Why Judge Rudofsky Tried to Protect PRA Group, Inc. from Being Named as Doe No. 1 in Lawsuit
In a stock press release picked up by Yahoo Finance today, “PRA Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: PRAA) (the ‘Company’),” who call themselves “a global leader in acquiring and collecting nonperforming loans,” announced today that their Executive V.P. and C.E.O., is leaving the company. His successor is Rakesh Sehgal.
Who is Rakesh Sehgal? “He previously served as Managing Director in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group at General Electric and GE Capital, where he closed over $50 billion of transactions.”
Hey! Wait! Those of you who followed along will recall a third degree of separation between PRA Group wholly owned subsidiary PRA to GE Capital to WalMart, where the Judge presiding on Hammett v. PRA, Lee P. Rudofsky was General Counsel.
GE Capital Walmart sold credit card debt to PRA. Perhaps part of that $50 billion in transactions.
An older woman named Loretta Burks sued PRA for similar things as I am suing them for. Here is the identity theft affidavit that Mrs. Burks filled out, thinking it would cause GE Capital Walmart and PRA to cease collections on a debt she did not recognize as anything she incurred. PRA went on to win a default judgment against Mrs. Burks. (Since this is a repost, I won’t count it as your FREE Doc of the Day.)
PRA was awarded $6,016.07 + $601 in attorney fees + $130.86 for costs + $43,265.82 in interest. Yes, the total wage garnishment was $50,023.75.
Here is a motion for a new trial that gives Mrs. Burks’ side of the story.
This is your FREE Doc of the Day:
PRA explained that the astronomical interest and total were caused by a computer glich.
Read the bull shit explanation here in paragraph 6 of your Bonus Doc of the Day:
Mrs. Burks went on to sue PRA in federal court and they settled.
Good thing for Mrs. Burks that Walmart’s lawyer wasn’t the judge on her case, or she would probably have lost and been charged with attorney fees for the company that bought the GE Capital Walmart list of debts.
Quick Update on PRA Group, Inc. Stock Price
Argus analysis from August 16, 2023 reported on Yahoo Finance.
From post on this blog of August 11, 2023: I’m musing on PRA’s financial health as I prepare for appeal and hopefully trial, and watching as the price of PRAA stock tries to push down through the $17.74 ten-year floor.
Lesson Learned from a Friend in the Trenches: Other People’s Labor Leads to Victory
One of my dearest friends is another victim of court corruption.
We met when I was writing about some evil lawyers appointed to positions as minor’s counsel in the family courts of Los Angeles.
My friend is a deeply faithful Christian, college educated and a health nut. We spent several weeks together, and she did not abuse her body in any way. As we travelled around, staying in Airbnbs, she was considerate and inclusive of everyone. She is in fact a woman of color herself, I am white, and she never exhibited animosity or resentment toward me based on my skin color, my Jewish heritage nor any other reason.
It is shear evil in our courts that basically terminated her parental rights with her beloved child.
My friend, probably due to her faith, was not defeated.
Neither of us is an attorney, so we cannot give each other legal advice. We are allowed to share tips on dealing with the stress created by the bad apples in the legal community. We are allowed to discuss what the word of God tells us, the higher law. And we can give practical tips for navigating the halls of justice.
This is advice from my friend.
Let other people do the work for you.
I wish I listened to my friends more often. (I don’t listen to anyone. Just ask my mother. lol.)
There are about 20 banker-boxes of legal documents in this world that were generated by me, alone.
But I am trying to use other people’s labor more and more, especially as my own body becomes less useful.
Examples of other people’s labor that is available to everyone for free or cheap:
You can contact government agencies. Try the CFPB, judicial ethics commissions, state bars and committees on professional conduct, medical boards, court reporter boards, the FBI’s public integrity unit, insurance commissioners, and local law enforcement, to name a few.
Don’t expect too much. Many organizations are toothless tigers. Many bureaucrats are there to collect a paycheck and discuss their future pension. (I worked for the Department of Building and Safety for 10 years, and wish I had a nickel for every discussion my coworkers had about their pension plans, when we should have been helping the public.)
Occasionally, the government is our friend.
Sometimes the agencies don’t have power to change corrupt decisions that have already affected you. Sometimes their influence is subtle.
Three judicial officers I complained about voluntarily retired. Two of them are still working in alternative dispute resolution and one went back to private law practice before dying at the age of 64. So, they were not apparently ready to quit working, when they gave up their cushy and prestigious jobs.
It is probable that the Commission on Judicial Performance influenced the disgraced judges’ departures.
One of my active cases is against Shelter Insurance. Usually, my experience with the company was positive. But at the worst time in my economic life, when the COVID-Crash wiped out most of my working capital, Shelter decided not to pay a legitimate claim.
There was an ex-convict renting my property for below market rate. That is him in the picture above. After several months of missing rent payments, I told him to leave. He left. Then he came back and vandalized my property and stole an ATV.
I know the damage was done after the tenant, Nate Rowe, left the property, because one thing he did was to shut off the heat in the pump room, causing the pipes to freeze and burst. He could not live there without water, so he must have waited until after he left and decided to remove the rest of my property.
Shelter said that Mr. Rowe was a tenant, and therefore the damage was not covered.
The case should have been simple. Unfortunately, Judge Susan Kaye Weaver presided.
Suzy Weaver presided on another case of mine that concerned the rental property. She gave the property to attorney William White’s client. This despite a handwritten, signed letter describing the fraud that the gang was committing on me. (That decision is on appeal, the White gang didn’t file an opposition, and the COA has sat on it for almost a year.)
At the end of 2019, I went to the Searcy County Sheriff Department to file a police report against Nathaniel Rowe.
Four years later, Mr. Rowe pled guilty to theft and malicious mischief.
That case document is in today’s FREE Docs of the Day.
Barring a corrupt court, like Judge Susan Weaver, that is evidence that my rendition of the damage to the property is true.
Barring a corrupt court, like Judge Lee P. Rudofsky, that is more evidence that I was suffering from acute stress during the time Portfolio Recovery Associates was trying to collect a non-existent debt from me, by calling me incessantly.
Other people’s labor, though slow, helped me attain justice.
My hat’s off to Prosecutor Chad Brown, who recently took over the case against Nate. Thank you for bringing a four-year-old case to a close.
Are Judges Approving Tax Evasion on Debt Collector Portfolio Recovery Associates’ Cases?
Excerpt of class action settlement from Pollak et al v. PRA:
“PRA will provide, without imposing any condition or charge whatsoever, a credit to each account belonging to a Non-Zero Balance Class Member (“Account”), in an amount not to exceed the outstanding balance of each Account, up to $500.00 per Non-Zero Balance Class Member and collectively up to $1,092,000.00. No cash payment will result from any credit provided to a Non-Zero Balance Class Member’s account(s), and PRA agrees not to issue any Non-Zero Balance Class Member a form I099-C due to the credit.“
The PRA Group, Inc. subsidiary emphasized, toward the beginning of the settlement agreement, “PRA has denied, and continues to deny, each claim and allegation of wrongdoing Plaintiff alleges in the Litigation. PRA also has denied, and continues to deny, inter alia, any allegations that Plaintiff or the Settlement Class suffered any damage whatsoever, were harmed in any way, or are entitled to any relief as a result of any conduct on the part of PRA as alleged by Plaintiff in this Litigation.”
In the case I filed against PRA, they denied, denied, denied. Judge Lee P. Rudofsky agreed with PRA. He said I owed money to PRA and no reasonable juror would disagree with him. But PRA lawyers from Rose Law Firm, Troutman Pepper and PRA big-wig Meryl Dreano all told the judge that Portfolio Recovery set my balance to zero as a “waiver” and had no intention of filing a 1099-C due to the waiver.
Judge Rudofsky winked at PRA and said, you’re right, setting the balance to zero was a “waiver”, but don’t bother complying with the tax code. That is just for the little people.
The Pollak plaintiffs were not suing for the misrepresentation of the amount or character of a debt. They alleged that the notorious debt collector sent letters threatening litigation with no intent of litigating.
The amount per plaintiff in Pollak is under the mandatory reporting requirement of $600. The money is still taxable, and the aggregate is over a million dollars. There are other tax rules I’ve noticed where the IRS discourages breaking up payments into many small chunks as to evade detection from the IRS of what is one giant transfer of wealth, in the hopes the transfer can be made tax free. The instructions for 1099-C say: “Do not combine multiple cancellations of a debt to determine whether you meet the $600 reporting requirement unless the separate cancellations are under a plan to evade the Form 1099-C requirements.” (emphasis added) It is probably worthwhile for the IRS to investigate the number of recipients of these $500 settlements who reported the gain. This is tippy toe right up to the line. Maybe our law makers can add a few more words to the tax code. Perhaps, “all class action settlements must be reported on the new form 1099-CA.”
At least in my case, PRA could have been crediting my account to zero because I did not owe the debt, as I claimed, in which case they were not conspiring and encouraging what they believed was tax evasion. But no, PRA insisted that it was a waiver and therefore they must admit they had the intent of orchestrating tax evasion. (I’ve already informed the IRS about what transpired.)
One attorney who served PRA on both cases was James Trefil. How many other cases did Mr. Trefil participate and counsel the defendant debt buyer and convince the Courts to ignore the Internal Revenue Code?
(If you know judges who approved settlements of $600 or more per debtor with no 1099-C issued, inform us in the comments or send the case info to me at bohemian_books@yahoo.com. If you send a file stamped copy of the agreement, it will be posted as a Doc of the Day.)
Quick Tip When Suing Debt Collector / Buyer Portfolio Recovery Associates
Portfolio Recovery Associates wanted to defend against my case against them in a Star Chamber. Judge Lee P. Rudofsky agreed.
Now I am preparing to ask the Court of Appeals to unseal many documents.
The main excuse used by PRA to keep its records confidential is that if competitors see their totally bitchin forms, the competitors will copy those forms, and PRA will lose its competitive advantage.
Don’t let them get away with it on your case. Show that the forms are already available on the internet. If your judge is not just a puppet for the money elite, like Judge Rudofsky, your judge should allow the public to see your account notes and the purported, self-generated PRA phone log.
Here are documents I filed to prove that the business record forms were already available online and the real reason PRA wants to file under seal is to cover up their bad conduct and lies.
On my case, the number of phone calls on the log is different from the number of phone calls in the notes. But without seeing both, the public will have to decide whose word is better, the debt collector’s or mine. Judge Rudofsky’s corrupt agreement with PRA might sway the public the wrong way.
Dark Money, The Federalist Society and Dangerous Judge Lee P. Rudofsky
Those of you who have read this blog since before March 16, 2022 may have noticed a distinct change in my assessment of Judge Lee P. Rudofsky and even a shift in my political leanings.
I am and have always been a Libertarian and Populist. But, not to “waste” my vote, I often register in one of the two predominant parties. For instance, in 2016, I did not want Hillary Clinton to win the presidency. My reasoning was not about the issues. It was because I had several acquaintances in Arkansas who said they worked for Hillary in different capacities, and she is a raging bitch, completely corrupt.
I thought Donald Trump running for president was a joke. Literally. “Ha ha ha, that’s so funny.” “No, he is really running for president.”
I signed up as a Republican and voted in the primaries for someone not Trump.
Unfortunately, I was torn between two men who I would love to see in the presidency. Neither is a lawyer.
Ben Carson and Rand Paul. I think if they ran on the same ticket, they could have beat Trump.
Back in March 2022, I respected Judge Lee P. Rudofsky. I thought he was on a trajectile to the U.S. Supreme Court. I wrote an out-of-character blog post, praising the young judge. “What Court Should Look Like: The Honorable Lee P. Rudofsky Presiding”
That was before I discovered Rudofsky is a liar and cheat.
It seemed like his blatant corruption from the bench would be the end of his career.
Little did I know…
Today the magic genie inside YouTube brought up a two-year-old speech it thought might interest me. It was right.
The speaker is Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island.
Everything he said sounds true to me. The main take away is that the Federalist Society inner circle, including Judge Rudofsky and appellate counsel on my case against Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC, Misha Tseytlin, are auditioning for promotions to judgeships all the way up to the Supreme Court.
It does not matter one bit that the actors are oppressing the ordinary person. All that matters is allegiance to the moneyed elite.
This is the first time I’ve heard of Senator Whitehouse. I listen to Federalist Society presentations for fun. How did I come to the exact conclusions as this Democrat? There must be truth and spirit in what he says.
Please accept this as your FREE Doc of the Day.
Another Small Win for Laura Lynn Hammett: Pro Se Litigant Perseveres [Updated, Again]
I am not an attorney, and this is not legal advice.
I recommend you don’t try this at home.
So odd. Judge Janis Sammartino granted attorney fees against me on an anti-SLAPP motion in California. She said that since I voluntarily dismissed the suit, my opponent was the prevailing party. Linda Lopez agreed, and denied my motion for reconsideration of attorney fees.
But I dismissed the suit because it was on behalf of a legal entity, and I am not an attorney. I am not allowed to advocate for anyone but myself. The cause of action was void, a complete nullity.
I filed an appeal. My opponents responded. I replied. Months went by.
Suddenly, Judge Linda Lopez filed an order denying attorney fees. I was perplexed. I thought Judge Lopez was changing her mind, based on arguments I made at appeal, and that she lacked jurisdiction.
Take a moment. Breathe.
Look through the docket. Ah Ha. The explanation is that the attorney defendants asked for a second batch of attorney fees and their motion was fully briefed about 10 months ago. I was sick as a dog then. I could barely lift my head off the pillow. I received Judge Linda Lopez’s order dismissing my case and never noticed that she failed to address the attorney fees motions pending at the same time.
The order denying attorney fees is downloadable below. It is your FREE Doc of the Day.
I can’t get too excited. Judge Lopez still refused to recognize that the entire pleading was void ab initio. She made her order without prejudice and gave my opponents, attorneys represented by attorneys, another bite at the apple.
Can a court make an order on attorney fees after an appeal is filed?
I think not.
“An appropriate appeal divests a trial court of jurisdiction ‘with regard to all matters embraced within or affected by the judgment which is the subject of the appeal.’ Lowder v. Mills, Inc., 301 N.C. 561 (1981)”, says University of North Carolina Law School Professor Cheryl Howell. This is not in the right jurisdiction, but I am guessing the same rule applies across all jurisdictions.
“After a party gives notice of appeal, the trial judge is functus officio and any judgment entered thereafter is void. In addition to Ponder, see Romulus v. Romulus, 216 N.C. App. 28 (2011)(no jurisdiction to determine amount owing on a distributive award in an ED case); France v. France, 209 NC App 406 (2011)(no jurisdiction after appeal of denial of request to close court)”. Read the exceptions here.
Judge Linda may be bummed out when she has an order overturned on appeal that was fought by a pro se, non-attorney litigant. And she will probably feel a little flushed when she is in confirmation hearings for her next promotion and some Republican Senator pulls out a copy of this Doc of the Day.
FREE Downloadable Documents from FDCPA Case
My appellate brief challenging Judge Lee P. Rudofsky for granting summary judgment to defendant Portfolio Recovery Associates is due in about 49 days.
I need to file a motion to change privacy designations soon, so don’t have time to chat with you, my dear readers.
In lieu I am offering to you two documents pulled from PACER yesterday.
One is my reply to my motion for partial summary judgment. The gist is that when a debt collector agrees to zero out an account without an order from a court and does not issue a 1099-C cancellation of debt, the debt collector is admitting that the person named on the account is not liable for the alleged debt.
Portfolio Recovery Associates claimed that it just decided to zero out the debt “in light of the litigation”, and they admitted that my claim that I owed no debt was made in “good faith”, but Judge Rudofsky interpreted that to mean PRA “waived” the debt.
The second document talks about why the business records that showed my account details should not be kept confidential. Judge Rudofsky allowed for me to make the comment about the waiver and 1099-C issue, but made it clear that if I step over the line he will hit me with paying the debt buyer’s attorney fees.
If you have business documents generated by PRA that are not ordered confidential by a court, please share them with other readers by emailing a copy to bohemian_books@yahoo.com. Together we can show that, as the CFPB complained, PRA lying on affidavits in court and making collection efforts on an invalid debt is commonplace and therefore awards and settlements on state cases and FDCPA cases against Portfolio Recovery should be much higher than the usual $1,000 or $5,000 they get away with.
Senate Bill To Make Federal Court Documents Fee Free: Three Cheers for Senator Rob Portman et al.
Hooray! Some smart senators already proposed a bill that would make access to court documents through PACER free to all but patrons who download documents valued at $25,000 per year. Presently, the door to free access is closed once anyone downloads $30 worth per quarter, which is about 300 pages.
If you have any suggestions on how citizens can encourage passage of this bill, please comment or send a private message to bohemian_books@yahoo.com.
For now, here are a couple FREE Docs of the Day:
I’m not usually a fan of some of these senators, such as Ms. Feinstein, but my hat is off to them today.
Sponsor: Sen. Portman, Rob [R-OH] (Introduced 08/04/2021)
Co-Sponsor(s):
Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR]
Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL]
Sen. Hawley, Josh [R-MO]
Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA]
Sen. Leahy, Patrick J. [D-VT]
Sen. Feinstein, Dianne [D-CA]
Sen. Whitehouse, Sheldon [D-RI]
Sen. Kennedy, John [R-LA]
Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]
Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT]
Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI]
Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ]
Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA]
Sen. Ossoff, Jon [D-GA]
Can I do anything about a corrupt court? And should I try?
This is the question a friend and colleague asked me yesterday. We had one of those phone conversations where we had to take a break to deal with a store clerk or make the grandkids lunch. But the question is one that deserves attention.
My friend thinks, if I am understanding her correctly, that there are Bible verses that instruct us to let it go, don’t file a lawsuit, don’t rebuke a wrongdoer, because the effect will not be correcting their behavior. It will cause dis-ease for you. She points to Proverbs 9, verse 7 to 12, KJV.
7 He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot.
8 Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.
9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
11 For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.
12 If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.
My interpretation is different than hers. I think you need to read all of chapter 8 and 9 together.
8 Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice?
2 She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths.
3 She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.
4 Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man.
5 O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart.
6 Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things.
7 For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
8 All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them.
9 They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge.
10 Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold.
11 For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.
12 I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions.
13 The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
14 Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.
15 By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.
16 By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth.
17 I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.
18 Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness.
19 My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver.
20 I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment:
21 That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.
22 The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.
23 I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.
24 When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water.
25 Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:
26 While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.
27 When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:
28 When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep:
29 When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:
30 Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him;
31 Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.
32 Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways.
33 Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.
34 Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.
35 For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord.
36 But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.
(To me, this is Jesus speaking through the prophesy of Solomon. I didn’t study at a theological seminary any more than I went to law school. But I read and came to my understanding before reading the commentary on Wikipedia and the Wiki editors make a connection, as well. Not as strong and direct as mine. Many scholars give Wisdom an incarnation as a woman. I hear Jesus saying, “blessed are they that keep my ways.”)
9 Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars:
2 She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table.
3 She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city,
4 Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
5 Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled.
6 Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.
7 He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot.
8 Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.
9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
11 For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.
12 If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.
13 A foolish woman is clamorous: she is simple, and knoweth nothing.
14 For she sitteth at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city,
15 To call passengers who go right on their ways:
16 Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: and as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
17 Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.
18 But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.
This shows the metaphor and analogy between Wisdom and Foolishness as two women. They are not literal women.
Foolishness clamors. Wisdom instructs.
Back to the questions. Can I do anything about a corrupt court? And should I try?
Don’t think you will change the conduct or even the motivations of a wicked person. If someone chooses evil, they will not say “oh, thank you for pointing out my error; I repent of my sins and will make you whole.”
In fact, the evil one will come at you with everything he’s got. Lies, deceit, gaslighting.
He will steal your time. He will steal your serenity if you don’t love yourself the way God loves you.
You may never “win” silver, gold and rubies.
There is something intangible that you will gain. (Proverbs 8:10-11 and 18-19) You will have the opportunity to love your friends.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13, KJV.
When you fight injustice, because you have standing and may be compensated financially or with more time with your children, your enemies will not be kind. They will clamor. They will steal the sweet water of wisdom. They are in the depths of hell, and want you to join them.
I say, lay down your life. Do the uncomfortable. It is only in losing your life that you gain life everlasting.
A Higher Law 