Supremes Dismiss Grant of Cert. on First American v. Edwards

No. 861 This case raised the question whether Article III of the Constitution permits Congress to authorize a statutory cause of action when the plaintiff has no damages. Under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, there is a prohibition against kickbacks, even when there are no damages. Here’s what the SCOTUS Blog had to […]

Trivia Question of the Day: What is the most misused Social Security Number of all Time?

Bonus Question: Where can an identity thief find a treasure trove of identities to steal, complete with authentic SSN’s,where the owners of the identity won’t complain?

War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Complex is Simple.

We’ve talked about this before. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been trying to simplify and illuminate home mortgage financial disclosures. Periodically they put out a couple of variations on their merged disclosure form prototypes and ask the public which one they like the best. If you want to try, click here. As for me, […]

Real Estate and Consumer Protection: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Is Attempting To Simplify Loan Disclosures.

The truth was and is that government-mandated disclosures, no matter how graphically displayed, are not capable of educating the borrower sufficiently to make an educated choice. But the failure was not with disclosure, it was with underwriting. For generations, home lending was governed by regulations written to insure that the borrowers would be able to afford the payments. The creativity of brokers, who were subject to much less regulation, bent and then broke a system that had worked fairly well.

Committing Check Fraud? There’s an App for That!

At a recent closing in Florida, a seller walked out of the closing room with a large proceeds check . A minute later, he returned and requested a wire instead. The title agent took back the check, marked it “Void” and initiated a wire. Later, after the wire had cleared, the title agent learned that the check had cleared, too. How could that have happened? After all, the agent still had the check and it was marked void. Right?

Superior Court Declines to Apply Business Records Exception to Electronic Records Created by Third-party Assignor of a Debt.

No. 678 In a case of first impression, a panel of the Superior Court declined to find that electronic records of a credit card account generated by a third party , who had assigned the debt to the plaintiff, were entitled to be admitted into evidence under the business records exception to the hearsay rule […]

Goldbeck Case Update

In the post reprinted mmediately below you will find the Post from December discussing the case of Loughren v. Bair, GD 10-021437. Since the post below was written in December, PO’s were filed, followed by an amended complaint whereby Loughren, who filed the original complaint, became the representative party in a class action. Robert F. Dailey of Pierce & Pierce has taken over as counsel for the plaintiff. The Defendants are represented by James Schadel of Weinheimer Schadel & Haber, Pittsburgh.

Turning Three.

No. 643 This Thursday is the Third Anniversary of the first post on this blog. I say this with pride, since most blogs don’t last so long. Most authors simply run out of ideas or enthusiasm or both. I run out of ideas, too — often. But eventually new ones pop up. One reliable means […]

Obamacare and the Courts.

Despite what they tell you on Fox News, the decision by US District Judge Hudson in Richmond means little concerning the final resolution of the issues relating to the constitutionality of the requirement that everyone acquire health care insurance by — did someone say 2013?

Goldbeck, McCafferty & McKeever PC, Philadelphia foreclosure law firm, faces serious charges in Allegheny County Equity Action.

Goldbeck, McCafferty & McKeever PC is one of a handful of law firms in Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania that has handled thousands of mortgage foreclosures throughout the State. However, the firm was delivered a severe blow in Bankruptcy Court this week. Coverage of that matter brought to light a suit recently filed in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court that is likely to have far-reaching consequences — to that firm, to numerous cases statewide and even to real estate previously sold in sheriff sales.

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Welcome

CLIFF TUTTLE has been a Pennsylvania lawyer for over 45 years and (inter alia) is a real estate litigator and legal writer. The posts in this blog are intended to provide general information about legal topics of interest to lawyers and consumers with a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania focus. However, this information does not constitute legal advice and there is no lawyer-client relationship created when you read this blog. You are encouraged to leave comments but be aware that posted comments can be read by others. If you wish to contact me in privacy, please use the Contact Form located immediately below this message. I will reply promptly and in strict confidence.

Pittsburgh Legal Back Talk

Legal topics of interest to lawyers and consumers with a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania focus.

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