JPMorgan Faces Texas Sheriff in Showdown Over Eviction Case Fees
”They don’t have a problem putting my client out in the street,” Roman said. ”But when somebody prevails against a bank, they pull every string in the book to avoid paying.”
Palm Coast, FL – February 2, 2011
A JPMorgan Chase & Co. branch in El Paso, Texas, may have furniture and computers seized by the sheriff unless the bank complies with a judge’s order to pay the legal bills of a single mother whose eviction case he dismissed.
The manager of the Chase branch was served on Jan. 26 with court papers that instructed the New York-based company to pay attorney Richard A. Roman’s $5,000 in fees, according to Detective Hector Lara, an El Paso County sheriff’s officer. The manager, Jose Gomez, told Lara that the branch’s gear is protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and that he would contact the bank’s security staff and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Lara said today in a telephone interview.
Lara said he’s waiting for an opinion from the county attorney on whether the bank’s property can be seized.
“They don’t have a problem putting my client out in the street,” Roman said. “But when somebody prevails against a bank, they pull every string in the book to avoid paying.”
Read Full Story >>>> Bloomberg [Feb 1, 2011]
Situation normal
That is how big corporations operate. They have the resources and they use it.
Now Sheriff will waite for court
JP and others will now be at the courts direction before they can evict. That will stop the Sherrif from going after there property. This is the power to the people, as no local Judge will issue any orders to evict, if there is anything placing a shadow on the procedure. They simply can’t have it appling to home owners and not them.
And Justice For All?
After reading this article it seems to me that the legal system was built by lawyers and for lawyers. Most politicians are lawyers and of course all judges are lawyers. Who makes all the money in the court system? Why the lawyers, of course! Notice, according to this story the $5,000 award for the "single mother" who lost her house was for attorney fees.
Practicing law is a profession where people get paid huge fees regardless of whether or not they accomplish a thing. The guy did not even manage to stop the sale, he filed some forms at the courthouse, the lady is on the street and the lawyer still gets five grand. Now there’s some justice for you!
Well, hopefully the single mother can take some comfort in knowing that while she sleeps on a friends sofa, at least the lawyer got $5,000.00.
This has got to be the best time in decades to be a lawyer. If you win, the lawyer gets paid well. If you lose, the lawyer gets paid well. If you’re out on the street, the lawyer gets paid well. The longer they can drag the case out, the more they get paid. And with a big bank as the defendant, for the lawyer, yes it really is "money in the bank".
Sadly, you will never see any restrictions at all placed on legal fees by the government, not while most of the rule makers are lawyers. No, I am not suggesting that all lawyers are greedy scoundrels, but I do think this system is far from just and the only ones who ALWAYS win are the lawyers. It is a very profitable system of "justice", well for the lawyers anyway.
In fact, under Florida probate law, even when you die and your estate is probated, guess who has a first lien against your estate? Guess who by law gets paid before any other creditor? Why the lawyer of course! Read the statute, I know what I am talking about.
It’s terrible that the single mother got evicted, but by all means lets get that lawyer paid quickly!