Charges tie Shurtleff job interview to Bank of America deal
Allegations » Former A.G., law firm deny he got post for his foreclosure case decision.
Then-Attorney General Mark Shurtleff interviewed for a job with a law firm that represents Bank of America just two months before he personally signed a settlement of a lawsuit against the financial giant over whether it was illegally foreclosing on homes in Utah.
He subsequently was hired for the post.
The disclosure of the two days of job interviews was included in criminal charges filed Tuesday against Shurtleff and his handpicked successor, John Swallow, who resigned in December in the wake of investigations that engulfed the two.
By agreeing at the end of 2012 to dismiss the federal lawsuit against Bank of America, Shurtleff scuttled what attorneys in his own office believed was the strongest case that the bank’s foreclosure arm, ReconTrust, had been illegally foreclosing on thousands of Utah homes. One estimate put the possible loss to Utah homeowners from the dismissal at tens of millions of dollars.
Among the 10 charges filed against Shurtleff was “Count 7, Accepting Employment That Would Impair Judgment,” a second-degree felony. Among the possible violations listed under that law is one for accepting employment “that he might expect would impair his independence of judgment in the performance of his public duties.”
The attorney general’s office intervened in 2012 in the lawsuit brought by homeowners Timothy and Jennifer Bell after U.S. District Judge Bruce Jenkins issued a ruling highly critical of Bank of America’s position that it was legally operating under the laws of Texas, where ReconTrust is located, when it foreclosed in Utah.
The Bells went on to settle their case based on terms of a nationwide legal deal with Bank of America but assistant Utah attorneys general wanted to continue their part of the case.
The state has now intervened in another federal lawsuit over the same issue, said Wade Farraway, an assistant attorney general.
“We’re just concerned Utah law be applied in Utah and not Texas law,” Farraway said Tuesday.
Shurtleff crossed off the names of Farraway and another assistant attorney general and personally signed a notice of dismissal of the Bell case on Dec. 27, 2012, just days before he left office after three terms.
Rest here…
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If you had your home stolen in MA you may want to contact your local officials tomorrow. Looks like lawyers want to reduce the window from 20 yrs to 1 yr to reclaim your title.
Almost fell off my chair on this:
“Vetstein and Plymouth attorney Richard Serkey said banks have stopped the improper paperwork that led to the Ibanez decision so homeowners have already had years to attempt to regain their homes. Vetstein said those who have already begun legal action to regain title would not be affected by the bill.”
http://www.lowellsun.com/breakingnews/ci_26235895/multiple-interests-at-stake-mass-title-clearing-bill
TOMORROW as in 31st pacific time
@hammertime funny you should mention Veterans in you 7/30/14 reply. Our son is a Combat Veteran he was a front line Marine and he returned home from his 2nd Deployment to find out the only home he ever knew was gone (illegally stolen). It makes me so sick to think how he has not only suffered from PTSD, TBI, lost 43% of his hearing, His knees & back are screwed up and while fighting for our Country this is what he got in return. Things have to change and after paying $35,000 to a Lawyer who is a pussy and afraid of holding the Corrupt Judges feet to the fire, I am not paying another cent. Thankfully I have gained so much knowledge and discovered facts that should put the Judge and unethical bankers behind bars. But you know as well as I do that our state officials and the whole legal system is so corrupt. I feel like I am dead inside because my whole life and my families has been destroyed and we are victims. I can’t sleep and I am disabled but refuse to die until I get this case exposed and settled so my family can move on.
@concerned21 I’m sorry you’ve been put through so much and your son as well. Gheitner puts us down for wanting our “pound of flesh” but if that were the case his book of lies would be used to put him and the rest of the bank defenders, since the Bush days, behind bars. David Black also had a son in Iraq and has a long legacy of service to this country.
Hopefully, this can be some encouragement, link from David
Washington state Pardo v. NWTS — KingCast Mortgage Movies
http://mortgagemovies.blogspot.com/2014/08/pardo-v-nwts-kingcast-mortgage-movies.html
Hopefully the tide is turning but no matter what you have taken the righteous stand and are doing your part for the truth.
@hammertime thank you so much!
No prob. If you want to vent a bit here’s a story on Chase and settlements.
http://dsnews.com/news/07-22-2014/jpmorgan-begins-offer-homeowner-relief#comment-709
@hammertime thanks so much I will check it out! It is so unbelievable that there are people living in their homes that haven’t made a mortgage payment in 4 years. My hubby & I had our home for almost 25 years and never missed a mortgage payment and actually paid our loan off early and then became victims of an illegal foreclosure. The UNETHICAL JUDGE is going to serve time by the time I am thru with him. Also our attorney was too scared to hold the Judges feet to the fire because he was afraid of his future cases. Trust me that is gonna come back to bite him in the ass.
The hard lesson of recent cases is you could be paying the wrong bank! This has been a runaway train wreck if that makes sense! In your case though even by their logic that payment is all that counts what’s the excuse. That even our veterans, seniors, the sick have been thrown out of their homes in error is inexcusable. Stay on ’em.
In Cali, esp LA area seems everyone’s in on the coverup. Non profit lawyers don’t know homeowner bill of rights and private lawyers say there’s never any cause while blaming corrupt? judges. So where’s all the money from settlements for legal aid and educating lawyers? Gov Brown is getting sued for it. We are deep in the rabbit hole. Oh and there’s that never ending Chase criminal lawsuit by the CA US Attorney that DOG ignored. As reported in LA Times story about Citi settlement you have industry analyst for Guggenheim Partners saying banks were NOT let off easy and worried about side effects on poor banks. Better Markets non profit guy says government is pretending to punish Wall St. He will probably get a nice grant while homeowners are left out in the cold AGAIN. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-citigroup-settlement-20140715-story.html
We need more ethical people who have a voice that will be heard to take a stance.
Seems like those that have only go so far and don’t want to bite the hand that feeds them. We all have a voice and have to keep pushing them to follow the money. Before they take away our voice.
Just saw your previous post you know too well keep telling your story.
I will. Thank you
@concerned21 if you would like to share info you can reach me here. http://teamupsignup.weebly.com/
David down there is doing some great work and there’s good info on message board.
uscfpb complaint filed today
chase has not resolved a single monetary dispute with me since 2008 and continues to extort me for money on a loan I never applied for .. they even reported this new loan to the credit bureau with a balance of $ 300,800 which the Credit bureau also had reporting of yet another first trust mortgage from chase.
chase has fired the local v.p Kelly mathers for trying to help me resolve these issues.
all chase does is say they addressed the issue. I don’t care if they address any thing. these disputes by me are about money and extortion of me by chase on a loan I never applied for and non compliance with a promissory note for a loan I did pay for. chase has quashed the loan finance by blacksmith and boilermakers union of Kansas city Kansas and created a new loan with higher interest rates and balloon payments with no loan docs no respa notices and now extorting me for double and triple payments. I got another wortheless packet of chase toilet paper today while they now are extorting me for more escrow funds while they have over $ 2,000 in unapplied escrow funds and over $ 80000 in unapplied payments and unaccounted for payments and missing 21 missing mortgage statements required monthly by federal respa law and even told the Washington state AG to buzz off when requested to produce the mortgage statements. in letters from chase v.p she says I owe $ 388,888 while the mortgage statement says I owe $ 311,000 and the new loan to the credit bureaus says I owe $ 300,800 . chase website says I am five payments ahead but refuse to give me credit for them and their attorney writes me letters I am indefault and sends letters to my attorney mr potter demanding he drop me as a disabled veteran client. the whole mortgage operation of chase needs to be seized by the federal government and a cash audit be done by irs and other agencies to determine where the billions of dollars of mortgage payments are going.
and for what purpose and that includes escrow funds.
Great comments on Salt Lake paper link. Reminds me of Chase Twitter fiasco
http://my.firedoglake.com/elliott/2013/11/16/askjpm-tweets-as-read-by-stacey-keach/
Our MA AG is just as corrupt as well as our Judges & Attorneys! This makes me sick to my stomach as we were victims of an illegal foreclosure on a home that was paid off. The Judge ignored the preponderance of evidence & the facts of law. Our attorney was too scared to hold the Judges feet to the fire because he was afraid of his future cases but he had no problem taking $35,000 from us?????????????????????????
The old saying, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer” It is unfortunate that ethical behavior has disappeared from our public officials. The U S Supreme Court appears to be helping corporations gain even greater control of the government, When this is complete they won’t need to buy off the Shurtleffs will they?
What!? Biondi, crooked? NO!!!!!!! (Insert sarcastic emoticon here.). I wish the general public would wake up and smell the coffee…….. The housing crisis is alive and well in Florida and elsewhere in the country. Just the fact that the news media refuses to cover it does not mean that it’s over. Those of us who have and are continuing to fight are systematically being singled out and run over by a corrupt judicial system. Don’t give up everybody! I WON’T!!!!!!
I’m pretty sure that our (FL) AG is as corrupt as this one! Thank God she will be out soon. I hope they bury this one. The whole troop of them screwed consumers on the national mortgage settlement and probably got kickbacks on that too.
I hadn’t heard that Bondi was on the way out.. If you think Crist will win the governorship and be any better you are sorely mistaken. Nobody trusts Crist , he s among the weakest candidates I’ve ever seen.
Oh hell no. I know that Crist is no better and all we ever get is the same ole boy party running for every office here. I certainly don’t want that ‘egghead’ we have now for another term either but who’s opposing them? No one. As for Bondi, I just meant that she won’t get re-elected and I bet she’s trying to go even higher. People sometimes forget over time what deceit is laid upon them and keep putting these rotten eggs back in the basket. I wonder if it will ever end!