $100 special assessment, restitution.

Count Twelve (Reid only): False Statements to Federal Agents, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001

Maximum Penalties: 5 years’ imprisonment, $250,000 fine, $100 special assessment, restitution.

DEFENDANTS PREVIOUSLY CHARGED

Jeffrey Greenberg, 16CR1076-WQH and 1077-WQH          Age: 67           Tucson, AZ

Courtland Gettel, 16CR1099-WQH                                       Age: 43           Coronado, CA

AGENCY

Federal Bureau of Investigation

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Cocktails & Popcorn: Detroit & Wayne County Figure Out That Fees Are Not Taxes

"Fee starts with the letter "F".

I would like to take the time to extend my sincerest gratitude and raise a glass of champagne with a side of my famous rosemary popcorn to Corporate Counsel for the City of Detroit, Wayne County and the U.S. Attorney's office for their attention to this matter.

I shall assume someone finally figured out that the term "fee" starts with an "F" and "tax" starts with an "T", which are not the same thing.

Ergo, a fee can never be a tax.

As for the ACLU and UCHC, well, I am going to that tale later on down the road because they were the biggest cheerleaders for the Detroit Land Bank Authority since its inception, but hey, what do I know?

"Tax" starts with the letter "T"

According to Michael Steinberg, I know nothing, just ask him and let me know what he said!

Smooches.

Foreclosures to be sold back to owners in ACLU, city settlement

The ACLU of Michigan has reached a settlement in its 2016 lawsuit against Detroit that includes a deal to save potentially thousands of foreclosed homes over the next three years by selling them back to low-income owners for $1,000.

Under the plan, a group of homes headed to this year's fall tax auction will instead be bought by the city and sold to owner-occupants who prove they qualified for the city's poverty tax exemption, which lowers or eliminates tax bills.

The Detroit City Council voted 7-0 Tuesday to approve the settlement. Council members James Tate and Janee Ayers were not present for the vote.

The ACLU sued the city in Wayne County Circuit Court two years ago over how it administered the state-mandated property tax break for the poor, arguing it was inaccessible to the vast majority of homeowners who were needlessly losing their homes to foreclosure.

It's not clear how many homes would be sold back to owners this fall but it could be in the hundreds, officials said.

“We’re thrilled that this settlement will help thousands of Detroiters who were going to lose their homes for inability to pay taxes they never should have had to pay," said Michael Steinberg, legal director of the ACLU of Michigan. "It's a start to putting the worst tax foreclosure crisis since the Great Depression behind us."

Steinberg said funding to buy the homes will come from charitable donations and $275,000 contributed by the city as part of the lawsuit settlement agreement. He said more funding from area foundations is expected for the program, which will be run by the United Community Housing Coalition, a city housing nonprofit.

Detroit city officials say this settlement supports their vision of maintaining home ownership and keeping residents in their homes.

"It's turning the page to the start of a great partnership and a continuation of the work we have been doing to prevent people from losing their homes," said Eli Savit, senior adviser and legal counsel to Mayor Mike Duggan. "It’s a win for all involved."

The foreclosure crisis has had a deep effect on Detroit, which remains the nation's poorest big city and recently flipped from majority homeowner to 54 percent renter. The county seized about 100,000 Detroit properties for unpaid property taxes from 2011 through 2015, about a quarter of all parcels, researchers have found.

About 4,800 Detroit properties are headed to foreclosure this year as of mid-June, according to data from the treasurer's office. Of those, about 2,000 are believed to be occupied by homeowners or renters.

“It can be devastating for residents that experience a financial setback, and it's time that the city look itself in the mirror and say how can we be better at assisting our most vulnerable residents,” said Councilman Gabe Leland.

The United Community Housing Coalition, which helps residents avoid foreclosure, said it so far has about 100 clients it believes will qualify. The nonprofit has been holding foreclosure workshops to qualify owners since April.

Residents have to be approved by July 13 and should call the group at (313) 963-3310, ext. 339, to start the process as soon as possible.

"It's a huge deal and it's extremely important to have the city's approval," said Michele Oberholtzer, director of the Tax Foreclosure Prevention Project for United Community Housing Coalition. "It's the city affirming it's support of home ownership and it's turning this negative thing of tax foreclosure into an opportunity for people to become stable."

There is a possibility the program could run out of money to purchase homes if many apply, according to Ted Phillips, executive director of the United Community Housing Coalition.

Homeowners who are in payment plans with the treasurer don't qualify, Steinberg said. The program is aimed at those facing the foreclosure auction.

"It's not a panacea," Steinberg said. "It doesn’t directly help people who are not currently in foreclosure or people who have already lost their houses. However, it’s a critical first step."

Steinberg said there are ongoing discussions with foundations on how to help people in payment plans who could be facing foreclosure in the future. And he said the city has agreed to purchase foreclosed homes in 2019 and 2020 for those who qualify.

Leland said work to ensure residents stay in their homes was "far from over."

"We must stay vigilant for the people that stayed here," he said. "The property tax exemption laws were enacted to help residents in need hold on to their piece of the pie.”

Erica Burrell, a 35-year-old mother of two, hopes this means she'll be able to keep her west-side home. It's headed to the auction over $10,500 in tax debt.

She and her husband purchased the home two years ago and the seller never told them of the outstanding debt. The couple's only income is her husband's disability payments from being shot as a child.

"For the home to get snatched from us for someone else's debt is really crazy," Burrell said. "This is a blessing."

The city will buy the properties by paying 60 percent of each home's unpaid tax bill. That includes the money that was due various governments agencies, including the county, schools and library. But it doesn't include the city's share of tax debt -- the other 40 percent.

As a part of the agreement, the city is considering that debt a loss. It's not clear yet how much that will cost the city. The 2,000 properties facing the auction believed to be occupied by homeowners or renters owe $15 million.

United Community Housing Coalition will then repay the city the 60 percent from the fund and sell the homes to owners for $1,000. That money will go into the fund managed by the nonprofit to help purchase homes in future years.

Municipalities are able to buy foreclosed homes for the unpaid taxes before they are auctioned off, which in Wayne County happens annually in September and October.

To take advantage, homeowners have to prove they could have qualified for the tax exemption between 2014 and 2017 but didn't receive one. If the homeowner qualifies this year for the tax break, they only have to sign a sworn statement they would have qualified in the past and won't have to produce old documentation proving their income, Steinberg said. The Detroit Citizens Board of Review will vet the applications.

The ACLU maintained the city's application process for the tax exemption violated homeowner's due process rights, in part by setting an artificial deadline. Some applicants didn't get a reason for their denial and others didn't receive a response at all, according to the lawsuit.

And residents who wanted to apply had to go to City Hall and fill out an application to get an application mailed to them, Steinberg said. Some never got the application in the mail or it came after the deadline, he said.

He said the city has improved the process, putting the form online. And they've agreed to mail a flier about the program to a majority of residents yearly, reduce the documents homeowners are required to submit, as well as train all city staff who interact with residents about the process.

"This agreement streamlines the process and makes it much more accessible to Detroiters," Steinberg said. "So individuals who are poverty stricken will be able to qualify for the poverty exemption going forward."

The lawsuit, filed in 2016 by the ACLU, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc. and the Washington, D.C., law firm Covington & Burling, originally was aimed at stopping the Wayne County Treasurer's annual tax foreclosure auction.

But that aspect was dismissed by the courts. The ACLU had argued the office violated the Federal Fair Housing Act by disproportionately foreclosing on black homeowners, a process driven by Detroit's inflated city tax assessments.

It was fraud because "taxes" start with the letter "t" and "fees" start with the letter "f".

But last year, the Michigan Court of Appeals upheld a ruling by Wayne County Judge Robert Colombo, dismissing the county from the lawsuit because Colombo ruled it should have been brought in front of the Michigan Tax Tribunal.

The city will pay five of the homeowner plaintiffs in the lawsuit $5,000 as a part of the settlement.

UCHC and the city are expanding a separate program this year to buy foreclosed rentals and sell them to tenants. The nonprofit did that with 80 homes last year and hope to do several hundred this year with the city's help.

Renters will have to pay about 70 percent of the tax debt over a year with no interest and put $500 down, Phillips said. The nonprofit has gotten $200,000 from JPMorgan Chase & Co. to purchase the homes and hopes to get other foundation money soon. 

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Detroit Foreclosure Study Omitted Detroit Land Bank Authority Tax Fraud Schemes

The study is a bad assessment because it omitted the Detroit Land Bank Authority.

In the spirit of fuchsia...

Study: Bad assessments prompt 10K Detroit foreclosures

One in 10 Detroit tax foreclosures between 2011 and 2015 were caused by the city's admittedly inflated property assessments, a study by two Chicago professors has concluded.

Keep in mind that only one in 10 in Detroit property tax foreclosures were addressed in this study.  I will be addressing the other 9 out of 10.

Over-assessments causing foreclosure were concentrated in the city's lowest valued homes, those selling for less than $8,000, and resulted in thousands of Detroit homeowners losing their properties, according to the study.

Many of these homes were targeted for foreclosures, as represented in entire blocks of vacant homes due to predatory lending.  When I say predatory lending, I mean people taking out  mortgages that were sold off and bundled to out of state fake corporations that in turn bundled and sold them again to foreign corporations, where property values were inflated for bundling purposes.  These mortgages even bundled up property tax payments to the City which were never paid, so people were paying their property taxes in many instances.

"The very population that most needs the city to get the assessments right, the poorest of the poor, are being most detrimentally affected by the city getting it wrong," said Bernadette Atuahene, a law professor at the Chicago-Kent College of Law who has studied the impact of the city's over-assessments on homeowners.

No one cares about "The Poors" (always said with clinched teeth) because there were plans already being rolled out on land speculation.

"There is a narrative of blaming the poor that focuses on individual responsibility instead of structural injustice. We are trying to change the focus to this structural injustice."

In order to change the structural injustice, you have to stop the fraud.

The Wayne County treasurer foreclosed on about 100,000 Detroit properties for unpaid property taxes from 2011 through 2015, about a quarter of all parcels, as the city suffered the after-effects of population decline, the housing market crash and the Great Recession.

The technical term is called forced migration.  It was intentional.

The study, co-authored by Christopher Berry, a professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, is the first to publicly estimate how many foreclosures were caused by the city's chronic over-valuation of city property, the authors say.

The City was well aware of over-valuation of city property as seen with individuals contesting in front of City Council, who were too busy trying to figure out how to get a few of these homes and reduce their own property taxes.

Atuahene and Berry acknowledged many things trigger tax foreclosure, anything from an owner's job loss to a death in the family.

...or dealing with the Solid Waste Disposal Fee that was magically sent over to the Wayne County Treasurer's Office for foreclosure that no one knew about because Detroit Property Tax Assessors just put the fee on the tax bill, with no due process of a court of law, without notification.

They estimated the number of foreclosures caused by over-assessments in part by calculating the foreclosure rate if all properties were properly assessed. The study also controlled for properties various purchase prices, neighborhoods and sale dates.

The study failed to mention the Detroit Land Bank Authority or the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, being conducted with data from 2011 through 2015, which would be considered to be excluded endogenous variables, making the conclusion of the study to be suspect because they were doing quiet titles wiping which were wiping out property taxes behind the backs of unsuspected property owners.

The scheme went like this:  You may or may not, more thank likely not, were notified by the City of delinquent property taxes that were sent over to Wayne County Treasurer before they officially went into the foreclosure period.  By the time you found out that Wayne County had assessed an outrageous late fee and charges, almost coming up to 50 percent of what the original taxes were, you were too busy muddling through City and County governments trying to find resolution, or at least answers, the Detroit Land Bank Authority had filed a lis pendens, of which they only notified the property, and not the property owner, because they were too busy "maximizing revenues" in fake billing for the quiet title process, the property ownership was transferred, probably NSP2 mortgages were taken out, defaulted, and a second quiet title was filed to wipe out the mortgages, sold, and levied those outrageous delinquent property taxes upon the new owner who purchased the home from the online auction, getting a certified cashier's check, from a bank, in the name of Title Source, Inc. ̣really, they told you to make the check out the TSI, then sent the tax money back to the City, which in turn, was "refunded" to.... I shall assume, TSI, where the money was....I shall assume, used to fund political campaigns.

The study fails to even mention TARP, let alone the state law which grants authority for the Detroit Land Bank Authority to capture 50 percent of the property taxes.

Detroit officials, including Mayor Mike Duggan, have acknowledged the city's assessments were inflated for years but said accuracy has improved with double-digit reductions over the last four years. The city completed a city-wide reassessment in 2016, required by the Michigan State Tax Commission. The city had not done a complete reassessment since the 1950s.

See how things can happen when you stand up and speak out.  Consistency is always an admirable trait.

State regulators launched an investigation in 2013 citing a series in The Detroit News that exposed rampant over-assessments, tax delinquencies and mismanagement in the city's Assessment Division.

But nothing was done about the Detroit Land Bank Authority.

City officials have maintained residents could have filed appeals with the city and state if they believed their assessments were unfair.

They did.  Many were granted but that is not the issue I am addressing here.  I am addressing the omission of the Detroit Land Bank Authority in the study.

Detroit’s Deputy CFO-Assessor, Alvin Horhn, said Wednesday he hadn't reviewed the study but he believed that "most of their assumptions rely on data that does not meet the standards of the State Tax Commission and would not be applicable under Michigan law."  Atuahene has said the data does comply with the law.

I concur that the data did appear to be suspect as it did not address the actions of the Detroit Land Bank Authority wiping out taxes with the City before the foreclosure process commenced providing due process to the property owner.  When I say due process, I mean to say,  "Did the 'Legal Geniuses' ̣trademark pending, over at the Detroit Land Bank Authority file quiet titles on the homes then collect taxes before or after the homeowner found out the property was in the foreclosure process?"

"We believe the citywide reappraisal has been an important part of the major reduction in the number of foreclosures occurring in the city, which continue a steady decline and will provide a solid foundation for future growth," Horhn wrote in an email. "The number of foreclosures of owner occupied homes, specifically, has gone down by nearly 90% over the past few years."

No, no, no.  It is not the citywide reappraisals that have reduced the number of foreclosures, it is the fact that you already foreclosed on the majority of the population of homeowners in Detroit. Duh.

Atuahene, also a member of the Coalition to End Unconstitutional Tax Foreclosures, said the group wants the city to provide “reparations” for families who forfeited their homes in tax foreclosures, like she and community activists have done for the Bonnett family.

A NGO wanting to jump into the "reparations" game?  I smell more covert purposes of this study.  Let me tell you why in the Tale of Reparations Propaganda because this had nothing to do with the phenotypic features.  This was strictly about targeted populations in prime, highly speculated geographical areas, through crappy predictive modeling, on how to maximize revenues for Social Impact Bonds. Period.  Wake up and keep it real.  It is all about the almighty cryptocurrency.  The race card is just a cover to keep running the fraud schemes of stealin' the children, the land and the votes.

The county foreclosed on Sonja Bonnett's home in 2015 over $5,000 in unpaid taxes. Bonnett, 38, was purchasing the home on land contract for $20,000. Atuahene said Detroit taxed her home at a market value of $46,000.

The land contract more than likely was never registered with the Wayne County Register of Deeds.  The databases were not coordinated at that time, and more than likely, still not, but I have not checked.

The coalition recently partnered with a housing nonprofit to buy another foreclosed home and give it to Bonnett along with her husband and seven kids. They will celebrate her move in Thursday. 

Bonnett said the city needs to repay homeowners who lost their homes because they could not pay tax bills that were artificially inflated by bad assessments.

There was a non profit that was getting federal funding to assist homeowners in tax foreclosures, but ended up running a scam and kept the grant, never paid the taxes, then snatched up the houses in the 500 dollar buy back program, but I am not going to go there for now.  Let's just get our popcorn ready.

"They wrongfully lost their houses," Bonnett said. "It wasn't just morally wrong. It was illegal."

The average property that sold for under $8,000 was assessed at 7.5 times its actual sale price, according to the researchers.

Hold on a minute.  What about the Wayne County Sheriff sales that never took place?  I should not have made that statement.  I greatly apologize for making any public assertions in violations of under the color of law, of any questionable actions of these Sheriff auctions downtown in the auditorium, where swatchs of properties were never called.  For me to even make such a claim would be careless and may impede an ongoing federal investigation.  For this, I am so sorry.  At no time did I mean to conjure up visions of anyone representing a fake ass NGO, like the Detroit Land Bank Authority or the Detroit Economic Development Corporation, running over to the court and filing quiet titles, wiping out the taxes that they would levy through federal grants that they refused to give to the people who were supposed to get the funds to prevent foreclosures.  Ok, I really did not mean to say that.  Let me walk away from this.

Former Gov. John Engler in 1999 signed into law an overhaul of the state property tax code designed to make it faster and easier to return delinquent properties to productive use. It meant shortening the process from six years to three years and led to the seizure and resale of homes at auction beginning in the early 2000s.

It is called privatization.  Engler is not that smart.  He does what he is told to do.  Keep it real.

It's unclear how many occupied homes will be headed to this fall's tax foreclosure auction. A spokesman for the Wayne County Treasurer's office said Wednesday that they were still evaluating numbers and will likely issue an update in July.

These numbers are still up in the air because we need to see how many of these properties were Detroit Land Bank Authority properties that were stolen then flipped.

Detroit is currently facing a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan that maintains the city's poverty tax exemption, which wipes away property taxes for low-income owners, violated homeowner's due process rights with a convoluted application process.

Nah, it is not that convoluted.

I went down there and met with them.

Steinberg threw a tizzy when I presented the issues surrounding the fraudulent operations of the Detroit Land Bank Authority as I was thrashing the legal basis of his class action lawsuit.  One reason was because I live in the historic district that is the subject of his suit.

The two sides are in settlement negotiations, said ACLU legal director Michael Steinberg.

Make that money and save those houses using propaganda.

The lawsuit originally named the Wayne County Treasurer, arguing the office violated the federal Fair Housing Act by disproportionately foreclosing on black homeowners. But the Michigan Court of Appeals upheld a ruling by Wayne County Judge Robert Colombo, dismissing the county from the lawsuit because it should have been brought in front of the Michigan Tax Tribunal.

Columbo should have recused himself due to the fact that we are dealing with Detroit Land Bank Authority transgressions of property tax law for which he renders judgments all the time in their favor when he knows perfectly well, from being put on public notice when I filed with the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission on him, that they were never incorporated.

Columbo kicked the proverbial can down the road, as far as possibly away from himself, to a state jurisdiction, which I find to be quite a fascinating move.

Perhaps, Columbo is elevating the issues surrounding Michigan's participation in the property tax fraud scheme in Detroit, which is under federal investigation through SIGTARP.

Anyway, the "Taxed Out" report is suspect, in my eyes as propaganda for the ACLU because Kary Moss, just got pulled in by her New York handlers, who just so happened to be all wrapped up in this real estate fraud scheme of people losing their homes.

Kary Moss

Allow me to tell you the quick tale of why Kary and the ACLU sucks.

Executive director of ACLU to leave Michigan for New York position

Kary Moss, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, is leaving Michigan to join ACLU's senior leadership team in New York, she announced on Facebook.

I am using the Wikipedia link to demonstrate how well documented the work of Kary Moss and asset forfeiture through the Corporation for Enterprise Development, now known as Prosperity Now, which seems to be behind the Detroit Economic Development Corporation, Detroit Land Bank Authority and the Kresge Foundation.

She started out in child welfare fraud.

Kary should remember me coming into the office, around the first of every year for about 3 years, orating like the long lived orators of Athens public squares, to give testimony to the atrocities of child welfare in Michigan, ending in the traditional prayer that they all wake up each and every morning to tear soaked pillows for failing to even acknowledge to screams of the trafficking of tiny humans.

I used to attend administrative faculty functions where, only a few, would gather with me in a stifled chuckle of social etiquette, making fun of the ACLU, I like to call A CLUeless organization, on how it makes its decisions to take on public issues.

"Are you an African-American, Lesbian, Quadriplegic, Veteran? Well, it looks like we have ourselves a guaranteed, class action, certifiable case.  Get them NGOs out there to start fundraising for the programs we can federally bill to bring awareness to the needs of this population."

Yes, they quite often will serve Cocktails ̃and Popcorn at these academic consortia and yes, we all lived in the Cass Corridor, before they came in and stole the properties and made it all fancy to "save more savages" of Detroit with more Public Private Partnerships out of New York or California.

Just remember that.

"Bye Kary"

The end.

Taxed Out: Illegal property tax assessments and the epidemic of tax foreclosures in Detroit By: Bernadette... by Beverly Tran on Scribd

This thesis is pretty darn tight.  I am impressed and I do not say this arbitrairily nor capriciously.  Someone needs to get with this for what I see as a magnitude for future applications.

Detroit Looks Toward a Massive Blight Condemnation: The Optics of Eminent Domain in Motor City - Yxta Maya... by Beverly Tran on Scribd

ACLU Tax Foreclosures Class Action Complaint against Wayne County, et al 7-13-2016 by Beverly Tran on Scribd

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Cocktails & Popcorn: Columbo Said "No Ballot For Your Client" To Butch

"Hey you, over there in the shadows,
come on over and join us for Cocktails & Popcorn!"

In this riveting episode of Cocktails & Popcorn, Judge Colombo denied Butch's request for his client to stay on the ballot.

I believe Columbo is trying really, really hard to stick to the rule of law.

Besides, Columbo did say that Butch's client can do a write-in campaign, but Butch wants to appeal the ruling.

This should be fun.

As of June 5, 2018, there are 61 days before the August 7, 2018 Primary Election.

I wonder what will ever transpire during this election window?

Oh, the possibilities.

Judge denies Conyers' request to get back on ballot

A Wayne County Circuit Court judge Tuesday rejected John Conyers III's request to put his name back on the Aug. 7 Democratic primary race ballot.

Conyers filed a lawsuit last week seeking the court to declare him an eligible candidate for the U.S. House in a bid to claim his father's old Congressional seat for the 13th District.

Conyers sought a court order, a writ of mandamus, to force Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett to put him on the ballot.

"I am denying the request ... and ordering dismissal of the complaint," Wayne County Chief Circuit Court Judge Robert Columbo said during the hearing on the request for the order.

Columbo said it isn't appropriate to issue the order in the case because of legal precedent and because Conyers has another legal remedy for getting on the ballot — launching a write-in campaign.

Conyers' attorney, Melvin Butch Hollowell, said the judge's ruling was disappointing. 

"We're obviously disappointed," he said after the hearing. "But we'll continue to fight for John Conyers III to be on the ballot. We do believe that on appeal he will be successful and we will get moving on that quickly."

Hollowell is managing partner of the Detroit office of the Miller Law Firm and former corporation counsel for the city of Detroit.

Conyers is the son of former Democratic U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr. of Detroit. The congressman stepped down in December amid allegations of sexual harassment by former staffers.

Two weeks ago, Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett disqualified Conyers from the race after she ruled he didn't have sufficient voter signatures to be on the ballot. 

The move was a win for state Sen. Ian Conyers of Detroit, the former congressman’s great nephew, who is also running for the seat. The state senator's attorney challenged Conyers III’s petition signatures and prompted the review by Garrett’s office.

The field of candidates seeking to succeed the elder Conyers is crowded. Others running for the office include former state Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Shanelle Jackson, Westland Mayor Bill Wild, Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones and state Sen. Coleman Young III.

The winner of the primary will take the seat. No Republican is running.

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Day 121.2. Bruce Ohr Runs 10,000 DEA Informant Drug Operation

Tyler Technologies: Michigan Third Circuit Court of Wayne County.

Fun Fact!  Did you know Wayne County, Michigan is the largest court system in the U.S., if not the world, and it purchased the cheapest package of the Oddessy System of Tyler Technologies for its case management system?

Did you know that the Third Circuit Court of Wayne County is privately managed out of Arizona, which does not even reflect the same legal filing terms as are in Michigan?

Did you know that all the Detroit Land Bank Authority quiet title cases, under Judge Columbo, are also filed, and manipulated, (yes, I just said that) under this system?

Detroit Land Bank Authority Rumors: Judge Columbo, Mortgage Fraud & Voting Rights, 8-12-2017 

Another Detroit Absentee Voting Rights Challenge Goes Unchallenged, Again

Just another database for sale and manipulation, but the question is, cui bono?

I am going with whomever was stealin' the children, the land and the votes.

On a side note, all child welfare cases are under seal in the system, so as not to get busted stealin', or setting up foster kids to take the fall for Cassandra.

BTW, Oakland County purchased the highest level case management system.

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Another Detroit Absentee Voting Rights Challenge Goes Unchallenged, Again

How much do you want to bet those addresses were Detroit Land Bank Authority vacant properties?

Besides, it is not the first time Detroit absentee ballots have been used to manipulate an election.

And you know what they say, "If you cannot find the evidence, then there is no challenge to challenge."

I bet my #Superfans can find the evidence, if they have not already done so, just saying.

Judge shoots down challenge to Detroit absentee vote count

Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey

A Wayne County judge has thrown out a lawsuit against Detroit city clerk Janice Winfrey, saying there’s “no evidence” her office mishandled absentee ballots or violated state law in last week’s general election.

The lawsuit was brought by election challengers who said Winfrey’s office used copies of absentee vote envelopes, rather than original envelopes with ballots, to verify voter information for about 1200 absentee votes dropped off at the clerk’s office on Election Day.

The plaintiffs said that violated the state manual for elections officials, as well as state law.

They worried that conducting the verification process for absentee votes—which involves matching signatures on returned ballots with ballot applications, and checking the voter’s name against precinct records and the state’s Qualified Voter File—entirely behind closed doors opened the process up to potential fraud.

The plaintiffs asked the court to disqualify all absentee ballots from the vote count, claiming it’s now impossible to determine which ballots were verified using copies and which weren’t.

But in arguments before Judge Robert Colombo on Friday, city of Detroit lawyer James Noseda, arguing on Winfrey’s behalf, called suggestions of fraud “outrageous.”

“There’s just no basis for this challenge, nothing of substance to address,” he said. Noseda told the court that Winfrey’s office verified absentee voter information themselves before sending ballots onto Cobo Center for counting.

Daniel Baxter, Detroit’s director of elections, said the clerk’s office followed the same procedure in this year’s primary election and found it sped up the vote-counting process. That helped “to ensure what happened in 2016 [Detroit general election] never occurs again, in terms of the delayed result reporting from the absentee voting counting boards,” he said.

Colombo ruled that was appropriate. He said that state election law gives clerks leeway to create “processing steps tailored to administrative needs,” and the plaintiffs provided “no evidence” that fraud had actually occurred.

Given that lack of evidence, Colombo balked at the idea at throwing out up to 30,000 absentee votes, possibly changing the results of several races. That would amount to voter disenfranchisement and  “harm to the public,” Colombo said.

But Sherry Wells, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said Friday’s hearing raised as many questions as it answered. Wells said it's still not clear to her how using copies sped up the counting process, and how that didn’t violate state guidelines.

“The [Michigan] Secretary of State’s instructions are not clear,” Wells said. “When [the judge] says this is optional for absentee ballot counting boards, and the whole thing goes into what the process is supposed to be… how can it be optional? It’s strange.”

Wells also reiterated concerns about how much of the absentee ballot process takes place out of sight of election challengers. “How can you get evidence [of fraud] if you’re not allowed to get evidence?” she said.

Winfrey narrowly won re-election as clerk over challenger Garlin Gilchrist II by about 1400 votes. Gilchrist led the returns for most of election night, but Winfrey pulled ahead with a late surge by claiming almost two-thirds of the absentee.

Gilchrist has publicly mulled requesting a recount based on anecdotal evidence of absentee vote irregularities. As of Friday, his campaign said it was still considering the issue.

The Wayne County Board of Canvassers has yet to certify Detroit’s election returns. The board is scheduled to meet Tuesday, the state deadline for certification. Gilchrist then has a week to petition for a recount, which he must pay for.

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Detroit Land Bank Authority Rumors: Judge Columbo, Mortgage Fraud & Voting Rights, 8-12-2017

What?

Voter packing in Detroit?

An issue with absentee ballots with the City Clerk's Office?

The Detroit Land Bank involved in voter fraud?

Nooooooooo.....I find this hard to believe..... (extreme sarcasm intended).

Election challenger: Detroit’s votes may be poisoned

Detroit — A registered election challenger is asking a Wayne County Circuit judge to throw out all city absentee ballots from Tuesday’s primary on claims they are tainted.

Like that is going to happen.  The City and the County are going to argue that it is too late, too much money, blah, blah, blah.

How do I know?

Been there, done that, bought the rhinestone t-shirt.

Anita Belle of Detroit filed an emergency complaint Wednesday asking Chief Judge Robert Colombo Jr. to stop the Detroit Election Commission from using the results of all absentee ballots after she contends challenges sought were unfairly denied and Belle herself was forced out of the absentee counting room inside Cobo Hall.

Chief Judge Robert Columbo, Jr.?

ROFLMAO!!!!

Hold on, I need a personal moment, here.

via GIPHY

(Me laughing at the thought of a fair, unbiased adjudication of the issues with Detroit Land Bank Authority in front of Robert Columbo)

Belle said her certified group, the Voting Justice Committee, intended to challenge the eligibility of nearly 1,200 registered voters using addresses that were vacant lots owned by the Detroit Land Bank. But Belle said election workers denied the group.

Ok, here we go.

Chief Judge Robert Columbo, Jr. needs to voluntarily recuse himself from hearing the case because he has a long, quite long, and illustrious career issuing fraudulent rulings on behalf of Mike Duggan, Mayor Mike Duggan, and the Detroit Land Bank Authority, in quiet title actions.

As a matter of fact, the entire case needs to referred to the U.S. Department of Justice, Voting Rights Division, or the Affirmative Litigation Division, because, something tells me, that just might end up being the proper jurisdiction to investigate.

Whoops, looks like I just referred the matter. (snicker). #DOJ #FBI #votingrights 

Judge Robert J. Columbo, in his capacity of Chief Judge of the Third Judicial Circuit Court of Michigan, issued order for DOCKET DIRECTIVE 2014 – 26 on September 2, 2014, granting the Detroit Land Bank Authority (DLBA) special procedures in all civil actions for Expedited Quiet Title and Foreclosure Proceedings without requiring the DLBA to demonstrate it was “duly organized” or “validly existing” corporation “in good standing” in its state of incorporation to conduct business and “duly qualified” to conduct business with federal, state or local governments or to conduct business in other states.

Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission Request for Investigation of Judge Robert Columbo, Jr. by Beverly Tran on Scribd

What happened to my Michigan Judicial Tenure Grievance?

They told me I had to get an attorney because there was nothing they could do.

TRANSLATION: WE AIN'T GONNA TOUCH THIS ONE.  THE FEDS ARE ON IT.

Here is the place where the readers of disbelief, (a.k.a. Detroit Land Bank Authority defenders) will take great offense of my judicial allegations of fraud, so, just for moment of self-entertainment, I shall digress and tell the tale of Columbo and real estate fraud in Detroit, again.

Once upon a time, there was an attorney by the name of Vanessa Fluker who had a case pending before Columbo about fraudulent mortgage foreclosures.

To cut to the chase, Columbo, who had a mortgage with a defendant bank in one of Fluker's case, refused to recuse himself, and sanctioned her in this challenge for daring to even make such accusations into the public record as a "vexatious appeal" on eviction of her client. (notice the age and wheelchair of the client being evicted.)

Eventually, in appeal, the sanctions were lifted, but Columbo was then, put on public record of being baisedly friendly to those mortgage fraud schemes, including those NSP 2 mortgage fraud schemes of the then burgeoning Detroit Land Bank Authority.
Deutsche Bank and MortgageIT unit sued for mortgage fraud

“Supervisors with the Detroit City Clerk’s Office deprived me of the right to challenge the election by prohibiting challengers from being present when the signatures on the returned absentee ballots were compared against the signatures contained on the state’s Qualified Voter File,” Belle said during a news conference outside City Hall on Thursday evening.

“Supervisors with the Detroit City Clerk’s Office also deprived me of the right to challenge the election by claiming that any and all use of my cell phone — even to tell time or to talk to their own staff — was disruptive.”

Ultimately, Belle said supervisors with the clerk’s office and Detroit police removed her from the premises for using her phone to call the clerk’s office.

The lawsuit targets the city’s Election Commission — comprised of three members including Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey, Detroit Corporation Counsel Melvin Butch Hollowell and Council President Brenda Jones — as well as Winfrey independently as clerk and chair of the commission.

Reached Thursday, Winfrey said she was unaware of Belle’s complaint. Hollowell said the lawsuit had not been served to the city. If it is, the city will respond in court, he said.

Rumor has it Hollowell slides all cases dealing with Detroit Land Bank Authority to a special "out-box" for Clark Hill, the same Clark Hill law firm which handles the Detroit Bankruptcy case.

Golly geeze, I know a city where the entire ballot verification process, from state to finish, is done in complete secrecy, with some of the same familiar names involved, including Wayne County, but hey, what do I know?

Belle said the group intended to challenge the residency of registered voters, particularly absentee ballots mailed to such voters, “because ballots mailed to vacant lots most likely would not have a mailbox and would thus be returned to the City Clerk’s office as undeliverable.”

One would have to discover if those absentee ballots were even "mailed" or just picked up and returned by mail.

That would be mail fraud.  That would be a federal issue. #DOJ

Whoever the attorney is to be filing this original complaint on behalf of Belle, I hope sticks in a federal claim so these Detroit election officials will be forced to remove it.

I will try and secure a copy of the complaint and update.

Daniel Lemisch, Acting U.S. Attorney
Michigan Easter District

If not, I am sure my #Superfans will be monitoring, and, if not, I will be, oh, reporting on it, too, just to make their lives a bit more pleasurable!

I like making my #Superfans smile.

“Consequently, in the event that such ballots were found to be voted upon, the plaintiff intended to allege that employees of the city clerk, who had access to and custody of these ballots, violated numerous state and federal laws and thereby diluted the vote of the true residents of Detroit and thus rigged the election,” the lawsuit reads.

Yuppers, absolutely.  But then again, perhaps t'was not the employees, but an official.  

Sounds like another reason for federal intervention. #DOJ

“Because it is now possible that the well of absentee ballots is poisoned by as many as nearly 1,200 indistinguishable ballots cast by nonresidents, there is no repair but to ask Judge Colombo to throw out all of the absentee ballots,” Belle said Thursday. “... challengers are not pesky mosquitoes sucking the blood out of elections. We’re volunteers who make sure that the right vote is counted right.”

Belle is also asking the judge to refer the matter to the appropriate authorities for a criminal investigation, she said.

#DOJ #FBI

Anita Belle, meet Daniel Lemisch, Dan, meet Anita.

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©