This will be a short update. We finally got the response from the opposing attorney, the shut down really put the court behind. We have until the 22nd to respond. Reading it was interesting, hard to believe he actually went to college for this. He doesn’t like our pleading, not a problem it was written for the judge. He is saying the suit doesn’t belong in Federal Court because the house doesn’t meet the over $75,000 threshold, never mind the bank bought it on a credit bid for $208,000. This is not a problem, we do not believe. The Assessor’s office was by 18 months ago and reassessed the house at $149,900. In our zip code, there are no homes selling for under $169,000 and that house is a 700 SQ FT shotgun shack. The lender also sent Chris a 1099 I think, anyway it is for taxes, they consider the difference between what was owed and what they bid to be income and he will owe income tax on it. Most banks forgive this, not them.
Our response to his response will be the information about the value of the house and to restate this is a dispute over the title of the home and doesn’t belong in County Court because they legally can’t rule on title disputes.
We want to keep it in Federal Court because they have the most experience dealing with cases like this. A bit of good news is it was assigned to the Judge we wanted, the one who has tried cases dealing with our lender and this lawyer, in particular, and won't automatically side with the bank.
Still looking for an attorney, not stressed yet. We have someone in mind but they are also a State Senator and will be tied up in the legislature for the next couple of months. This could easily drag out that far.
Now I have to write our response and try very hard not to be snarky because this isn’t about Eric (the opposing attorney), it is about telling the judge what he needs to know to keep the case and not bump it down to state court.
So, for now, we are hanging tough. We will send our response and the opposing attorney can respond to our response, so we won’t hear any more for 30 days at the earliest.