[Long Island Judge Jeffrey] Spinner and some of colleagues in the New York City area estimate they are dismissing 20 to 50 percent of foreclosure cases on the basis of sloppy or fraudulent paperwork filed by lenders.
The chief judge of New York’s courts implemented a new rule Wednesday requiring every lawyer handling a foreclosure to sign a form verifying that all paperwork in the case is accurate.
...Lawyers already have an obligation to ensure that the documents they present to the court are valid, but New York Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman said having them sign a document affirming that all papers received a proper review will hold them accountable as never before.
...The rule applies to both new cases and the 78,000 foreclosure actions already under way in New York courts.
Lawyers handling pending foreclosure actions will probably need to go back to their clients and verify that all proper steps were followed, the judge said. The form, which is being created by the court, requires lawyers to give the name of the bank employee who affirmed that the records were accurate and the date the conversation took place.
The country's largest title insurer said Wednesday that banks and other lenders must vouch for the accuracy of their mortgage documents before the firm will write insurance for a foreclosure sale.
She allegedly hides his heart medications. He allegedly blows out her Shabbat (sabbath) candles.
The decision of a Brooklyn, New York court: the couple has been ordered to build a wall down the middle of their house.
"This could be called the Divorce Wall," said Rabbi Mendel Gold, Pinchs' brother.
"It could probably even help healthy couples."
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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Supreme Court Justice Robert A. Ross in Nassau County... held Ms. R. in civil contempt and ordered her to report to the Nassau County Correctional Facility every other weekend this summer.
Her term was to have begun on Friday, but was temporarily stayed pending appeal by a judge from the Appellate Division, 2nd Department, on Thursday.
"The evidence before me demonstrates a pattern of willful and calculated violations of the clear and express dictates of the parties' Stipulation of Settlement," Ross wrote in Lauren R. v. Ted R., 203699-02.
"The extensive record is replete with instances of attempts to undermine the relationship between the children and their father and replace him with her new husband, manipulation of defendant's parenting access, utter and unfettered vilification of the defendant to the children, false reporting of sexual misconduct without any semblance of 'good faith,' and her imposition upon the children to fear her tirades and punishment if they embrace the relationship they want to have with their father."
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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N.Y. Judge Cancels $525K in Mortgage Debt, Blasts Bank’s ‘Shocking and Repulsive’ Acts
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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Law.com:
[A] New York judge has thrown out a tort action because, in part, the plaintiffs attorneys stapled the complaint in what he said was a dangerously negligent manner. "[T]he poor stapling of the papers was so negligent as to inflict, and did inflict repeatedly, physical injury to the court personnel handling them," the judge wrote...
A clerk... said that the staples twice drew blood.
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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Orin Kerr at Volokh reports on a Niagara County Court ruling against a motion for suppression of DNA evidence, forcibly obtained when police "tased" a suspect's to obtain his "compliance" with a warrant requiring that his DNA be collected for testing.
The Defendant argues that the use of the Taser is per se unreasonable because of the excessive amount of pain it causes and the danger of serious physical harm it creates. However, while counsel has mentioned numerous times the device inflicts 50,000 volts, the Court must admit it does not have the scientific knowledge necessary to interpret that fact. It sounds like a high number but what is its relevance to the force imposed and the pain inflicted. There was absolutely no evidence presented to the Court that this is a dangerous amount of voltage and the defendant has presented no evidence of the actual effect or dangers of this device.
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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More than a decade after a fatally ill man deposited his sperm at a tissue bank, a New York appeals court has rebuffed the plea of his parents to use the sperm for conception of a grandchild, clearing the way for the destruction of the sample.
The panel held that Mark Speranza's parents' proposal to use their dead son's semen to artificially impregnate a surrogate would "fundamentally violate" state health regulations, which require sperm donors to be screened before their specimens are donated to the public.
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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TRENTON, N.J. -- Gay marriages performed elsewhere are recognized in New Jersey for the purpose of divorce, said a ruling Friday by a judge presiding over a case in which a lesbian couple married in Canada are seeking to split.
The wider implications weren't immediately clear but Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson said New Jersey has a long history of recognizing marriages that are valid where they were performed.
...The state attorney general's office had opposed the request, the first of its kind in the state, and was seeking to have the couple's marriage dissolved as if it were a civil union. Officials have not said whether the state will seek an appeal.
...Courts in a handful of states, including New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Texas, have wrestled with the question in the last few years. In most cases, judges have ruled the state would not grant the divorces because the states do not recognize same-sex marriage.
There have been a flood of recent decisions in U.S. courts regarding same-sex marriages and unions:
We wrote last week on a New York probate court's decision that recognized a Canadian same-sex marriage in the context of estate distribution.
Volokh also had two articles this week, highighting:
On the political front, the New York Times reports today that no legislation to legalize gay marriage in New York State is likely in 2009:
New York Senate Majority Leader Malcolm A. Smith said that he did not believe legislation to legalize marriage between same-sex couples had enough support to become law in New York this year.
See: No Gay Marriage Bill This Year.
- Garry J. Wise, Cancun
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In a decision released yesterday, a second court in New York State has recognized the validity of a Canadian same-sex marriage.
Law.com reports:
Recognizing the validity of a same-sex marriage between New Yorkers contracted in Canada, a Manhattan surrogate has ruled that a man is entitled to inherit the entire estate of his deceased male partner. The decision comes months after a Queens surrogate took a more cautious approach in holding that the validity of gay marriage had not been "definitely determined," ruling that the deceased partner's parents had to be included in probate proceedings.
Also see Family Law Prof Blog on this decision - Surviving Same -Sex Partner in Canadian marriage ruled "spouse"
In a brief opinion, a Surrogate Judge in New York recognized a Canadian same-sex marriage for probate purposes, declaring the surviving partner the "surviving spouse and sole distributee" and thus not requiring process to other members of the decedent's family. A copy of the Kristin Booth Glen's opinion, published in the New York Law Journal, page 27, today, is available here and the front-page article is available here, and continued here.
This ruling is consistent with a February 2008 New York appellate decision in Martinez v. Monroe, a landmark ruling that for the first time recognized a Canadian same-sex marriage as legally valid in the state.
In November, Monroe County abandoned its plans to appeal that ruling.
Based on these two decisions, it appears for the time being that New York State does indeed recognize the validity of Canadian same-sex marriages. The true test, however, may come when the State's courts determine whether they have jurisdiction to grant a same-sex divorce to a couple legally married in another jurisdiction.
We reported in December, 2007 on a 3-2 decision of the Rhode Island Supreme Court on this issue:
[The court] held that it lacked jurisdiction to grant a divorce to a same-sex couple that married in Massachusetts, but had moved to that State. In short, the court declined jurisdiction because Rhode Island does not recognize same sex marriages.
- Garry J. Wise, Cancun
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On May 8, we reported on a Maryland court's refusal to affirm the legal validity of an Islamic divorce or talaq obtained in Pakistan.
Earlier this week, Law.com highlighted an analogous decision by a New York state court, rejecting an Israeli divorce or get:
A New York state judge has declined to recognize an Israeli divorce judgment that was based on a "get," or decree of divorce, issued by a Brooklyn rabbi.
"If this court were to sanction the utilization of a 'Get' to circumvent the constitutional requirement that only the Supreme Court can grant a civil divorce, then a party who obtains a 'Get' in New York could register it in a foreign jurisdiction and potentially, later on, rely on the 'Get' to obtain a civil divorce in New York thereby rendering New York State's Constitutional scheme as to a civil divorce ineffectual," Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey S. Sunshine of Brooklyn ruled in Tsirlin v. Tsirlin, 20542/06.
For additional commentary on the Tsirlin decision, see: Israeli Divorce Based on 'Get' Not Recognized in New York from International Family Law Blog:
In a decision last week, Justice Sunshine... found that allowing a U.S.-based get to serve as the basis of a valid divorce would provide an end-run around the state's divorce laws.
Justice Sunshine relied on the 1924 Appellate Division, First Department, decision Chertok v. Chertok, 208 App.Div. 161, in which the court found that a get acquired in New York and "consummated" in Russia was not binding in the United States.
"[A]pplying the holding of Chertok to the facts of this case, although the Israeli government may recognize the divorce granted in New York City, it is void in its inception under our law," Justice Sunshine held.
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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Last weekend, we wrote about Martinez v. Monroe, a landmark decision of a New York State appellate court in Rochester that recognized a Canadian same-sex marriage as legally valid in the state.
Pursuant to the decision, Monroe Community College was required to provide spousal benefits to the same-sex spouse of one of its employees. The couple were married in Ontario.
Monroe County today announced its intention to appeal the decision:
In a case with national implications, Monroe County officials said this morning that they will appeal a state appellate court ruling in Rochester earlier this month that said New York must recognize same-sex marriages legally consecrated elsewhere.
The ruling is considered the first of its kind in the country.
“This is a clear case of misinterpretation of the law,” said Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks in a statement. “We must appeal this decision in order to protect Monroe County taxpayers. We can not simply extend benefits to unmarried couples and we certainly can not ignore the definition of marriage that currently exists under state law.”
- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
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