Aurora Lepe was the victim of identity theft. The unknown perpetrator used her identity and forged her signature to obtain two loans used to purchase a property. The loans were secured by the property. Ms. Lepe did not discover the fact until the loans were delinquent and the property was in foreclosure.
Amazingly, after the foreclosure and the loans had been fully satisfied, there was a $51,333.87 surplus. The foreclosure Trustee, CTC Real Estate Services, deposit the funds with the Los Angeles Superior Court and alleged in an interpleader action “that the equitable and fair result would be to have Ms. Lepe receive the funds.” Even though no other claims for money were made, the Superior Court disagreed and ordered that the surplus be paid to the Los Angeles County General Fund.
The Court of Appeal in the case of CTC Real Estate Services v. Lepe, 140 Cal. App. 4th 856 (2006) reversed the decision and ordered that the surplus be paid to Ms. Lepe. The Court of Appeal said that “the mere fortuity that the wrongdoer has disappeared without receiving the surplus and is not subject to legal action should not, as a matter of equity, preclude Ms. Lepe from being able to recover the funds not in possession of the identity theft.” If the identify thief had been apprehended and convicted, Ms. Lepe might have been entitled to restitution or to claim assets from the “criminal profiteering activity.” According to the Court, Ms. Lepe should not be penalized because the thief was not apprehended.
Ms. Lepe suffered much damage clearing her credit as result of the theft of her identity. The thief even filed bankruptcy in her name. She hardly feels that she came out ahead.
Ms. Lepe’s case reminds us the man who told us that a thief had stolen his wife’s credit cards. However, he never reported the crime because the thief was spending less than his wife.
September 15th, 2006
Posted by
aronofflaw |
General Interest |
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In my last legal update, I announced my upcoming trip to Cuba to meet with Cuban leaders, learn about the legal and business climate and the prospects of doing business with Cuba in the future. I returned with pages of notes, hundreds of photos and a pile of work on my desk. I am surprised at how long it has taken me to get it all organized.
Many Americans travel to Cuba each year – some legally, as we did, others illegally. While it is not actually illegal to go to Cuba, economic sanctions prohibit spending money in Cuba or buying Cuban products. Cuba welcomes Americans, and many travel by first going to Mexico. Last year, the United State prosecuted almost 2,000 Americans for traveling to Cuba. Fines up to $7,500 were sought. However, those prosecuted are just a small fraction of the Americans going to Cuba.
I traveled under the auspices of the Hispanic Bar Association with 16 judges, 30 attorneys and their guests. The trip was licensed by the United States Treasury Department and, therefore, not only was it legal, we were allowed to return with cigars, rum and other Cuban artifacts.
It is not very difficult to get a license to go to Cuba. The United States Treasury Department grants licenses for several reasons. If you have relatives in Cuba, you may travel with up to six companions. Journalist are allowed to travel to Cuba. Athletes and artist can travel for events or to exhibit.
Our license was based upon an educational exchange, a so-called “People-to-People” program. Officially, we were there for to learn about Cuba’s legal system. A search on the Internet will find that there can be an exchange for just about any interest of any American. There are baseball trips to Cuba; golf trips, ballet trips, bird watching trips; cigar trips. You name it, there will be a trip for you.
Tourism is Cuba’s number one industry. Cuba welcomes Americans. It is America that is trying to keep Americans from going. Americans are just about the only people not going to Cuba. The Cuban embargo is clearly hurting that country and Cubans are looking forward to it ending. To them it is just a matter of time. The general attitude of Cubans toward Americans is that they cannot understand why the government is so hostile. They believe that U.S. policies toward Cuba is unfairly influenced by a small minority of Americans who Cuban ex-patriots.
Despite the lack of official relations between the United States and Cuba, it is clear that the United States has a big influence in Cuba. The United States dollar is an official currency. Everything is priced in United States dollars. One of the nicest buildings in Havana is the American Embassy, which is now officially the American Interest Section. The Interest Section is staffed and you many cars that are licensed to the American Interest section. Yet, no American official met with our group while we were there. We were only made aware of the American Interest section by the Cubans who missed no opportunity to demonstrate the hypocrisy of the the Embargo.
I was not able to achieve one of my principle goals of learning how the Cuban legal system works. This was not because of a lack of effort. We had meetings with economic experts, law professors, and even Supreme Court Justices. Because of time restraints, presentations were necessarily superficial. While we were given lots of time for questions, the answers to even the simplest questions, were long and laborious. For example, when one of the Justices was asked if defendants were appointed counsel at the expense of the State if they couldn’t afford private representation, the answer began with Christopher Columbus coming to Cuba. Ten minutes later, you had the general feeling that the answer was “every defendant can have representation.” Thus, asking questions had limited value.
In any event, after a week in Cuba my best understanding of the legal system, is that it is made up of many specialized courts. Every state in the United States has a court of general jurisdiction. I do not think that is the case in Cuba. Labor matters are handled by one court, contracts by another. There are different courts, depending upon the crime. Courts consist of three judges. Two have legal training and are appointed by the Cuban General Assembly. The third is a lay judge, who serves for no more than two months each year. There are appeals, but the Supreme Court consists of thirty judges that are divided into divisions — again, based upon expertise.
My understanding of the political system is equally vague. Officials would insist that they have a democratic parliamentary system. The National Assembly consists of representatives, each elected locally. It then elects an executive committee, which elects the president. In theory, Fidel Castro could simply be voted out of power by his local constituents. Moreover, the Communist Party is not permitted to participate in elections.
Yet, the general population does not involve itself in politics or elections. I was amazed when, during the presentation of the economic expert, he was asked a question about how certain ministers got their jobs. The response was that he was not a political expert. The question was best directed to a political expert. My thought was that the question was similar to asking how our Secretary of the Treasury got his job. In the United States, every high school student should know the answer without referring to an expert. In talking with Cubans I met randomly, it appeared that politics were irrelevant. Most questions were answered with, “I depends upon what Fidel wants.”
Probably about the most important question is what is going to happen after Fidel Castro. Most people were unsure. As one of the law professors told us, it would all depend upon the circumstances of Fidel’s demise. For example, he might die after a long illness. He might become incompetent before dying. His brother, Raul, who is Vice President, may die first. In the end, it would be up to the National Assembly, and no one seemed to feel that there was anyone who was a likely candidate to succeed Fidel Castro. In short, there is a lot of uncertainty about what is going to happen after Fidel. Yet no one seems to really care.
My desire to learn more about the business climate in Cuba did not meet with much more success than learning about the legal system. Many foreign companies unaffiliated with American companies are doing business in Cuba. The usual foreign investment involves a joint venture in which the foreign investor owns up to 49%. However, the history of nationalization of businesses and the uncertainty of what is going to happen in Cuba after Fidel Castro makes investment somewhat risky. Clearly, Cuba’s infrastructure is crumbling and there is a need to work on it. That is were the business opportunities will lie after Fidel.
In the end the most satisfying part of the trip was soaking up Cuban Culture. Music was everywhere. I enjoyed the seafood and the atmosphere in all the places I ate. One of the great charms of Cuba are the old hotels and the old cars. Cuba is a great time capsule. You often feel that you are in Miami Beach in the 1950’s. I particularly enjoyed my visit to the Riviera Hotel which was built in the 1950’s by Mayer Lansky. It is a duplicate of the Riviera Hotel in Miami Beach. However, the decor has not been updated since the 1950’s.
April 17th, 2003
Posted by
aronofflaw |
General Interest |
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History Day in California is actually a four-day event where the best history projects of middle and high school students are displayed and judged. The entries are judged principally on historical quality, but adherence to this year’s theme of “Frontiers in History” and the clarity of the presentation are part of the judging formula. The top two projects in each category go on to Washington, D.C. to compete in the National History Day Finals.
History Day in California is just one of the more than twenty programs which educate young people to become active and responsible participants in our society sponsored by the Constitutional Rights Foundation (“CRF”). I have been involved with CRF for 25 which seeks to instill in our nation’s youth a deeper understanding of citizenship through the values as expressed in the Bill of Rights. As a CRF Board member, I was asked to judge at the State Finals which were held in the City of Orange this past Saturday. There were several categories in the competition, including Historical Paper, Exhibits, Performance, Documentary, and Web Sites. I judged Exhibits and Web Sites. I sat in to see the finalists in Performance.
It is impossible to describe in words the awe each entry inspires, or how impressive the entire event is. Luckily, I can show you some of the web sites. For example, I think you will be particularly impressed that entry 1727, “Braille……A Frontier Under Your Fingertips” on the development of Braille was researched and prepared by middle school students. Entry 2812, was prepared by three high school students with contemporary graphics and appeal for their contemporaries. It brought to life the story of journalism pioneer John Peter Zenger.
There were several web sites that dealt with space. The presentation in entry 2810, “Sputnik: Pushing Farther The Frontier Of Space And The Cold War” was particularly well done and will do well in the National Finals. While it might be a bit time consuming, you certainly will not be bored if you view all of the entries by clicking here.
Events like History Day in California are truly inspiring and renew your confidence that our future is in good hands. I want to personally thank the staff of CRF for their hard work in making this event such a success.
May 17th, 2001
Posted by
aronofflaw |
General Interest |
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Let me assure you that our State Legislature will no longer have bureaucrats with a bad
attitude. When I updated you on important new laws that went into effect on
January 1, 2001, I had neglected to tell you about the following new sections to our
Vehicle Code. The next time you go to the Department of Motor Vehicles, you
should not be surprised by these changes:
§ 1674. Program of encouragement.
The department shall develop a program to foster a positive atmosphere that is conducive to encouraging drivers to succeed in passing any visual tests or written or behind-the-wheel driving tests administered by the department.
§ 1674.4. Sensitivity training for test administrators.
In order to address any conscious or unconscious bias against a driver by persons administering the department’s visual tests or written or behind-the- wheel driving tests, the department shall implement a component in its training and development program for test administrators that encourages sensitivity to the issues of youth and aging.
February 17th, 2001
Posted by
aronofflaw |
General Interest |
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After one shooting and several close calls, The Los Angeles County Courthouse has developed new security procedures. Beginning the first week of July, 1999, all persons entering the downtown Los Angeles County Courthouse will be screened for weapons. There will be one metal detector and one x-ray machine at five of the courthouse entrances. All others will be closed. The five entrances are: (1) first floor Hill Street; (2) first floor judge’s parking garage; (3) second floor to the plaza (by jury assembly room; (4) second floor to First Street; (5) fourth floor to Grand Avenue. Only moderate delays are expected, but those that have experienced the delays caused by weapons screening in Van Nuys, Long Beach and other courts are skeptical. The Sheriff’s Department suggests that attorneys with court appearances, particularly during the first week of the new procedures, allow an extra 15 minutes to get into the courthouse.
All boxes and briefcases will have to be screened. Special provisions are being made for attorneys with large volumes of trial exhibits. They should call the court administrator to make arrangements to bring all exhibits and boxes to the court in the afternoon of the day before the hearing or trial. Judges will allow them to be stored in the courtroom. The Presiding Judge and the Sheriff’s Department have assured the all the judges and members of the bar that they will not allow the screening process to cause extraordinary delays.
Robert Aronoff is The Beverly Hills Bar Association’s liaison with the Superior Court who can discuss this security procedures with both the Presiding Judge and the Sheriff’s Department. If you have any comments after the procedures start, please submit them in writing to the Beverly Hills Bar Association’s office and they will be brought to the attention of the appropriate people.
June 17th, 1999
Posted by
aronofflaw |
General Interest |
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