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Monday, September 24. 2007
To date I have been involved perhaps 30 lawsuits of one kind or another and
have never lost one. However, neither have I ever won one. Most were small and
inconsequential small claims issues of some 20+ years ago. But two of those and
one very recent one were large and potentially life-changing (if not
life-threatening).
Now, you tell me if you happen to see any extortion in my recap of the three
cases in question.
1.
While I was the owner of an Equipment Leasing Company some 2+0 years ago, I financed
a business called a "Whirly Ball Rink," wherein the client applied
for a leased of ten bumper cars and forty tons of steel flooring. Since the
business was brand new and the concept was untried and likely to be just a fad,
I insisted on using the equity in the applicant's home as additional security
for my advance of some $150,000 for the equipment. The lease was approved and
immediately sold to Countrywide Funding (a new company at the time). The
equipment was shipped by the manufacturer and installed in what had been a
roller skating rink in Simi Valley,
California.
After the business was set up and ready to go, the owner the building
started an eviction process because the business was late in its third month's
rent due to slowness in getting started. The business owner (the Whirly Ball
guy) had no money to make the payment until the business opened and he was shut
down before he could get started.
At this point, I notified Countrywide Funding of the problem and told them
they needed to immediately repossess the equipment and begin foreclosure
proceedings on the guy's house (the equipment without the rink was valueless).
However, in CW's inimitable fashion, they procrastinated and didn't proceed
with the foreclosure until the client was sought out by an ambulance chaser
(slime-ball, spittle-dripping n'er-do-well lawyer) who filed an injunction
against Countrywide's actions.
Next, when the landlord and Countrywide got around to their legal proceedings,
I was named in the suit along with the equipment manufacturer and accused of
having violated a state law concerning something called a SAMP (Seller-Assisted
Marketing Program), although in this case, I had done nothing but turn the deal
over to Countrywide and take a $1,000 finder's Fee.
This case went on...and on...an on...and on for over a year. At the end, we
won the case and all I had to do was to pay my attorney $130,000: buy, hey I
didn't have to pay back my $1000 finder's fee! When the verdict was announced,
my attorney had the audacity to suggest that we all go out and celebrate the
big win (at which point I envisioned myself clubbing him in the back of the
head with a tire-iron). After laying out the money, I was shortly thereafter forced
into bankruptcy...whereupon my attorney accidentally let it out that had I done
that in the beginning of the case I wouldn't owe anyone anything. It was at
this point that I decided to bring my fantasies to fruition and go out and
actually hunt him down and club him in the back of the head with a tire-iron.
#2.
While in that same business (equipment leasing) a client applied for a $350,000.00
lease of equipment for use in an under-construction extended-care facility in Santa Maria, California.
With the application, I took a standard fully refundable Commitment Fee of 10%
($35,000) to be refunded upon approval of the transaction, or from which actual
costs would be deducted if the money was provided and the client backed-out of
the transaction.
Since the care facility (a converted Holiday Inn) was not yet available for
occupancy and the company's operating plans were not at all satisfactory, funding
was turned down. At this point I
refunded the $35,000 in full without any subtraction for actual costs (I paid
the costs myself, assuming that the gesture of goodwill would get me the deal
back when the problems were straightened out).
When the applicant’s investors began backing out of the project and
demanding their money back due to the failure of the funding, the client (the
applicant) told them all that the money would be forthcoming, and that he had a
loan commitment from my company to prove it. He then showed them my Commitment
Fee Agreement, and their not knowing the difference, they went on with their
investments. Now, in order to save face and avoid repaying his investors (and
being sued for lying to them) he and his attorney opted to falsely sue me for
failure to honor my commitment to fund (so that his investors would not see him
as the charletan and cr5ook he was). To make a long story short, I won the case
against me, and the judge even laughed at the claimant's feeble attempt to
shift the blame of his scam on to me. And once again...the attorney wanted to
celebrate the Big Win...which had cost me a cool $75,000 out of my pocket to
win.
#3
The last one just finished yesterday as a matter of fact. In this one, the
plaintiffs in a $500 house with $100 equity had been foreclosed upon by their
lender 2 years ago, 6 mnths after b uying the property, whereupon they filed a
fake BK petition in order to avoid the FC and to force the lender to start over
again with a new FC process (no payments being made). Then when the lender got
their 'relief from stay' they foreclosed again, at which point the claimant
simply filed another fake BK and bought another 6 months or more of free rent.
Then when foreclosed upon for the third time, the claimant tried frantically
and unsuccessfully to refinance…to find another sucker lender...to no avail.
Then just one day from finalization of the third foreclosure,
with all other options gone, they stumbled upon a lender rep who referred them
to one of our investors. The investor gave
them $90,000 to cure the foreclosure and used our system to save their home for
them. The investor even paid $300 per-month of their payment for a year to make
recovery easier for the "poor unfortunate" homeowners.
The plaintiffs once again stopped making payments (duh...big
surprise!) and were set again for eviction--this time at their own hand by
virtue of being the only beneficiary in the trust when the lease was exercised.
They were shortly sniffed out by a sleaze-ball "Consumer Advocacy"
extortionist who has apparently made millions in the past on cases involving
sale/leasebacks wherein he was successful in getting them characterized as equitable
mortgages, which did not conform to mortgage regulations such as HOEPA, TILA,
RICO, etc. And...where equity-stripping and unconscionable advantage were
claimed.
The scam by this attorney, who purports to
"protect consumers against scams," was to sue the acquiring party for
damages and his own legal fees--for having perpetrating a scam in violation of
the Homeowner’s Equity Protection Act (HOEPA), the Truth inLending Act (TILA),
etc.. At this point the defendant’s
legal bills would mount so fast that they’d run out of money and have no choice
but to settle out of court for, in many cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars
(virtually all of which went into the lawyer's pocket for legal fees).
The amount initially asked for in our case (i.e., to be
extorted from the defendants) by the plaintiff's lawyer was $300,000...plus a
return of the property's deed to the plaintiff and no further moneys to be owed
by the plaintiff (the $90,000) to the investor. We told them to go pound salt
up their flush valves, as it were (a chore I assume they'll be pursuing for
some time to come).
However, the cost for winning nothing but what was
always the right thing anyway...$200,000 (including the investor’s original contribution
and costs of defense).
The lesson to be learned from this: No matter what the
cost, make sure you kids forget about medical school, engineering school, and
especially the Clergy when choosing a career. Get them into racketeering and
extortion school (erlaw school) as fast as you can. But, of course, don't
expect them to ever do any legal work for your for free later on...after all,
they will be attorneys.
Tell me this. Why don't we have the Looser Pays system that England does.
You want to sue? No problem…just sue to your heart's content...but do your
homework before you start, because if you lose, you pay your attorney, the
other guy's attorney and all courts costs.
Why don't we have 'Loser Pays' in the US?
Whoa! Tough question-until you consider who you'd have to go to to effect
legal reform: the same extortionists who despise the concept.
I even like Madagascar's
system better than ours. In Madagascar,
if you have a beef with your neighbor (i.e., a "tort"), each of you is
directed to go down to the dog pound and rent a fighting dog. Then whoever ends
up with the losing dog pays the claim and pays for both dogs (along with
funeral services for one of them).
Actually, I love dogs too much to advocate the system the way it is, so I'd
perhaps suggest using animals that we could at least eat afterward: maybe a
nice cow fight to the death would be the way to go. As the system over there stands now, Michael
Vicks should move to Madagascar. We'd all benefit. He could run the civil
court and the dog pound, and we'd all be rid of the bastard.
Sunday, June 10. 2007
As many of the readers here may know, I do magic tricks during my seminars
(not good magic tricks, just magic tricks). Well, a couple weeks ago upon
arriving in Chicago,
ready for the start of a three-day workshop, as I open the suitcase containing
my magic stuff (about 50 lbs of it) I find a notification that my bag has been
searched by TSA. Every time before, when receiving the notification
I could always be sure that the inspector had damaged something because of
careless handling and proper re-packing. In one particular instance, they
removed and improperly replaced a special made box that I had paid $75.00 for,
which was destroyed as a result. On
another occasion, a $100 metal cylinder (containing trick folding flowers) was placed
in the wrong position and became hopelessly smashed flat (well beyond repair) in
transit.
But be all that as it may, some of my latest encounters with this
group of uneducated and sorely untrained yay-hoo's has tried my patience to the
breaking point. To wit: Upon arriving in Chicago a couple weeks ago, I found that a
pair of large brass trick scissors (e.g., I can open and close them, but no one
else can without knowing the secret) was missing. Someone at the TSA inspection
counter either forgot to put them back or took a fancy to them and kept them
for themselves. I had suspected that things had been taken before, but
this time there was no doubt.
Upon determining that the item was definitely missing, I called the phone
number listed at the bottom of the inspection notification. After twenty
minutes, I finally got a living person on the phone whereupon I explained my
problem. I wasn't asking for a return of anything, or any restitution, I just
wanted an understanding ear, and perhaps to receive some sort of grievance or
complaint form to complete and submit.
I honestly thought that by calling I might even help correct the system's
deficiencies. My suggestion ws that each inspector should have to personally
sign and date the notification slip, or at least indicate an employee number,
thereby taking responsibility for his/her actions. After all, don’t we get an
inspector's slip and his/her number in the package ("Inspected by No.
##") when we purchase a pair of under britches or a shirt or a suit?
At this suggestion, the person on the phone says: "No, we don't do
that."
"I know you don't do that," I respond, "that's why I'm
suggesting that someone SHOULD do that. At this, the woman says: "Sir, we
would have to remove those scissors anyway because they are longer than five
inches.” I say: "No you wouldn't, they were in my bag in the cargo
hold, and there is no limitation on the size of anything if it's not being
carried on the plane."
"Yes there is," she says, "I'm TSA and I should know what I'm
talking about."
"Yes you SHOULD," I exclaim, "but you don’t!” And
therein lies much of the ensuing clamity.
"Don't get snotty with me she says, "My department doesn't handle
that sort of thing and I didn't take your scissors."
"What's your name," I say, sighing deeply. "It’s none
of your business and we don't give out our names," she says, and
continues: "Sir, if you want to argue with someone, then you'll have to
talk to someone else, I don't need to have no discussion with
you." At that (ignoring the double-negative) I ask the name of
her supervisor, whereupon she responds, "I told you that is none of your
business...we don't give our names out."
I then ask to speak to someone in charge. After a good full minute,
another lady comes on the phone, announcing herself as "Miss Jones, the
supervisor." I thank her for giving her name and tell her the brief story:
that the scissors were removed from my bag illegally and that there is in-fact
no limit to the size of a scissors when carried in the cargo hold. I then
point out that it would be a good idea for someone in her department to make a
suggestion to her powers-to-be that all inspectors identify themselves when
going through traveler's private things, in order to help curtail errors,
damage and pilferage. The good Miss Jones, then tells me I should not be
carrying things on a plane that are that important to me. Furthermore,
she insists that the TSA inspectors are carefully screened and do not steal
things, and that anything removed is disposed of and never kept by TSA
employees. This, of course doesn’t count the unopened confiscated bottle of
water that I had only hours earlier seen a TSA employee open and drink when the
passenger had gone and she thought no one was looking.
I ask then why, if they were fully legal, my scissors were taken. She
say it was because scissors over five inches are not allowed on airplanes
I had to remind her again that they were in the cargo hold. At this she says,
“Oh yeah, that’s right,” and informs me that her department doesn’t handle such
matters and can't do anything about my problem, and that she's spent enough
time with me, and that I need to talk to someone else. I ask for a name
and a number of someone else to talk to. She says, "I told you we
don't give out that information...if you want to file a complaint you must do
so after receiving the form in our letter regarding this call.” She then asks
for my full name, address and telephone number (probably so that the guy who
stole my scissors can come to my house and take my TV too). It's been three or
four weeks now and no letter. Oh, and I had to buy another pair of trick scissors
(the replacements were only $65.00 though, so Miss Jones would probably insist
that I saved ten bucks because of the theft since the ones stolen had
cost me $75.00, and that I should thank the TSA for that.
ANOTHER OF MANY TSA GRIPES:
Last week upon flying into to Ashville N.C. for the day (arriving in the
morning and flaying back the same afternoon), I took with me only my overnight
bag, which normally would have been in my suitcase and shipped in the cargo
bay. But without thinking it out clearly, I had forgotten to remove my
liquids and a small leather bag of hand tools (screw driver, pliers, wood
chisel, leather awl, corkscrew, barber scissors and a small tack hammer).
Of course I was immediately nabbed at the X-ray machine and taken to the
side-table for a cavity search (not really, but a full going-over
none-the-less). When the indignities were finished, I was asked to step to
another area and watch, without touching, as my bag’s contents was emptied on
the table. At this, they take away my toothpaste (with perhaps only one squeeze
at most left in the tube); then my after-shave and cologne (perhaps a half
ounce in each container); two tiny tubes of hair dye (OK, now you know); a tube
Preparation H (see how the secrets keep coming out); a tube of KY jelly (don't
ask), and a combination screwdriver and tack hammer (about six inches in
length, the screwdriver comprising the handle of the tack hammer).
Now, here's the problem I have. After the careful inspection of the bag's
contents, they left me with a pair of 7"
long scissors (basically two sizeable knives if I wanted to remove the pivot
screw in the center). I also got to keep
two 6" long screwdrivers (a standard and a Phillips); a 5" long steel
chisel, a 5" long steel leather awl, a 4" long corkscrew and a five-inch
long metal-reinforced handle for each of the items (resembles a large pocket
knife with no blade).
"Why can’t we just take the screwdriver out of the hammer making them
both only 3” and 6" long respectively?" I ask stupidly.
"Because you could screw them back together to make a weapon if you
wanted to," came the answer.
Now I have to ask the reader: "Would you rather be attacked by a
terrorist wielding a ten- inch long combination handle and screw driver, a
steel wood awl or razor sharp chisel: or would a hollow tack hammer likely be
more fearsome and deadly?"
Regarding the liquids that were confiscated, they had to be tossed out
because I had no plastic see-through bag in which to place them. I was told
that if they'd been in a see-through bag they would have been allowed to go
with me.
OK, now think hard on this one (a little convoluted…maybe for a
Kindergartner): The inspector inspected the contents of my bag and looked
directly at all the things that were not in see-through plastic containers,
then sent me on my way to Ashville without them. He knew and I knew that there would be no
further inspections on that flight. According to him, had those Items been
in a plastic see-though bag so he could see them, I could have kept them.
But since he had taken them out of the bag and eye-balled them directly--SEEING
THEM--they took them away from me. But...if they'd been in plastic bags
SO THEY COULD BE SEEN (which they now had been), they'd have been OK
with that.
Here's my conversation with the inspector:
"So why is it that I can’t keep the liquids now that you’ve seen them?"
"Because they're not in see-through plastic bags."
"Do you have any plastic bags available?"
"No we don't supply those. They do sometimes at the front of the
line, but they ran out."
"And why do they need to be in these plastic bags?"
"So that we can see them."
"But you just took them out and looked at them, so why would I need the
plastic bags for the rest of the trip?"
"Policy Sir."
I have a mesh bag here that my toiletries came in (from which see-through
bag they had just been extricated by the inspector). You can see right
through it, why don't we just use that?"
"Because it's not plastic."
"But you can see through it!"
"Move along Sir, you're wasting our time here."
“But…but…”
“Move along!”
Among what I really wanted to say, but didn't get the chance, was (in
addition to informing the inspector that he was another buffoon in an army of
buffoons): "If more than 3 ounces of something disguised as toothpaste or
cologne or water might blow up an airplane, what's to stop me or anyone else from
carrying two or three 3 ounce tubes of the same stuff...in a see-through
plastic bag? Or what's to stop two or three terrorists from carrying 3 ounces
each and getting together after take-off?
OK, here's the real deal in a nutshell: Why doesn't the T !@#$% SA
hire intelligent people with some modicum of common sense? Why
don't they have a national contest and invite every concerned citizen to
fantasize about novel ways they might go about blowing up an airplane or
controlling the passenger list if they were to be terrorists. That way
the TSA could find out what truly needs to be looked out for? Why don't
they have every inspector and officer, and gate guard wearing name tags or
badges with ID numbers so that they can be called to common standards of
professionalism, as are police and firemen and FBI agents? Why can't every
inspection of the contents of one's personal items be videotaped for replay later
should a passenger feel he has been ripped-off or damaged by the actions of
these severely under trained and unprepared and underpaid governmental
pipe-dream?
Here's my solution to the mess:
All carry-ons should be banned, and every passenger made to disrobe
completely for the duration of the flight. Then before boarding, each
passenger should be made to lie on his/her back to be conveyed on the belt
through the X-ray machine: the trip through the machine to culminate in a
thorough anal probe in order to detect potential dangerous items being secreted
in such fashion.
Once aboard the plane, all pilots,
attendants and air-marshals should have to appear before the passengers showing
that they too are sans clothing and weapons. Next, all eating utensils
would be made of rubber, and potentially gaseous foods would be
disallowed during the flight, as such food could enable a group of would-be
terrorists to rip pieces of metal from tray-tables or window frames, and scrape
them together in order to create a spark
with which to ignite a symphony of middle-eastern farts, thereby instantly blowing
the aircraft to Smithereens in the name of Allah).
Sigh...were only I to be the king of the world...
But wait! Wait! I didn't tell you about when a TSA officer at Southwest
Airlines confiscated my ticket and threw me off my flight because I did the
unthinkable and reported "suspicious behavior."
That one went like this:
While standing in the Southwest cattle-call line for an hour in order to be
a part of the mad rush for an aisle seat, the guy in front of me, who looked
like a hybrid between a Iraqi prison camp guard and a 1950's Beatnik was carefully
scooting an overnight bag along the floor with his foot as the line moved
toward the gate. He slowly turned to me
and said, in a weird tone of voice: "…All I have in my bag is sandwiches…do
you think all the crew people leave the plane before they let people on?"
Thinking this a tad weird, I said I didn't know and began tapping on my
wristwatch to make time go faster. The guy then grinned at me as if a pair
of gerbils had just run up his lower digestive tract.
As as we waited, every ten minutes the PA system announced, "Please
report any suspicious behavior at once to any airport personal.” Then minutes
later the same request came again..."Do not leave your bags unattended,
and please report any suspicious behavior...". At this point the guy in
front of me turned around and grinned at me again, and looking down at his bag
as if he had a secret hidden there that only he and I knew about, he winked slyly at me as if to seal our
mutual vow of secrecy and silence.
Now I'm becoming a little concerned, so being a good citizen who can follow
orders, I excuse myself and walk over to a TSA official and quietly tell her
about the guy and his unusual and suspicious behavior. The TSA gal
looks me firmly in the eye and says, "Sir we don't re-inspect bags once
they passed through screening."
Being new at ratting people out and trying to reason with someone I am not
yet sure is an idiot, I ask: "But what if the screening people were looking
the other direction when this one came through on the belt (which I've seen
happen a dozen times in my frequent traveling).
"Sir, that doesn’t happen and you can't expect us to re-inspect people
because they're acting weird, that would be "profiling,” now wouldn't it?
I then commented that perhaps a little profiling in this case might not be a
bad idea and might even save some lives.
The next thing I know, another TSA official approaches and the woman I'd
been talking to says to the man who was apparently a superior: “Earl, this
guy here thinks someone in the line over there has a bomb in his bag. You talk
to him."
I of course denied having said any such thing and insisted that I was only trying
to report suspicious behavior as instructed by the overhead messages. As
we are having the conversation the loud speaker once again bleats our the
announcement, and I say, pointing up at the ceiling, "See!" And
once again I am grinned at (in stereo now), rebuffed and informed that singling
out this person for merely being a possible lunatic terrorist bomber would
constitute profiling, and that my warning is in fact unwelcome, unwarranted and
wholly unfair since I do not know anything about this person or his
motives. At this, against the direction of the little guy in white on my
shoulder telling me to keep my mouth shut, I exclaim under my breath that:
"I have never seen such incompetence and sheer stupidity in my life."
Then blamo! Out of nowhere come two more (different) TSA dudes who yank my
airline ticket out of my breast suit pocket, declaring that I would not be
flying that day!"
I then watch as the line of lowing cattle board the plane in a trance and
singing a low Gregorian Chant (most of whom had, without the slightest bit of concern,
witnessed my run-in with the "authorities"). Me? Oh, I simply went
next door to US Air and bought another ticket...with a no-hurry first-class
seat assignment (I even ended up with an extra bag of peanuts as I recall)!
As I stood at the US Air window watching the Southwest flight take off,
ascending gracefully into the golden California sunset, I must, most ashamedly,
admit that at that point, although I wanted to have been wrong about the mad
bomber: at the same time, still (waaay in the back of the reptilian vestigial
part of my brain) I secretly hoped the plane would explode in full view of
those who had offended me. Although, hearing nothing to the contrary on
the news, I have to assume that everyone made it safely to his or her
destination and that the crazy guy got to eat his bag of sandwiches in peace.
As I waited to board my new flight, I got to hear the announcement three
more times: "All passengers, please do not leave bags unattended, and
report any suspicious or unusual behavior to airline security personnel immediately.”
I was tempted to give the finger to the loud speaker, but restrained myself in
fear of arrest for bird-flipping an inanimate object in a public place.
Overall, though, I did learn a good lesson from the experience: the next
time I see what appears to be a group of Muslim extremists with machetes and
box cutters boarding a plane, I’ll keep my damn mouth shut!
My guess is that a letter to airline headquarters suggesting that they add
to their recording "...and be deemed a Doofus nut case and loose your
right to fly" would probably fall on deaf ears.
Does anyone remember when the only rule for carry-ons was that machine guns
had to be in violin cases? Now, were those the good old days, or what?!
Wednesday, June 6. 2007
Medicare Part D
In 2007, 5 million
of our older Americans had not signed up in the allotted time, for their
Medicare, Part D, drug plan. Afterall they are old and more confused than most beaurocrats (that's why Part D is so important to their survival). YET they were denied an extension.
However, all the while, the 12 million-plus illegal aliens in
our country were allowed to stay, work, protest, fly the American Flag upsidedown beneath the Mexicn flag in publi schools, procreate in profusion, receive
support monies, attend schools, avoid paying income taxes, loiter in and blight nice neighborhoods, force our teachers to enroll in 300 hours of English as a Second Language at
our expense, clog our emergency units and community sponsored hospitals to the point of forcing their closures by the hundreds.. (gdmittt!!!!!!)
THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT MUST EITHER REALLY DISLIKE OUR OLDER
AMERICAN CITIZENS, OR THEY MUST REALLY LOVE THOSE WHO HAVE, DUE TO THEIR THIRD WORLD MENTALITY HAVE TURNED THEIR OWN COUNTRY OVER TO DRUG LORDS, CROOKED POLITICIANS, CORRUPT LAW "ENFORCEMENT," AND MURDEROUS ROVING BANDS OF THEIVING, KIDNAPPING THUGS...WHO ARE DESTINED TO TURN OUR GOVERNMENT INTO A COPY OF THEIRS.
Let's just see
how the government will handle the program for the 2008 year for our
senior citizens.
Oh, don't
forget to pay your taxes and be thankful for the opportunity to contribute. 12 million-plus illegal aliens are depending on
you!-0-
I checked the following out at the Urban Legends Reference Pages
(Snopes.com), and it's true...and more than mildly chilling to read! Please! Please understand that is not a joke, wild rumor and heresay, or some conspiracy theory...the threat is real and growing exponentially as we pay do-nothing lip-service to our child-like "potential solutions." We don't need a goddamned fence! We need to stop putting our own border guards in jail for doing what they are paid to do, and for caring (for a change) whether or not some foregin criminal scum bag wants to important drugs into our country to kill, injure and habitute Ameircans for the benefit of their own financial gain. Those poor guys didn't deserve jail...they deserved badges of honor and new high-powered machine guns...and the right to use them...to save what's left of our freaking democracy!
We
know Dick Lamm as being the former Governor of Colorado. In that context I think his thoughts
are particularly poignant. Last week (early 2007) there was an immigration overpopulation
conference in Washington,
DC,
filled to capacity by many of America
's finest minds and leaders. A brilliant college professor by the name of
Victor Hansen Davis talked about his latest book, "Mexifornia,"
explaining how immigration - both legal and illegal was destroying the entire
state of California. He said
the infestation would soon march across the country until it destroyed all vestiges of The
American Dream.
Moments
later, former Colorado Governor Richard D. Lamm stood up and gave a stunning
speech on how to destroy America. The audience sat spellbound as he described eight methods for the destruction
of the United States.
He said, "If you believe that America is too smug, too
self-satisfied, too rich, then let's destroy it! It is not that hard to do. No nation in history has survived the ravages of
time. Arnold Toynbee observed that all great civilizations rise and fall, and
that 'An autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit suicide.
"Here is how they do it," Lamm said:
"First, to destroy America, turn America
into a bilingual or multi-lingual and bicultural country." History shows
that no nation can survive the tension, conflict, and antagonism of two or more
competing languages and cultures. It is a blessing for an individual to be
bilingual; however, it is a curse for a society to be bilingual. The historical
scholar, Seymour Lipset, put it this way: "The histories of bilingual and
bi-cultural societies that do not assimilate are histories of turmoil, tension,
and tragedy." Canada, Belgium,
Malaysia, Germany
and Lebanon
all face crises of national existence in which minorities press for autonomy,
if not independence. Pakistan and Cyprus
have divided. Nigeria
suppressed an ethnic rebellion. France
faces difficulties with Basques, Bretons, and Corsicans," Lamm went on:
Second, to destroy America,
"Invent 'multiculturalism' and encourage immigrants to maintain their own culture.
Make it an article of belief that all cultures are equal. That there are no
cultural differences. Make it an article of faith that the Black and Hispanic
dropout rates are due solely to prejudice and discrimination by the majority.
Every other explanation is out of bounds.
Third, "We could
make the United States
a 'Hispanic Quebec' without much effort. The
key is to celebrate diversity rather than unity. As Benjamin Schwarz said in
the Atlantic Monthly recently: "The
apparent success of our own multiethnic and multicultural experiment might have
been achieved not by tolerance but by hegemony. Without the dominance that once
dictated ethnocentricity and what it meant to be an American, we are left with
only tolerance and pluralism to hold us together." Lamm said, "I
would encourage all immigrants to keep their own language and culture. I would
replace the melting pot metaphor with the salad bowl metaphor. It is important
to ensure that we have various cultural subgroups living in America
enforcing their differences rather than as Americans, emphasizing their
similarities
"Fourth, I would make
our fastest growing demographic group the least educated. I would add a second
underclass, unassimilated, undereducated, and antagonistic to our population. I
would have this second underclass have a 50% dropout rate from high school
"My fifth point for
destroying America
would be to get big foundations and business to give these efforts lots of
money. I would invest in ethnic identity, and I would establish the cult of
'Victimology.' I would get all minorities to think that their lack of success
was the fault of the majority. I would start a grievance industry blaming all
minority failure on the majority population.
"My sixth plan for America’s
downfall would include dual citizenship, and promote divided loyalties. I would
celebrate diversity over unity. I would stress differences rather than
similarities. Diverse people worldwide are mostly engaged in hating each other
- that is, when they are not killing each other. A diverse, peaceful, or stable
society is against most historical precedent. People undervalue the unity it
takes to keep a nation together. Look at the ancient Greeks. The Greeks
believed that they belonged to the same race; they possessed a common Language
and literature; and they worshipped the same gods. All Greece
took part in the Olympic Games. A common enemy, Persia,
threatened their liberty. Yet none of these bonds were strong enough to
overcome two factors: local patriotism, and geographical conditions that
nurtured political divisions. Greece
fell. "E. Pluribus Unum" -- From many-one. In that historical
reality, if we put the emphasis on the 'pluribus' instead of the 'Unum,' we
will balkanize America
as surely as Kosovo.
"Next to last, I
would place all subjects off limits; make it taboo to talk about anything
against the cult of 'diversity.' I would find a word similar to 'heretic' in
the 16th century - that stopped discussion and paralyzed thinking. Words like
'racist' or 'xenophobe' halt discussion and debate.
Having made America
a bilingual/bicultural country, and having established multi-culturalism, and having
the large foundations fund the doctrine of 'Victimology.'
"Next I would make it
impossible to enforce our immigration laws. I would develop a mantra: That
because immigration has been good for America,
it must always be good. I would make every individual immigrant symmetric and
ignore the cumulative impact of millions of them."
In
the last minute of his speech, Governor Lamm wiped his brow. Profound silence
followed. Finally he said,. "Lastly, I would censor Victor Hanson Davis's
book "Mexifornia."His book is dangerous. It exposes the plan to destroy America
. If you feel America
deserves to be destroyed, don't read that book."
There
was no applause. A chilling fear quietly rose like an ominous cloud above every
attendee at the conference. Every American in that room knew that everything
Lamm enumerated was proceeding methodically, quietly, darkly, yet pervasively
across the United States
today. Discussion is being suppressed. Over 100 languages are ripping the
foundation of our educational system and national cohesiveness. Even barbaric
cultures that practice female genital mutilation are growing as we celebrate
'diversity.' American jobs are vanishing into the Third World as corporations
create a Third World in America - take note of California
and other states - to date, ten million illegal aliens and growing fast. It is
reminiscent of George Orwell's book
"1984." In that story, three slogans are engraved in the Ministry of
Truth building: "War is peace," "Freedom is slavery," and
"Ignorance is strength."
Governor
Lamm walked back to his seat. It dawned on everyone at the conference that our
nation and the future of this great democracy is deeply in trouble and
worsening fast. If we don't get this immigration monster stopped within three
years, it will rage like a California
wildfire and destroy everything in its path especially The American Dream.
ADDENDUM
- The following is not intended to condemn or belittle Americans who are Democrats
politically: only to alert all the rest of us to those cowardly pseudo
democrats who are constantly marching, pleading, striking,
organizing, objecting and demanding the overthrow of our country though civil
disobedience in direct opposition to the welfare of America. These mewling social
dregs are dedicated to the empowerment of our most deadly, determined and vehement
enemies who are dedicated to killing every one of us. The constant demands for
healthcare and Welfare handouts, baseless pacifism and disgorgement of the
country's coffers can only bring America to its knees in defeat.
It's a fact that when our original thirteen states adopted
their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish History professor
at the University of Edinburgh, speculating on the success of the new
American Democracy, had this to say about democracies with specific regard to
the fall of the Athenian
Republic some 2,000 years
earlier:
"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot
exist as a permanent form of government."
"A democracy can only function until the time that
voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public
treasury."
"From that moment on, the majority always vote for the
candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the
result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy,
which is always followed by a dictatorship."
"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations
from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years"
"During those 200 years, those nations always
progressed through the following sequence:
1. from bondage to spiritual faith;
2. from spiritual faith to great courage;
3. from courage to liberty;
4. from liberty to abundance;
5. from abundance to complacency;
6. from complacency to apathy;
7. from apathy to dependence;
8. from dependence back into bondage"
Professor Joseph Olson, St. Paul, Minnesota,
points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000 Presidential election: (Probably similar for the 2004 election.)
Number of States won by:
Gore: 19 Bush: 29
Square miles of land won by:
Gore: 580,000 Bush: 2,427,000
Population of counties won by:
Gore: 127 million Bush: 143 million
Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by:
Gore: 13.2 Bush: 2.1
Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the
territory Bush won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of this
great country. Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in
government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government
welfare..."
Olson believes the United State
is now somewhere between the "complacency and apathy" phase of
Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the
nation's population already having reached the "governmental
dependency" phase.
If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million
criminal invaders called “illegals” and they all become voters, then we can say
goodbye to the USA
in fewer than five years.
Just think about it...when the rule of the majority
determines a country's fate, and the majority wants everything for nothing,
they can only vote themselves into the positions vacated by those pushed-out by
popular vote, who thought of the country's welfare first, and the welfare of
factional elements last. I.e., "What's good for all is good for one; but
that which is only good for one, strangles the rest of us." When this
country's gates are finally flung wide-open, guess which sector of the new
population, the newcomers, will be in...those interested in the welfare of the
country? Or those more concerned with feeding, funding and treating themselves
for free: i.e., those unable to contribute equally to the Whole will, with
alarming alacrity, disproportionately drain it of life.
Opening our borders to the citizens of under-developed
countries without absolute rule and order and a long-term plan can only have
one ultimate effect: annihilation of everything dreamed of, hoped for, and for
which the rest of us have given our lives for the sake of Freedom..
The word "illegal" means - Against the Law
"Against the Law" means - Not allowed – not legal
Something that is not allowed and patently illegal must be immediately
handled with all due strength and determination!
Those who indulge in illegal acts (“illegals” and their benefactors
and facilitators) are supposed to be either fined, imprisoned, rehabilitated or
sent back to where they came from. In
this country, after three episodes of an illegal activity (3 strikes) the law of
the land is that there can be NO reprieve or leniency. So what the hell is
wrong with this picture??!!
You can read allof this and smile or you cn become outraged
and do something…your choice.
-0-
CHEAP TOMATOES? WHAT CHEAP TOMATOES? WE DON'T NEED NO DAMN CHEAP TOMATOES!From a California
school teacher - - -
"As you listen to the news about the student
protests over illegal immigration, there are some things that you should be
aware of:
I am in charge of the English-as-a-Second-Language department
at a large Southern California
high school that is designated as being a Title 1 school, meaning that its students
come from the lowest socio-economic and income levels.
Most of the "rebel" schools you
are hearing about in the news, South
Gate
High, Bell Gardens
, Huntington
Park, etc., where these students are protesting (and shouting anti-American slogns, and flying our flag upside down), are also Title 1
schools.
Title 1 schools are on the free breakfast and free lunch
program. When I say free breakfast, I'm not talking a glass of milk and roll...but a full breakfast and cereal bar with fruits and juices that would make a
Marriott proud. And wth this conspicuous abundance of food, comes its waste. The weaste is monumental, with heaping trays and heping trays of it
being dumped in the grbage uneaten. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK
)
I
estimate that well over 50% of these students are obese or at least overweight. And about 75% or more of them have the lasest and most expensive shoes and cell phones (not to mention their firearms).
These schools also provide free day care centers for
the
unwed teenage mothers
(some as young as 13) so they can attend class (by staring out the window all day or causing a fiasco) without the inconvenience of
having to arrange for babysitters or having family watch their
kids.
(OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)
Recentlly I
was ordered by the school bord to spend $700,000 on my department or risk
losing any future funding for the upcoming year, even though there was
little need for anything; my budget was already substantial. I ended
up buying new computers for the computer learning center, half of which, within a month have been damaged to the point of not working or carved with graffiti by the appreciative
students who are so humbled and grateful for thier free education in
America: an education that only a few generations ago was coveted more than just about anything and available only to royalty and the most wealthy elite. (OUR
TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)
I
have had to intervene several times on behalf of inexperienced teachers whose
classes consist primarily of illegal immigrant students; many of whom has been here in our country for less than 3 or 4 months, who raised so much hell that class rooms hd to be shut down for the day. The trouble was largely between male students and female
teachers, calling them names in Spanish (e.g., "Putas" whores; "pan dulce," a demeaning term literally meaning "sweet bread," etc.) and throwing things at them, bringing the
teachers to tears and feelings of utter dispair.
Free medical, free education, free food,
day care etc.. Is it any wonder they feel entitled to
not only be in this country but to demand rights, privileges and entitlements that they just pee on when they get them? To those who want to point out how much these illegal immigrants
contribute to our society because they LIKE their gardener and housekeeper, and
because they like to pay less for tomatoes, I suggest they spend some time in the real world of
illegal immigration and see the TRUE problems, dangers and costs.
Higher
insurance, medical facilities closing one after the other for being unable to hndle the load of free health care, higher medical costs, more crime, lower
standards of education in our schools, over-crowding, new diseases, more political unrest, etc.. For me, I'll pay more for
tomatoes. The recent Spinach-Salmonella recall debacle arose because an illegal immigrant felt it socially acceptable and quite appropriate to take a crap in the field's irrigation system. Of course that's nothing to be concern ed about, because he was the only diseased immigrant in the country, and most assuredly the only one to have ever done such a thing...and he undoubtedly only did once and learned his lesson.For God's sake...We
need to wake up!
The so-called Guest Worker Program will amply the problem by a factor of 1,000 and will be a
blatant failure and total disaster because our politicians won't have the guts to enforce it. Does anyone in their right mind really think these illegals will voluntarily leave the country after the harvest and
return all shiny-faced and raring to go next year?
- A
third-world mindset that does not value education, that
accepts children getting pregnant and dropping out of school by 15
and that refuses to assimilate, and
an
American culture
that has become
so
weak
and worried about
"political correctness"
that we have lost our will to do the right thing to ameliorate the wrong circumstances.
CHEAP
LABOR? Isn't that what the whole immigration issue is about? Get real!
Business
doesn't want to pay a decent wage.
Consumers don't want expensive
produce.
Government tells you that Americans don't want these menial
jobs.
But the bottom line, no matter you spin it, is cheap labor. The phrase "cheap labor" is
a
myth, a
farce, and a lie. There is no such thing as "cheap
labor."Take,
for example, an illegal alien with a wife and five children. He takes a
job for, say, $8.00 or 10.00/hour. At that wage, with six
dependents,
he pays no income tax, yet at the end of the year, if
he
files an Income Tax Return, he gets an "
earned income credit" of up to $3,200 free. He
qualifies for
Section 8 housing
and
subsidized rent.
He
qualifies for
food stamps.He
qualifies for
free (no deductible, no co-pay) health care. His
children get free breakfasts and lunches at
school. He
requires bilingual teachers and books. He
qualifies for relief from high energy bills. If
they are or become, aged, blind or disabled
, they
qualify for SSI.
Once qualified for SSI they can qualify for
Medicare
. All of this is at
(our) taxpayer's expense
.
He doesn't worry about car insurance, life insurance, or homeowners
insurance.
Taxpayers provide millions of dollars for
Spanish
language signs, bulletins and separate printed material.
As a result of all of this, the illegal and his family receive
cash and benefits that are the equivalent of $20.00 to $30.00/hour or more.
Many working
legal Mexican Americans are lucky to have $5.00 or $6.00/hour left after paying their bills
and his.
In additional to all this, we taxpayers are also paying through the nostrils for increased crime, graffiti
and trash clean-up. Cheap labor? YEAH
RIGHT!
Wake the hell up people! THESE
ARE THE ISSUES OUR CANDIDTES SHOULD BE ADDRESSING. 'AND WHEN THEY LIE TO US AND REFUSE TO DO AS THEY SAY THEY,
WILL, WE SHOULD BOUNCE THEM AT ONCE!'WHAT'S NEXT? THE CONVERSION TO ISLAM OF ALL ILLEGALS? NOW, THAT WILL BE A FUN WAR TO FIGHT...
Continue reading "Let's Destroy America!!! The steps."
Thursday, April 26. 2007
BUILDING A BIRCH-BARK CANOE OUT OF SARAN WRAP AND BANANA PEELS OR…”WE MAY BE EXPENSIVE, BUT WE ARE VERY SLOW” By Bill J. Gatten, Author of the run-away best seller, “No Down! No New Loan!” (i.e., THIS author’s best seller that is) For interest’s sake, the following is a recent letter to network members who suggested that he might want to reconsider using the NEHTrust or PACTrust because it takes longer to facilitate and close than does a L/O or Wrap. Well…being the thin-skinned meek little (sweet) jelly muffin I am, I suggested that if he didn’t want it done right, I couldn’t help him; but that if he did want it done right it would take more time than would a creative financing scheme of some sort (L/O, CFD, Wrap-Around, Equity-Share, etc.). Our motto around here is: You can pick any two (but only two) from the list below, and we'll be your Huckleberry… 1) Have it Done Properly 2) Have it Done Quickly 3) Have it Done Cheaply So…after it was suggested that we shouldn’t take such criticisms so personally, I responded with the following: Yup…I do take personally anything that has to do with the safety and well being of your business and/or mine. My business is ME, and my products and services are 100% ME: and [product or service comprises my very alter ego to the nth degree (to the bone, as it were). And, hey, that's not a bad thing though, because that quality within me is what keeps me and all my students and clients out of court and out of jail. As well (I continued), I do understand your frustration Elmo, (“Elmo T. Flopenenwaller”) and I am willing to work through it with you with any constructive suggestions you might have for improvement: but in the meantime, you MUST understand that certain processes simply may not be avoided or compromised. If we allowed that, we could not hold ourselves responsible for these transactions and keep you and your clients out of serious trouble later on down the line. The entire process comprising the Third Party Co-Beneficiary Transaction (PACTrust™ or NEHTrust™) is as follows (I have given reasonable time spreads for the number of workdays that might be (could be) involved in each of the steps or phases which comprise the documentation process...variations in mailing and shipping times and weekends and intervening holidays notwithstanding: 1. Fist, your clock starts ticking (though ours doesn’t yet) when you meet with you client and get their acceptance of your proposal – 1 – 2 DAYS 2. Next you obtain all the appropriate information and send it to us (or have us obtain it for you). 1,2 3 OR MORE DAYS has usually gone by since your original contact) – 1 DAY 3. Next, you compile and forward us Appendices 1 through 5 completed (if not completed accurately or fully, add another day or two for us to round-up all the information we need for data input) - 1-2 DAYS 4. Our data input and document formatting is completed (3 or more hours of work), whereupon the initial land trust is created and sent to legal for review and to PAC or Equity Holdings for holding once the signed original is received following COE) - this serves as notice to collections and the trustee that the transaction is in process and entering Escrow within the next 1-2 days, and for them to get their procedures in line to receive the new project when Escrow closes - 1-2 DAYS FOR INPUT AND FORWARDING 5. A Verification of Data (VOD) report is then sent to you (the investor) for review. At this point nothing is sent to the parties until you have personally approved and verified that the figures are accurate and that no information is being given to anyone that shouldn't see or have it (e.g., your acquisition price, mo payments, initial work-out arrangements, etc.). We then have to wait up to 48 hours for a return or acceptance of the VOD: though we will proceed without you if we haven't heard from you in 48 hours - 2-3 DAYS 6. When your VOD has been signed and returned to our office, or when your 48 hours are up, we then draw First Drafts. At that point if no corrections are necessary (‘happens VERY rarely), then the first drafts are individually forwarded to all parties (by regular or overnight mail, unless we are instructed differently): Allow for 2 days to delivery and 2 days for return or verification - 4-5 DAYS 7. When all drafts have been returned with corrections or acknowledged to be OK as is (happens rarely), we then either -- 1) complete and forward 2nd drafts (if corrections were made) – 2-3 DAYS; or 2) proceed to final documentation (if no corrections were required) – 1-2 DAYS. All final documents are forwarded (by overnight mails or PDF computer file) to Escrow - 1-2 DAYS 8. Any additional verbiage in the Rider Agreement or in related documents (other than boilerplate) must be run though our legal department (outside law firm) for review and approval - 1-3 days (depending upon attorney's case load) 9. Following legal review, documents are forwarded to Escrow, who then prepares the Settlement Statements and any other necessary documents simultaneously with their Escrow Instructions for shipping. 2 DAYS 10. At this point Escrow either arranges for a sit-down closing in the client’s area, or (if preferred) documents are sent Over Night for execution in counter-part for return to Escrow for final review and approval of completeness. The documents have then to be signed notarized and returned to Escrow by the US Mail, Fed Ex or UPS – WHOLE PROCESS CAN TAKE 6-7 DAYS 11. When everything is back in Escrow’s hands--if no mistakes have been made—the final title search is run and the deed is sent by messenger for recording in the local area (US Mail, Fed Ex or UPS): all monies are then distributed (checks cut) to the appropriate parties and the Escrow is closed - 1-4 DAYS (depending upon time-of-day materials are received and/or mailed out by Escrow) 12. Upon their receipt by Escrow, all original signed documents are reviewed for correctness and forwarded (Overnight Mails) to PAC or Equity Holdings and to NARS for final set-up of the Holding and Collections files. PAC then sends a Welcome Letter and remittance instructions…and voila, the transaction is finalized - (ANOTHER 1 - 2 days). Now, Understand CLEARLY that IF at any point along the way a mistake is made and not caught soon enough, it may become necessary to redraft certain documents (e.g., if the MAV were not stated correctly in the beginning, or if payments were not calculated properly, or if a key profit center wasn’t clearly defined in the beginning…or new Rider information were to requested, etc.) Ways to shorten the processing time or your transaction: 1 ) Make sure all “I’s” are crossed and all “T’s” are dotted on the original worksheets (Appendices #1 thru #5) when you send them to us 2 ) Verify and clear all anticipated charges through NARS (Appendix 4) first, before sending in the worksheets (Appendices #1 thru #5). 3 ) Assure that all start-up moneys (Retainer Fee and Good Faith Escrow Deposit) accompany your order for documentation; and assure that the Retainer Fee Agreement is properly signed and dated when we receive your package. We can not start without a signed and paid Retainer Fee Agreement 4 ) Provide NARS with a good and valid Legal Description of the property along with your order for documentation and facilitation (full Lot, Tract, Map Book, Page, Plat, Parcel, Assessor’s I.D. Number, etc.) at start. If we have to order it, it can add 2-3 or more days onto the turn-around time. 5 ) Volunteer to handle the walk-in and recording of the transfer document (deed) yourself once it has been signed and notarized by the transferor (state that you will do that in a note with your documentation order) 6 ) Handle all mailings by overnight or express mail 7 ) Be prompt in reviewing and returning VOD’s, drafts, corrections, changes or amendments by Fax. And, above all, be explicit enough in your notation (re. variations from standard documentation) that you do not have to be contacted for clarification 8 ) Be as brief as possible, but complete (i.e., be succinct) in all written (fax ed or Emailed) correspondence. 9 ) Volunteer to handle the final signing of documents yourself in your office (must have a Notary standing by) so that clients can’t dawdle and procrastinate. 10 ) Never be mean to anyone in the NARS documentation department (but do not send candy or flowers alone…cold hard cash and booze bribes seem to work best).
Thursday, April 26. 2007
Big Fat “Lies” To Tell So You Can Have Your Way In The Creative Real Estate Business By - Bill J. Gatten
Have you ever ridden a roller coaster? Did you ever stop to think why someone would do that just for the thrill of it, but they wouldn't want to ride in a rattling little jalopy going the same speed on a winding mountain road of the same track-width, with sheer 200 foot drops on both sides…while someone they never met did the driving?
Well, the answer is obviously that one is real and dangerous, while the other is real but not dangerous. On the roller coaster you can have the thrill of fear with a predictable safe outcome, rather than experiencing fear with death being a potential (if not probable) outcome. The squeals and screeches emanating from the roller coaster ride are usually articulated through gleeful smiles and feigned contortions of the face, followed with “Wheeeee!” or “Whoopee!” or “Yaaaaagh!” Whereas on the narrow mountain-road in the out of control jalopy, the screams are sincerely generated and followed with a loud tapering-off exclamation, possibly like: “Oh…sh………..…!”
Now take prevarication (lying) as another example…that's another fun and dangerous pursuit more popular with some than others, which invariably wreaks disastrous results (e.g., shame, a whack on the head, a poke in the eye, jail time, loss of respect, loss of friends, destroyed future, etc.). But have you ever secretly wondered what it might be like to have a “license to lie”…tell big ol' fat bold-faced mendacities all day long…say, for just one day, in order to get what you want out of people, while not risking any damage to your good name or your Karma. Wouldn't it be great to have that privilege, but to know in advance that all the lies you told that day would actually turn out be the God's Honest Truth by the end of the day? Would that be cool, or what?
Well, let's try a little experiment. Here are some of the wildest lies imaginable that one could tell in order to acquire, control, sell or lease real estate. Let's see how many of them could be made to fly (i.e., actually become the truth at the end of the day) via the use of the North American Realty Services Equity Holding Trust Transfer System™ (the “NEHTrust™). And remember…none of these statements have to be true.
As of right now, there's a day long moratorium on honesty…these assertions are simply what you might say—true or not—in order to get your way. Accept them as flat-out lies, and ask yourself…”What other baloney could I spew to get some houses”; or ”If this lie were in-fact told, would it get me what I want?” Also know that your objective is to acquire that property, or the control of it at any cost…but with no cost to you. Now, remember, in this role you're also flat broke and your credit stinks.
For The Landlord Whose Property You Would Like To Control
Mr. Landlord...I saw your 'For Rent' ad (sign), and if I can have the opportunity to buy the place from you in a few years…
• I'll pay you more than your asking for rent • I'll pay all your maintenance costs during the rental agreement • I'll cover all your property tax expense while I rent from you • I'll cover all your management costs during our agreement • I'll eliminate all of your negative cash flow • I'll take 100% responsibility for the property and everything associated with it • I'll put in a 3rd party tenant for you, and guarantee his rent and performance 100% • I'll set our arrangement up so that the property and the title are shielded from bankruptcy, tax liens, creditor claims, probate, or marital dissolution legal actions on your part • I'll eliminate all of your negative cash flow • I'll put an end to all possibilities for Vacancies • I'll completely annihilate all landlording woes and headaches for you—forever • And, sure, you bet I have all the cash needed for the deal
For the 'For Sale By Owner’
Mr. FSBO. I saw your For Sale by Owner” ad (sign), and if you can stay on the loan a while longer, say for a couple years, and leave your equity in until then, I'll buy the place from you today for full value. And not only that, but…
• I'll pay you more for the property than your asking • I'll even pay more for the property than it's worth • I'll take over all payment responsibilities without even going on title • I'll pay you the full value for your home, townhouse or condo and give you all cash • I'll pay you full price-- 1) all cash, or 2) buy for a higher price on your terms • I'll preserve and protect all of your existing equity • I'll pay all maintenance costs • I'll pay all property tax expense • I'll buy the property from you today, but let you keep half of my appreciation and principal reduction over the next 5 years • I'll buy your house and put you into another one with only minimal up-front cost and no credit check • I'll buy your house and put you into another one with no down payment • I'll buy your house and give you a letter than will allow you a 100 percent Debt-to-Income Ratio credit on you next mortgage loan • I'll arrange it so that you can stay on the loan and give me the benefits of ownership without a Due-on-Sale Clause violation • I'll never need to be on your title • I'll protect your from any liens, suit or creditor judgment that could befall me • We can close in a week (if the Escrow and documentation process doesn't slow me down) • I'll cover all back payments; clear up and re-establish your credit with your lender (re. arrearages, back taxes and penalties) • And, sure I have all the cash needed for the deal
Bold-Faced Lies You Can Tell A Tenant/Buyer To Manipulate Him/Her As Well Dear Mr. & Mrs. Tenant/Buyer…thanks for calling. Through me and my special know-how and broad range of brilliant expertise…
• You can lease the property with a full tax write-off • You can buy the property without a credit application • You can buy the property without a new bank loan • You can buy the property without a down payment • You can put your closing costs on a credit card • You can be just a renter, but still participate in it's appreciation, mortgage loan principal reduction and tax write-off • You can own the property without great or even "good" credit • You can own the property, versus renting, and pay less than you would to rent it • You can enjoys all the benefits of homeownership without further scrimping and saving • You can live virtually rent-free, given reasonable appreciation over time • You can buy now with all benefits of homeownership now, but finance later when/if you feel like it • You can have 100% of the benefits of Fee Simple real estate ownership, including tax write-off, and never have to be on title (thereby protecting your home from the threat of litigation of all types) • And, nope, you don’t need a lot of cash for the deal
OK…now, the day is done and the jig's up (a phrase, the origin of which I wonder about a lot)! All your big fat lies have to suddenly become truths now. Well, if you were planning on utilizing the Equity Holding Trust System (NEHTrust or NEHTrust)…then everything said above is in-fact all true…plain and simple!
Go back and check it out: every one of these promises is fulfilled through the NARS Equity Holding Trust Transfer System™ every day.
I'd dare anyone to try to convert ALL the above statements to truths when using a creative financing vehicle: such as, sy, a lease, option, a purchase option, a wrap, a contract for deed, n equity share, any subject-to rrangements, short-sale, etc..
You might want to give this one a lot of thought folks.
Bill
Thursday, April 26. 2007
Why Drive a Jalopy When You can Have a Mercedes Benz? An Introduction The Uniqueness Of The NARS Equity Holding Transfer System™ by Bill Gatten
A caution to always seek out the advice of a competent attorney before "trying this at home" is definitely good advice: but I find it difficult to proffer truly good (non-legal) advice on the subject of seeking the right attorney with regard to the NEHTrust(tm) System, or even land trusts in general. In fact, I find myself "...a tad 'twixt a rock and a hard place" here (as it were), mostly because... they jest ain't hardly no sech’a lawyer a'tall around these parts (as one might be wont to say on ‘Jerry Springer’).
For the record, however, I certainly do not advocate proceeding in any real estate related transaction without the advice of a "good' and "knowledgeable" real estate professional. Buyt the quandary in which I find myself is that there are very few attorneys who are both (good and smart), much less who know anything about the use of trusts in general. There is also that nagging fact that there are even fewer who know kidney beans from kick boxing about what a "land trust" is...much less what is does, or how it differs from other living (inter vivos) trusts. Many attorneys have never even heard of such a thing; and there are even fewer yet who are competent to offer sound advice, yeah or nay, relative to the use or safety of an "Illinois-type, revocable, inter vivos, title-holding, beneficiary-directed, third-party trustee, land trust transfer (i.e., the NEHTrust System™)."
Ordinarily, when an uninitiated attorney is engaged for the purposes of reviewing a land trust transfer-much less a NEHTrust Transfer(tm) with all of its attendant appendices, directions, Escrow documentation, creditor letters, etc., he or she is faced with a true pointy-horned dilemma. The only two options available are:
1) Get into Nexus-Lexus or out to the law library and spend billable hours getting educated on the advent and history of land trusts, or
2) Render advice (pro or con) on something they know virtually nothing about (and it will always be 'con,’ I can assure you…because ‘con’ is quicker, easier and cheaper than ‘pro’).
I'd presume no less than 10 or 20 hours would be needed to thoroughly research the pertinent local and federal codes and cites, and the myriad features, benefits and uses of the land trust (i.e., a bill of from $1,700 to $ $5,000); Think about it...if you were a busy attorney whose itinerary was over-burdened with money-making time constraints, what would you prefer to do? Would you opt to:
1) Spend your "billable" hours doing hard research for free for a transaction you'll probably never see the likes of again;
2) Risk your client's walking away, and your receiving nothing for your consulting time, or
3) might you attempt to convert the entire transaction to something else: something you better understand, and are more competent to advocate...and something on which you could make some money, despite its relative negatives?
Similarly, if you were the client seeking and hoping to pay only for a simple review and approval of a set of documents, would you be willing to finance your attorney's continuing legal education at the rate of $275 to $375 (or ?) per-hour? Me neither. My hope is that you’d refuse to relent, as many do, and not be coerced into accepting that the entire transaction should be transformed into something more "manageable (for the attorney)."
Perhaps a nice "Contract for Deed" or maybe a little (innocuous, due-on-sale violating) lease option. After all, let's face it, there just isn't much billing potential in telling a client, "I'm not competent to advise you in this matter...you should see someone else."
When a client does take the attorney’s advice to "convert to something else," doing so clearly means reverting back to the very downsides, short falls and serious risks that the NARS NEHTrust Transfer™ is designed to avoid and protect us from in the first place. Shortfalls and risks such as the lenders' due-on-sale clause violation; the risk of a resident's claim of "equity" to forestall eviction and force judicial foreclosure (to buy time and free rent); the constant threat of your seller's or buyer's creditor and/or tax lien judgments attaching to the property (or to the option on it); the insidious susceptibility to partition actions and/or charging orders against individual participants by judgment creditors; risk of involvement in the other party's Probate or forced ancillary administration issues; recordation and public notification of the transaction; absence of a third-party holding entity to ameliorate potential for disputes...to name just a few.
If you or I were to consult with a licensed, board certified medical practitioner about treatment for a brain tumor, a good one would refer us to a neurologist. However, the mindset of the legal practitioner is all too often analogous to the physician's suggesting that we simply contract a more manageable disease. "I missed the class on brains, so how 'bout I treat you for hemorrhoids instead? HerePay me. . Insert this and call me in the morning. And if this doesn't work...great, just let me know, and we'll switch to another disease which I won’t be able to cure either, but which will keep you coming back for treatment…and paying me. Unless of course you die, in which event we will at least have done our best…right?"
“So,” you ask, "what are you saying Billl? Should I seek the advice of an attorney or not?"
Yup you sure should! Indubitably as a matter-of-fact (so say I)! However, do be sure to choose a truly competent one who has experience with land trust transfers in creative real estate transactions. And if they start talking about Lease Options, Lease Purchases, Land Contracts (Contracts for Deed), Wrap-Around Mortgages, Equity Shares, Subject-To's or ‘Silent Seconds’ as an alternative...run for your life! Unless, of course the attorney is your brother-in-law...in which event it will be you who is facing the dilemma, and who likely should run for your life anyway, irrespective of what he says.
But, Bill, are there any attorneys anywhere that you could recommend?
Thanks for asking, but, No, there are none.
However, there are a few nice people with whom I've become familiar who do understand the concept (albeit a limited few, to be sure…and this list is by no means complete). I cannot vouch for them, but I can list their names:
Bill Bronchik, Denver Co. Blue Ransfeld, Fortworth, Tx. Bryan Dunklin, Dallas, Tx. David Eldridge, Oklahoma City, Ok. David Robinson, Los Angeles, Ca. Gary Gitlen, Agoura Hills, Ca. Henry W. Keno, Chicago Ill. (…but he's dead), Jan Caldwell, Woodland Hills, Ca. Jay Swob, Cincinnati Oh. Jerry Corbin, Midland Tx. Judy Wrentschler, Foster City Ca. Mark Warda, Ft. Lauderdale. Fl. Martin Slater, Los Angeles, Ca. Michael Kilmartin, Simi Valley, Ca. Michael Moskos, Worcester, Ma. Nabisubi (“Nobi”) Musoke, New York City, NY. Paul De Witt, Los Angeles, Ca. Peter Gibbons, Riverside, Ca. Susan Hunt, Greensboro, N.C.
The following are some attorney quotes, in answer to: "Why aren't there more attorneys to call on re. land trusts?
"Because very few know how to use them and even fewer recognize the benefits."
Mark Warda, Attorney, Florida
"If you can't find the expertise [when seeking a competent attorney], you have no choices but to keep on looking, or take upon yourself the task of trying to educate your advisors and counselors."
Jay Douglas Swob, Attorney, Cincinatti
"Another problem with using attorneys is that most have a negative attitude. They will probably advise against using a land trust because they [themselves] don't understand it."
Bill Bronchik, Attorney, Denver
"In that the 'land trust' is less frequently used outside of Illinois where it was first created [1920 its precursor in 1891], it is unlikely that many will be immediately familiar with its benefits or structure."
Henry W. Kenoe, Attorney, Chicago (Dc'd) (Keno on Land Trusts, IICLE, 1989)
"No! Don't do it! Oh m'god! These can only be done in Illinois. They violate the Doctrine of Stepped Transactions. Lease tenants can't take tax write-offs. You crazy? No court in the country would see such a thing as a conversion of real estate to personal property! Run Gertrude, run! Run like the wind!”
“But wait. Before you rush off, Gertrude, let me create an all-inclusive wrap-around mortgage for you instead. It'll do the all the same things and I'll only charge you $2,000." The Due-on-Sale Clause? Oh, don't worry about that...lenders never pay any attention to those things. I'll build in a nice exculpatory paragraph anyway (so you can't sue me) and it'll be in bold print. Could the buyer get the property embroiled in a lawsuit or tax lien while you're still on the mortgage loan and unable to make the payments or sell the property? Well, I suppose so, but that hardly ever happens either...don't worry about it. Could you evict the buyer if he doesn't make his payment? Well, no. But, hey, there's always judicial foreclosure, Unlawful Detainer, Ejectment and quiet-tile action: which I will be more than happy to handle for you (at $225 per hour plus court costs...no guarantees of course).
“Huh?
"Would the property be tied up in the other party's Probate proceedings, if they die?" Well, um, yes, but most people don't ever die of anything serious: but even if they did, that would just be a matter of another paycheck for me, now wouldn't it? I don't see any problems here."
Unnamed, famous, anonymous former attorney, Riverside, Ca.
"There is no person on the planet who is more apparently knowledgeable about the law relative to anything new, than an one who doesn't know what the hell he's talking about.”
Bill Gatten, Author, Entrepreneur, Seminar Leader, West Hills, Ca.
If your attorney tries to put one over on you by suggesting another transfer vehicle, just ask him/her if he will sign an agreement declaring that his suggested alternative will do everything the NEHTrust can do.
Will the alternative serve to avoid –
– a due-on-sale (DOSC) violation – the need for option fees and/or rent-credits (that create “equity” violating the DOSC) – the ability of any party to it to act unilaterally (alone, without the other party/ies) – any untoward, illegal or deceitful actions of another party to the transaction – the potential for any party creating legitimate clouds on title – the ability of any party to over-encumber the property – the need for foreclosure and ejectment action re. eviction – the tenant’s worries about the actions of the landlord/optionor – the misdirection or embezzlement of funds (pmts, taxes, ins., etc.) by any party – partition or charging orders by outside creditors (even the IRS) – the need for deceit and subterfuge (re. the underlying lender’s wishes)
Can the suggested alternative provide –
– “due-on-sale” avoidance (as opposed to options, wraps, land contracts & equity shares) – free, centralized 3rd-party professional collections and disbursement – automatic default notification to all parties – legitimate recordation (without due-on-sale threat) – full income tax benefit to tenant/buyer throughout lease term – quick and easy eviction without risking “equity” claims – higher rents for the landlord (re. transfer of tax benefits) – lower after-tax housing cost for the tenant (re. tax benefits) – the safest and most quiet contingency sale vehicle ever – easiest purchase and disposition of property at termination – transfer of full ownership benefits without equity transfer – privacy of ownership without compromise or public notice – 24-hour monitoring of all aspects of the transaction – freedom from all management, maintenance and collections – avoidance of credit damage and debt-relief taxation (re. foreclosure or short-sale) – a history of never having been challenged in court or by the IRS
NOTE: In order to accomplish all of the above, one need but (with the proper documentation) vest the property in a land trust and make the tenant a co-beneficiary. [See Title 12 USC 1701-j-3; Title 12 US CFR(a) 591(vi); Rev. Rul. 92-105; IRS Sec. 163(h)4(D)]
ANOTHER NOTE: Bill Gatten, the author of this article, is not engaged in the practice of law, or in rendering dependable professional advice of any kind what-so-ever. For legal or other expert assistance and direction, the services of a competent professional should be obtained. Do not expect Bill Gatten to know anything.
STILL ANOTHER NOTE: Want to get your attorney to do the right thing? Give them a copy of this article. If they review the above list and tell you they don’t agree that these benefits can be attained, it’s because they simply don’t know anything about land trusts and choose not to learn.
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