the true story of a shark in action
Posted by admin on December 24th, 2009
We heard of a wonderful win in Marin County, California which then turned into a nightmare. Were it not for the fact I know the following to be true, I probably would think it was some type of urban myth.
Hamilton Federal Credit Union was about to foreclose on a home and scheduled the sale on the courthouse steps for December 21, 2009. However, on December 20, Marin County Superior Court Judge Adams had granted a stay of the sale. The homeowner, concerned about previous actions of the credit union, showed up at the the courthouse to make sure that Hamilton Federal Credit Union had been informed of the stay. It was obvious that Hamilton was going ahead with their bidding war. The homeowner showed them the order “not to sell” from the Judge. They ignored it and went ahead with the sale anyway.
It gets worse: Mike Lundy from Triple Investment Company in Sausalito was there to bid. Because the homeowner had the court order to “not sell,” other bidders backed off. Not Mike Lundy. His reply, which was overhead by an associate, was “I don’t care. I have attorneys to take care of this.” He bid and bought — at a greatly reduced price, of course.
(Note: I would include Triple Investments and Mike Lundy in the Super Thieves portion of this site; however, after hearing about and observing their actions for the past several months, it seems they are, actually, petty thieves and cowards.)
Now the outcome to the wonderful story below is perched on a precipice.
What kind of people do we have here? The activities of this particular investment company are questionable at best. The person making the comment will be reported to the California Department of Real Estate. The DRE is a fine organization that we assume will look askance at such actions/statements by a investment company working under a broker who is purportedly licensed by the State of California.
If you have an issue with a real estate agent or broker in California, the DRE provides online complaint forms in English, Spanish and Chinese (hard copy only).
The home owner fought back, there is another stay, and she is still in her home after a many harrowing days. All prayers are welcome on her behalf. This, again, shows, the importance of standing up for your rights. In Marin County, F. Manuel Fernandez started a group to help save homes of residents of the North Bay. They are doing a great job. It’s a struggle because the system is against many homeowners, but it helps if you are part of a group. We think more such groups should start . . . or volunteer with a fine organization such as Neighborhood Association of America who is fighting throughout the United States to save homes.
This bears repeating as it is extremely important for all of us: This woman was told by a practicing attorney that she could NOT win. She ignored him. Her condo IS her castle and she wasn’t handing her castle to anyone.
Rather than shrug and walk, this homeowner will have her day in court. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. It’s not over until it’s over. And, as written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning: Measure not the work until the day’s out and the labor’s done.
Ethics for Executives  In the event you are a top level executive with questionable ethics who stumbled across this site, here is a link to a selection of books that we highly recommend you read. Apparently ethics courses are not mandatory in today’s business colleges . . . that is apparent, don’t you think? |
It has been an embarrassing and painful several months for the homeowner. In addition to the non-responsive lender, notices have been placed on her home and word leaked about her impending doom. Real estate agents have hovered and called.
(Editor’s note: I am a real estate agent. I consider this agressive outreach despicable. Earlier this year, a Santa Rosa agent was seen leading a crying man from his home so that the agent could show the home that afternoon to a prospective buyer! My recommendation to anyone going through this, get the agent’s card and file a complaint with your local Department of Real Estate.)
LET FREEDOM RING
My country, ’tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims’ pride,
From every mountainside,
Let freedom ring!My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture thrills,
Like that above.Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees,
Sweet freedom’s song;
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.Our fathers’ God, to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing;
Long may our land be bright
With freedom’s holy light;
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King.
Tags: above the law, file complaint with DRE, ignore the law
