NEW COLORADO OFFICE LOCATION EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER 1, 2016

August 31, 2016

The new location of the Colorado branch office of W.J. Barnes, P.A., that being 600 17th Street, Suite 2800, Denver, Colorado 80212, will be effective September 1, 2016. The office suite is on the top floor of one of the most prestigious buildings in downtown Denver, and is adjacent to the upscale 16th Street mall with its many restaurants and shops.

The telephone number for this new office is (303) 634-2225; the fax number is (303) 634-2227. Both numbers are scheduled to go into effect September 1, 2016. Appointments to meet Mr. Barnes in this office may be made by e-mailing Tiffany Goldwater at [email protected]

Jeff Barnes, Esq., W.J. Barnes, P.A.

BARNES LAW PRACTICE EXPANDING INTO INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS AND LITIGATION

August 12, 2016

The Barnes law Firm has litigated in over 35 states across the United States, and has represented individuals from other countries in stateside litigation. Recently, the Barnes law practice has had inquiries from individuals in London and Australia requesting representation, and has made the decision to expand its practice into international business consulting, mediation, and litigation. The Barnes law Firm has joined the American Society of International Law as well.

The Firm is very excited and is looking forward to serving and assisting individuals and companies with their domestic (US-related) and international legal business needs including review of contracts and agreements, consulting on issues involving those contracts and agreements, mediation of disputes, and litigation.

Jeff Barnes, Esq.

ARROGANT LAWYERS COST EVERYONE TIME AND MONEY

August 11, 2016

[The following is the opinion of the editor]

I have been practicing law for 28 years across the United States at the trial and appellate levels. For the most part, opposing counsel have been professional and courteous despite differences in position in the cases and notwithstanding that we are “adversaries” in the technical sense (that is, we have opposing views as to the issues in a case). We all know we will have to see each other again, and professionalism works both ways.

Recently, however, there has been a spate of genuinely arrogant and unprofessional conduct on the part of certain attorneys which is not only resulting in unnecessary litigation, but is also costing everyone (including the court system) time and money. These chest-pounding pontificators, both male and female, think that they can (a) ignore the rules of professional conduct with impunity; (b) bully their way through the courts without regard for the local rules and without consideration of the schedules and professional commitments of their adversaries; and (c) insult and demean not only opposing counsel, but their clients as well. Unfortunately, this “Rambo-lawyering” appears to be on the rise, especially in certain parts of the United States.

There is an old adage that goes something like “bad karma comes home to roost”. It is thus only a matter of time before these arrogant types are sanctioned by the courts, and perhaps suspended from the practice of law for repeated violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct. What the courts need to do is to enforce professionalism, and caution those bent on ignoring the rules of professionalism that they have been warned.

It is only through such action that the nonsense will stop, and the courts will stop wasting their precious time and money dealing with egos and on matters, like scheduling of hearings and depositions, that should be worked out between the attorneys. There are several Judges I have seen over the years who have hit attorneys with monetary fines for wasting the court’s time. We need more of the Judges to do this so that a semblance of professionalism is restored and time and money are not wasted on dealing with some arrogant attorney’s self-aggrandizing grandstanding.

Jeff Barnes, Esq., www.ForeclosureDefenseNationwide.com

WHY THERE IS NO UNIVERSAL FORECLOSURE LAW

August 1, 2016

[The following is the opinion of the editor based on over eight (8) years of experience in foreclosure defense across over 35 states at both the trial and appellate levels and in both state and Federal court.]

In the old days, when the “lender” was in fact the entity which lent money in connection with a mortgage loan, the lender would keep the Note and mortgage instrument (called, depending on the state and the structure of foreclosure law (judicial or non-judicial), a Mortgage, Deed of Trust, or as they call it in Georgia, a “Security Deed) in a vault or other secured place, and if there was a foreclosure, simply pull the documents out of the vault and present them to the Court. That was the old days.

I spent years litigating what was called, at the time, “limited partnership private placement tax syndication litigation”, which arose out of the sale of what were “limited partnership interests” in what was supposed to be shopping centers, oil and gas wells, etc. Limited partnership “Certificates” were sold to those with 6-or more figure incomes so that they could take a 2 to 1 or 3 to 1 tax writeoff (meaning, for example, that if you invested $100K into the syndication, you could deduct $200K or $300K off of your income right off the top for tax purposes). When the Tax Reform Act of 1986 passed, those “writeoffs” were disallowed, and the investors took a major tax hit from the IRS including disallowance of the writeoffs, and penalties and interest on the taxes which were assessed.

At that time, my job, as an associate of a Miami law Firm, was to defend 66 lawsuits at the same time filed by banks against our Firm’s client, who syndicated shopping centers. As an associate, you do what you are told, or “there’s the door”.

This morphed into what was called the “Ginnie Mae” securitizations of the 1990s, which were derivative investments involving the bundling and securitization of second mortgage loans. I was charged by my boss with the duty of defending one of the most successful securitizers of the day in numerous lawsuits against him (who lived in Palm Beach, Florida and was voted the “Best Dressed Man in Palm Beach at the time). Again, that was my job. The market for these “Ginnie Mae securities” was high-level investors.

What Anthony Mozillo and his crew learned from all of this was that you could make the American homeowner your market, and thus ran with the concept of the “mortgage-backed security” in connection with granting anyone a loan who could sign a piece of paper. The market thus increased exponentially overnight, as there was no regulation on granting loans to borrowers who “qualified” for a loan. As we all know, the situation got so bad with “NINJA” (no income, no job, no assets) loans that a guy working in 7-11 could get a million dollar loan on stated income (no documentation to prove what he made).

What this resulted in was the foreclosure crisis which began in 2007-2008. As this entire situation was totally new to the courts, there was no law on the real issues (such as what constitutes a valid assignment or endorsement under the circumstances; whether a downline transferee is in fact a “holder” of the Note, etc.). The biggest problem, which continues to confront us today, is that the bankster and servicer attorneys have essentially lied to the courts by claiming that even a thief of a Note can foreclose on a mortgage, and that the old law applies to the unique factual situations of the present.

Modern day foreclosures involving securitization; “SBM” cases (“successor by merger”, like Wells Fargo on Wachovia originations); and cases involving bankrupt or non-existent “lenders” who may or may not have been real “lenders” (and brokers who were essentially acting as agents for third-party funding entities), had no fact-specific or issue-specific legal precedent to rely on. Thus, the bankster and servicers attorneys try to convince the Judges that the law of securities, contracts, fraud, corporations, transfers of beneficial interests under mortgage instruments, constitutional law, etc. do not apply to what they call a “routine foreclosure” where the only issues, according to them, are “the homeowner did not pay and we have the Note with a blank endorsement”. Unfortunately, many of the Judges believe this swill as many cases have gone uncontested.

However, despite this intentional effort on the part of attorneys for the banksters and servicers to pervert the law to their own benefit, the law remains unsettled. For example, the January, 2015 Jesinoski decision from the U.S. Supreme Court opened more doors than it closed, and the litigation as to what the decision really means remains unresolved and continues. Another example is Mr. Barnes’ victories in the Supreme Courts of Oregon and Montana as to whether MERS is the “beneficiary” of a Deed of Trust (which it is not, as both Supreme Courts so ruled), which directly affects any alleged “transfer” of a beneficial interest in the mortgage instrument.

It is up to us, on the right side of the law, to continue the fight, and we sincerely thank those who have the gumption to continue it.

Jeff Barnes, Esq., www.ForeclosureDefenseNationwide.com