Stop me if you’ve heard this one before….
A woman walks into a bank. She says to the banker, “I want to pay my mortgage off, what’s the total?”
The bank says, “We’ll see you in court. But first, we’ll need to depose your pool guy, your lawn guy, your neighbor, your priest, your doctors, your tarot card reader, your bartender. Oh, and we’re going to sue your children.”
One more thing….”That payoff will be an extra $250,000….”
That’s legal terrorism, fascism when such behavior is tolerated by a court system that is charged with protecting individuals from the abuses of the heavy boot of the corporate fascist state.
There is a very real and a very terrifying message that is delivered in this story and in the thousands of other persecutions, harassment, the bullying and the thuggery that the banks and their lawyers are permitted, condoned, and continue to engage in all across this country.
WE OWN THIS COUNTRY, WE OWN YOU. DON’T YOU DARE TRY TO STAND IN OUR WAY!
This is not some dark or exaggerated delusion from an apocalyptic horror novel. Not a page out of Kafka’s The Trial. The banks wanted to go there, but a good judge read that book and answered firmly….”Not In My Courtroom!”
…read some of the transcript..
And I’ll tell you another reason why I
18 need it, Your Honor. We asked for a pay-off figure
19 under the service agreement. And under the federal
20 law, they’re supposed to give us the attorney’s
21 fees and the costs. February they did. The
22 attorney’s fees were something less than two
23 thousand, and the costs were something less than
24 two thousand as well.
25 Now that Ms. Szymoniak has the funds and would like to pay it off, as of this point, we made
2 another request for a more current date, May 31st,
3 I believe. And the response we got back from the
4 servicer’s attorney is, Well, that’s going to be
5 resolved by negotiation or by the Court.
THE COURT: What is going to be resolved by
8 negotiation?
9 MR. CULLEN: The attorney’s fees and the
10 costs.
11 MR. BERMAN: They’re not liquidated.
12 MR. CULLEN: So all of a sudden, we can’t even
13 do the next step which we want to do, which is pay
14 the money to get this case resolved, because
15 they’re withholding because of attorney’s fees and
16 costs.
17 So it is relevant to this controversy,
18 Your Honor, and I would ask the Court to allow us
19 to have that information. Thank you.
20 MR. BERMAN: Your Honor, if I may. The
21 discovery that is sought is irrelevant. It seeks
22 privileged and protective information and serves no
23 legitimate purpose. Those issues regarding
24 settlement are not germane to this proceeding right
25 now.
THE COURT: Okay. Let me ask you this.
18 MR. BERMAN: Sure.
19 THE COURT: Let’s get to the bottom line.
20 Does your client want it paid off or not? That’s
21 the bottom line. Does Deutsche Bank want all their
22 money to pay it off?
23 MR. BERMAN: Subject to negotiation, Your
24 Honor.
25 THE COURT: What do you mean, subject to negotiations? I don’t understand that.
2 MR. BERMAN: Well, Your Honor —
3 THE COURT: You tell me — are you in the
4 position to be able to tell Lynn Szymoniak how much
5 the pay-off figure is and everybody goes home?
6 MR. BERMAN: Not right now, Your Honor, no.
7 THE COURT: Why not?
8 MR. BERMAN: Because there are fees that they
9 incur, may be incurred in the future, and there are
10 fees that —
11 THE COURT: How long is it going to take you
12 to find out what they’re willing to accept, to pay
13 it all off? How long is it going to take? A phone
14 call?
15 MR. BERMAN: No. Longer than that, Your
16 Honor. I’d be happy to go through it. There are
17 certain things —
18 THE COURT: What do you mean, you have to go
19 through it? You got to call up somebody and say,
20 “Look, I want to pay off my mortgage. How much is
21 the pay-off figure?” You mean to tell me it takes
22 forever to do that?
23 MR. BERMAN: Your Honor, he’s not just asking
24 for the totalities.
25 THE COURT: Yes, he is. He wants to know the total thing. What are you willing to accept now?
2 MR. BERMAN: Well, Your Honor, if that’s all
3 that he’s asking —
4 THE COURT: That’s what he’s asking.
5 MR. BERMAN: No, Your Honor, the discovery —
6 THE COURT: Hey, look. That’s what he’s
7 asking for; all right. How long is it going to
8 take you to make a phone call to find out what,
9 Deutsche Bank, do you want?
10 MR. BERMAN: Well, if it’s just a figure, Your
11 Honor —
12 THE COURT: That’s what he’s asking.
13 MR. BERMAN: Your Honor, in the discovery,
14 he’s asking for retainer agreements; he’s asking
15 for billing —
16 THE COURT: I know, I can read it. I’ve heard
17 it, okay?
18 MR. BERMAN: But —
19 THE COURT: Uh-uh.
20 MR. BERMAN: I’m sorry.
21 THE COURT: I’m going to deny the Motion, but
22 I’m going to order that you contact him within five
23 days as to a total figure as to attorney’s fees,
24 costs, and everything else so the poor man can say,
25 “Look, I’m going to write you a check and get out
of the case.”
2 MR. BERMAN: Okay.
3 THE COURT: That’s what he’s asking for. And
4 if it’s much more than two thousand — much more
5 than two thousand, because we already know he’s at
6 two thousand.
7 MR. BERMAN: Your Honor, it’ll be more than
8 two thousand.
9 THE COURT: I said much more. We know the
10 bottom line is two thousand. So I am going to deny
11 that, but I’m also going to order, “Plaintiff shall
12 advise Defendant total pay-off figure, including
13 all fees and costs.”
14 That’s what you’re looking for.
15 MR. CULLEN: Yes.
16 THE COURT: I know. That’s what he wants. He
17 could care less what your timesheet was; he could
18 care less what your retainer agreement was.
19 And you’re absolutely right. At this
20 stage of the game those are privileged
21 communications. He just wants a total figure,
22 including all fees and costs, within seven days.
SzymoniakTranscript_5-6-12
HUFFINGTON POST
Take a look at the note. Many have a clause that limits what plaintiff can recover as costs/fees in an action to enforce/collect.