Seen on the street in Kyiv.

Words of Advice:

"If Something Seems To Be Too Good To Be True, It's Best To Shoot It, Just In Case." -- Fiona Glenanne

“The Mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” -- The TOFF *

"Foreign Relations Boil Down to Two Things: Talking With People or Killing Them." -- Unknown

“Speed is a poor substitute for accuracy.” -- Real, no-shit, fortune from a fortune cookie

"If you believe that you are talking to G-d, you can justify anything.” — my Dad

"Colt .45s; putting bad guys in the ground since 1873." -- Unknown

"Stay Strapped or Get Clapped." -- probably not Mr. Rogers

"The Dildo of Karma rarely comes lubed." -- Unknown

"Eck!" -- George the Cat

* "TOFF" = Treasonous Orange Fat Fuck, A/K/A Dolt-45,
A/K/A Commandante (or Cadet) Bone Spurs,
A/K/A El Caudillo de Mar-a-Lago, A/K/A the Asset., A/K/A P01135809

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Judicial Stem-Winder

IndyMac Bank F.S.B. v. Yano-Horoski, 2009 WL 4544742, which was decided last month in Suffolk County, NY. The judge was ripshit at the bad faith of IndyMac Bank, which refused every attempt to try and arrange refinancing or alternative arrangements to pay the debt. Foreclosure is an equitable remedy, which gives a judge the opportunity to do what is fair, given the conduct of the parties. And since IndyMac's conduct was found to be especially objectionable, the judge let them have it with both barrels:
An objective and painstaking examination of the totality of the facts and circumstances herein leads this Court to the inescapable conclusion that the affirmative conduct exhibited by Plaintiff at least since since February 24, 2009 (and perhaps earlier) has been and is inequitable, unconscionable, vexatious and opprobrious. The Court is constrained, solely as a result of Plaintiff's affirmative acts, to conclude that Plaintiff's conduct is wholly unsupportable at law or in equity, greatly egregious and so completely devoid of good faith that equity cannot be permitted to intervene on its behalf. Indeed, Plaintiff's actions toward Defendant in this matter have been harsh, repugnant, shocking and repulsive to the extent that it must be appropriately sanctioned so as to deter it from imposing further mortifying abuse against Defendant. ... This Court is of the opinion that cancellation of the indebtedness and discharge of the mortgage, when taken together, constitute the appropriate equitable disposition under the unique facts and circumstances presented herein.
And that is what he ordered.

6 comments:

montag said...

Will this be taken as precedent by other courts? The actions of the plaintiff are not uncommon.

BadTux said...

Too bad that could never happen in non-judicial-foreclosure states like California :(. On the upside, there's no such thing as deficiency judgements here either -- when the sharks get your house, that's it, that's full payment of the debt, no matter how much more the debt is than what the house is now worth. Makes "jingle mail" when the bastards raise the interest rate to 99% on a house now worth $250K that you borrowed $500K for all that much more satisfying...

- Badtux the Law Penguin

BadTux said...

Montag, each state has its own laws regarding foreclosures. New York is rather unique in many ways, and a decision in a New York court isn't applicable to any other state.

Comrade Misfit said...

Montag, it may be taken as secondary precedent anywhere judicial foreclosures are done. Badtux is correct that the decision is not binding on any other court, but I think it is an indication that the courts are no happy with the mortgage companies and the judges are in a position to make their displeasure known.

I don't know if IndyMac has taken an appeal yet.

BadTux said...

I think we can take it as a given that Indymac will appeal :).

Earthbound, in most judicial foreclosure states judges aren't given as much leeway by the foreclosure law as in New York. That was the meaning of my statement about the applicability of the decision. This particular decision is very much based upon specifics of New York judicial precedent, which is unlikely to be the same anywhere else.

Joe said...

"...where a party acts in a manner that is offensive to good conscience and justice, he will be completely without recourse in a court of equity, regardless of what his legal rights may be..."

So in NY, if you're a big enough asshole, you lose your rights. Go, Empire State! Just for that, I'm rooting for the Giants on Sunday.