Melony Michaels, An Unstoppable Force For Justice, Awaits Word Of A Decision In The Endless Civil Case Spawned By Mortgage Fraud At 1564 Hillside Avenue North...

 

MN DOC mug shots, therefore public domain, of

Larry D. Maxwell, Jerome L. KingRussell, and Tynessia

Snoddy, blog post by John Hoff

It's The Trees That Suffer Most  

Seven thick legal documents are linked here, as follows...

1.) Plaintiff's Reply Memo, 2.) Affidavit, 3.) Another Affidavit, 4.) Objection by Triad, 5.) AIG opposition to motion to amend, 6.) Benjamin R. Kwan Affidavit, 7.) Declaration of Kathryn Torre. 

Pictured above, three of the individuals involved in the mortgage fraud at 1564 Hillside Ave. N. who went to prison: Larry Darnell Maxwell, ("Maximum Maxwell") Jerome Lance KingRussell ("The Imposter Foster") and Tynessia Snoddy. (Snoddy went to prison for a different fraud, but formally admitted involvement in the fraud at 1564 Hillside Ave. N.) 

The Wheels Of Justice Grind Slowly 

The documents linked above tell a tale of justice delayed, denied and (so far) always just-out-of-reach for the victims of an identity theft and mortgage fraud at 1564 Hillside Avenue North...

Mortgage Fraud Victims, Insurance Company Await State Appeals Court Ruling From "Imposter Foster" Civil Court Case...The Ghosts Of 1564 Hillside Ave. N. Still Walk The Earth!

Creative stock photo, blog post by John Hoff

Click here for the appellant's reply brief. 

Click here for AIG's brief, and the first page is unreadable, sorry, but keep scrolling down for the rest of a very long document. 

This blog has followed developments in this convoluted case for more than half a decade. John Foster and his wife Melony Michaels were the victims of a mortgage fraud at 1564 Hillside Avenue North. John Foster's identity and perfect credit was stolen by a crackhead named Jerome KingRussell, as part of a fraud cooked up by Larry Maxwell and others. 

Maxwell went to prison over the fraud. The victims sued in civil court and won a judgment of $849,000 but the money has proven hard to collect because the insurance company doesn't want to pay. (Well, I guess that's understandable) The house was demolished a long time ago. Here's a link to a blog article about the lawsuit which has yet more links and traces a lot of the story to date. 

Now both sides have filed briefs in Minnesota's State Court of Appeals, made their arguments, and wait. The question is not whether the $849,000 judgment is valid. 

The question is whether the plaintiffs can collect from the defendant's insurance company...

Victims Of Mortgage Fraud At 1564 Hillside Ave. N. Receive First Restitution Check From Jerome KingRussell, Known As The "Imposter Foster"

Contributed image, blog post by John Hoff

Sweet googly-eyed feral cats, WOULD YOU LOOK AT ALL THAT MONEY!!! Think what you can buy with something like that! For example, that will cover most of the bottomless bowl of soup at Eddington's.

The check above is the first "KingRussell" restitution check received by John Foster and his wife Melony Michaels, who were victims of a spectacular identity theft and subsequent mortgage fraud perpetuated by...

Stunning Court Development With 1564 Hillside Ave. N. "Imposter Foster" Mortgage Fraud Civil Case, District Court Ruling Appears To Let Insurance Company Off The Hook, Plaintiff Says "We Will Appeal."

MN DOC mugshot, therefore public domain, blog post
by John Hoff

Click here to view the recent court ruling.

Today JNS blog has learned of a disheartening development in the civil lawsuit spinning out of the mortgage fraud which happened at 1564 Hillside Ave. N., a case readers of JNS blog know well and which involves a cast of characters like Larry "Maximum" Maxwell, who went to prison over the identity theft at the heart of the mortgage fraud. 

Pictured above is Jerome KingRussell, a petty criminal with a drug history who impersonated John Foster (a mild-mannered suburbanite, a productive and moral person all his life with sterling credit history) to accomplish the infamous mortgage fraud in the heart of North Minneapolis. 

BUT ENOUGH BACKGROUND. Regular readers know all about this case and JNS bog has reported on every development for years, sometimes seemingly the ONLY media that cared. 

So here is the latest shocking twist...

Minnesota State Court Of Appeals Upholds $861,000 Judgment Stemming From Larry Maxwell Mortgage Fraud Case...

Contributed photo, 1564 Hillside Ave. N., one of the
addresses involved in the fraud, blog post by John Hoff

Click here to read the opinion by the Minnesota State Court of Appeals.

On March 17, a day inextricably associated with the color green, the Minnesota State Court of Appeals ruled plaintiff John Foster and his wife Melony Michaels were entitled to a judgment of $861,000 (more or less) stemming from the illegal use of John Foster's identity to facilitate a mortgage fraud...

Brief Filed In "Too Little, Too Late" Appeal Of Judgment In The "Imposter Foster" Identity Theft Case...

Contributed photo, 1564 Hillside Ave. N. around the time of
the mortgage fraud and identity theft, blog post by John Hoff

Here is the latest in that "too little, too late" appeal of the $849,000 judgment in the case of John Foster, Melony Michaels v. First USA Title, et al.

The case involves a complex mortgage fraud at 1564 Hillside Avenue North. Many Northside players were involved, including slumlord Keith Rietman and disgraced former JACC executive director Jerry Moore. Crazy and suspended attorney Jill Clark also defended both Rietman and Moore in the case before she, well...

LOST HER FREAKING MIND.

Click here for previous coverage of the "too little, too late" appeal.

The defendant, fighting an uphill battle against what is either a default judgment or something very close (the defendant did participate early in the trial, then dropped out) has filed a brief.

I may write about this document more in the future but, for now, res ipsa loquitor. 

"The thing speaks for itself."

Here is a link to the thing. 

State Court Of Appeals Allows Enforcement Of $849,000 Judgment During "Too Little, Too Late" Appeal From "Imposter Foster" Identity Theft And Fraud Case...

 Creative stock photo, blog post by John Hoff

Just to briefly recap a rather complex story, here...

John Foster, the mild-mannered delivery truck driver whose identity was stolen as part of a mortgage fraud at 1564 Hillside Ave. N. won a judgment of $849,000 and change, a development this blogger reported with considerable glee back in March. 

The other side didn't even show up in court to fight the lawsuit, apparently deciding a "head in the sand like the myths about ostriches" defense was in their best bet. Despite not showing up to fight the lawsuit (though mortgage fraud participant Trent Bowman was apparently in the court room as a spectator) one of the defendants filed an appeal after the district court judgment. This blog has characterized the appeal as a "too little, too late" eleventh hour attempt.

Now there has been a ruling from the State Court of Appeals in regard to the "too little, too late" appeal attempt. Click here for a copy of their recent ruling, which must surely be fair because it is bound to make both sides rather unhappy...

He's In, He's Out, He's In, HE IS OUT AGAIN!!! Judge Mel Dickstein Drops Jerry Moore From Lawsuit Over Mortgage Fraud At 1564 Hillside Ave. N. (Reportedly) For Reason Of Inadequate Legal Service...

Photo by John Hoff, Jerry Moore at the tumultuous JACC board meeting which ultimately resulted in his termination after a physical altercation, blog post by John Hoff

A couple nights I spoke to Melony Michaels and John Foster (the real John Foster, not the crackhead Kingrussell who has been known, for purposes of mortgage fraud, to impersonate Foster) and I heard some details about the tough sledding Melony and John are enduring in the civil suit that spun out of the mortgage fraud involving 1564 Hillside Ave. N. and one other address.

Former JACC executive director Jerry Moore, whose history as a defendant in the civil suit might be described as "overly complicated," has been dropped by reason of no proper legal service. Judge Mel Dickstein apparently didn't buy any argument by the plaintiff that Moore was evading service. (I plan to publish the document with those arguments in the future) Appraiser Robert Anderson has been dropped from the lawsuit as well just as though there's nothing wrong with doing an inflated appraisal of your own house right before a deal that turns out to be utterly fraudulent. Anderson's position in court about this matter could be described as "bizarrely self-righteous."

At this point...

Parole Revoked For "Imposter Foster" Jerome Kingrussell, Criminally Participated In Mortgage Fraud At 1564 Hillside Ave. N., Further Details...

Creative stock photo, (1564 Hillside Ave. N. is NOT pictured, that place looked WORSE) blog post by John Hoff

Yesterday's blog post on this topic captured a bit of the courtroom drama and the final score: Jerome Kingrussell, the "imposter Foster" who took on the identity and creditworthiness of John Foster, just couldn't keep his nose clean on parole and is now headed to prison for 108 months.

But, like the real John Foster who had an outrageously good line of credit, this "imposter Foster" has his own credit: 1173 days already served, and applied against his sentence. Somewhere there's a felon wishing he could be an "imposter Kingrussell" and get access to that line of "incarceration credit."

Melony Michaels was present in the courtroom and...

PART FOUR, Jerry Moore vs. John Hoff a/k/a Johnny Northside Case Argued Before Minnesota State Court Of Appeals, Meanwhile "Third Amended" Lawsuit Names Moore And Describes His Purported Key Role In The Mortgage Fraud At 1564 Hillside Ave. N.

Photo by John Hoff, Jerry Moore (in the middle) at a mortgage outreach event, blogger and Hawthorne Housing Director Jeff Skrenes is on the right, blog post by John Hoff

This blog post is primarily about the specific contents of the "Third Amended Complaint" in the civil suit filed by John Foster and his wife Melony Michaels over the theft of Foster's identity to commit mortgage fraud at 1564 Hillside Ave. N. and another property, even more specifically the "cast of characters" in the lawsuit.

There is a considerable backstory leading to the Third Amended Complaint.

Part One, learning there's moore than meets the eye with Jerry Moore.

Part Two, a tale of two court trials. 

Part Three, a strange bounce of the legal ping-pong ball, Moore's in the civil suit, no wait he's out, no wait he's back in again.

This brings us to the specific contents of the Third Amended Complaint.

Crack Open Your Lawyers Professional Responsibility Books, Students

The first thing I notice about the "Third Amended Complaint" is one name has dropped off the list of defendants. Slumlord Keith Reitman is not named on the revised list of defendants in the Third Amended Complaint. This sends me racing to the MNCIS online court records to look up the case and discover...

YouTube Video, Mortgage Fraud Convictions By Hennepin County...Johnny Northside Dot Com Blows Past 3,000 Blog Postings Mile Marker Without Even Glancing Sideways...

I like my news the way I like my fish: raw.

I want original documents, not just quotes. I want to see the events unfolding, live, not snippets of what some news editor considers the highlights. I want the whole speech, not just a sound bite.

So naturally I relished this YouTube video showing the Hennepin County Attorney press conference from about a week ago, highlighting the successful prosecution of mortgage fraud over the last few years. My favorite part is when Melanie Michaels and John Foster talk about how their lives were impacted by the mortgage fraud at 1564 Hillside Ave. N., a notorious and scandalous high-profile crime that involved disgraced former JACC executive director Jerry L. Moore, still trying his little heart out to sue this blog. (By the way, this blog blew past the 3,000 blog postings mile marker, like, about 15 or 20 posts back!)

So here's the video. And here's a link, if you want to browse other videos posted by the same YouTube account.

Sorry, I don't have any wasabi or pickled ginger to go along with this "video sushi."

Fresh. Raw. YUMMY.

(Do Not Click "Read More")

$217K Restitution Ordered In Larry "Maximum" Maxwell Mortgage Fraud Case...

Stock photo and blog post by John Hoff

Larry "Maximum" Maxwell, who sits behind bars over the fraudulent sale of 1564 Hillside Ave. N., (a transaction in which slumlord Keith Reitman was the seller) was the subject of extensive coverage on this blog during his trial and sentencing, click here for an example.

Recently, I was provided a copy of the restitution order in that case, which orders $217,687.54 in damages, click here for a PDF copy. However, the order DENIES a sizable amount of other damages, including enormous amounts of uncompensated time spent by John's wife--Melony Michaels--to investigate the fraud perpetrated on her husband and bring the perpetrators to justice. With much respect to the judge, I think this was a close legal call and unfortunately the judge came down on the wrong side of that restitution. I hope the Hennepin County Attorney appeals this matter and John Foster (and wife) GET ALL THE RESTITUTION THEY ARE ENTITLED TO GET.

As for the individuals who were involved in the 1564 Hillside Ave. N. transaction--(they know who they are)--the angels of justice hover closer every day, so close you can feel their breath and hear their wingbeats. It must be a gut-wrenching feeling, knowing you've done wrong and not only is God watching, but so is the blogosphere.