St. Louis, MO – MARK AVALOS pled guilty to bank fraud charges relating to his work as the Controller for The Mortgage Store, Inc. (TMS) in 2008.

According to court documents, TMS was a major mortgage brokering business with offices in four states and hundreds of employees. The main offices were in Westport Plaza and Wentzville. The businesses were operating at a financial deficit in 2... More...   $0 (12-11-2014 - MO)

This appeal, after a successful demurrer for misjoinder, tests the limits of California’s permissive joinder statute, section 378 of the Code of Civil Procedure.1 There are no less than 965 plaintiffs listed in the caption of the third amended complaint. Strictly speaking, though, this is a “mass action,” not a “class action.” Had this case been filed prior to 2005, in all probability it... More...   $0 (12-11-2014 - CA)

Bennie Deweese appeals the trial court’s rendition of summary judgment in favor of Ocwen Loan Servicing L.L.C. and Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. as nominee for Federal Home Loan Mortgage (MERS). After
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Ocwen foreclosed on Deweese’s home, Deweese sued to quiet title, for tortious interference with contract, statutory fraud, and for a declaratory judgment that the forec... More...   $0 (12-11-2014 - TX)

LAS VEGAS, NV – A Katy, Texas couple who owned two mortgage service businesses in Henderson, Nev., have been sentenced to prison for their roles in a mortgage fraud scheme that caused over $30 million in losses to federally insured financial institutions, announced U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden for the District of Nevada.

Derrick Phelps, 46, former owner of Investors Realty... More...   $0 (12-03-2014 - NV)

Stephen Hopper, Laura Wassmer and their stepmother Jo Hopper bring cross appeals from a summary judgment in a probate proceeding. The decedent, Max Hopper, married Jo Hopper in 1981. During the marriage, they purchased a home on Robledo Drive which they occupied until Max’s death on January 25, 2010. Max died intestate. The couple had no children. Max’s two children by a prior marriage, Stephe... More...   $0 (12-03-2014 - TX)

FRESNO, Calif. — United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill sentenced Maria Vega, 54, of Ceres, today to six months in prison, to be followed by six months of home confinement, for filing a false tax return, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

Judge O’Neill also ordered Vega to pay $179,465 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service. Vega has already repai... More...   $0 (12-01-2014 - CA)

This is an appeal from a divorce that was initiated in 2010. In two issues, Appellant Kathleen J. Dickerson (Wife) complains that the trial court erred by denying her a jury trial, amending the divorce decree outside its plenary power, and failing to follow the mediated settlement agreement (MSA) that she entered into with Appellee Larry E. Dickerson (Husband). Husband did not file a brief.
1S... More...   $0 (11-26-2014 - TX)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, and Chris Koster, Missouri Attorney General, announced that a Bethany, Mo., attorney pleaded guilty today in federal court for stealing more than $540,000 from his elderly client.

Richard F. Turner, 39, of Bethany, pleaded guilty to U.S. District Judge David G. Kays to an information chargin... More...   $0 (11-26-2014 - MO)

In an unsuccessful attempt to apprehend George P. Conway’s adult son, Donald Conway,1 who reportedly had fired shots at George, officers from defendant County of Tuolumne (County) fired a tear gas canister into George’s mobile home. Donald was not inside but was apprehended later. George brought suit against the County for damage to
1We refer to George and Donald Conway by their first name... More...   $0 (11-24-2014 - CA)

COEUR D'ALENE, ID - JoAnn Jackson, 63, of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud for misappropriating more than $800,000 from a client’s account, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Jackson, an investment advisor, was indicted by a federal grand Jury in Coeur d'Alene on August 19, 2014.

According to the plea agreement, Jackson admitted that in 1994, she bec... More...   $0 (11-21-2014 - ID)

After its marina on Lake Texoma was damaged in a flood, Lake Texoma Highport, LLC sued its insurance broker, Insurance Alliance, and a London broker, Bowood Partners, Limited, because the policy in place at the time of the flood was not the policy Highport had requested. A jury returned a verdict in Highport’s favor. The trial court’s judgment ordered that Highport recover damages and attorney... More...   $0 (11-19-2014 - TX)

New York, NY - Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that MICHAEL LEVITIS, the owner of MISSION SETTLEMENT AGENCY (“MISSION”), was sentenced in Manhattan federal court to 108 months in prison in connection with a multimillion-dollar scheme that victimized more than 1,200 financially struggling people across the country. MISSION was also sent... More...   $0 (11-19-2014 - MA)

New York, NY - Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that DARYL PAYTON, a former stock broker at a securities trading firm (“Securities Trading Firm-1”), pled guilty today in Manhattan federal court to charges arising from his involvement in an insider trading scheme. The alleged scheme involved the misappropriation of material, non-public i... More...   $0 (11-18-2014 - NY)

In this dispute over title to real property, petitioner and respondent Nationstar Mortgage, successor in interest to Aurora Loan Services, LLC (hereafter, Lender),1 attempts to appeal from a judgment in favor of petitioner Barbara L. Gonzales, as conservator of the person and estate of Louise E. Townsend, following a trial before the Honorable Thomas F. Nuss, a retired superior court judge appoint... More...   $0 (11-17-2014 - CA)

Plaintiff Helen Lin (Lin) appeals from a judgment entered on an order sustaining a demurrer without leave to amend in favor of defendant Mireya B. Coronado (Coronado). In her operative first amended complaint, Lin alleges she “pooled” her $150,000 with $100,000 provided by River Forest Financial LLC (River Forest) and Elevation Investments LLC (Elevation) “in partnership for the purchase” ... More...   $0 (11-17-2014 - CA)

Appellant Michael L. White was charged with crimes related to the intentional burning of a two-unit duplex that he owned and managed and to his recovery of insurance proceeds from the fire. Following a jury trial, White was convicted of conspiracy to commit arson and mail fraud, see 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 844(i), 1341 (Count 1); aiding and abetting arson, see 18 U.S.C. §§ 2(a), 844(i) (Count 2); an... More...   $0 (11-17-2014 - WV)

This is an appeal from a final decree of divorce in which Husband challenges the divestiture of his separate property. The litigants have been before the Court before. In Rivas v. Rivas, 320 S.W.3d 391 (Tex.App.--El Paso 2010, no pet.), we reversed a default judgment of divorce on procedural grounds. The case was remanded and following a bench trial, the decree at issue was entered. Because the tr... More...   $0 (11-15-2014 - )

Plaintiffs‐Appellants Wing F. Chau and Harding Advisory LLC appeal
from a March 29, 2013 judgment of the United States District Court for the
Southern District of New York (Daniels, J) dismissing their claims of libel against
Defendants‐Appellees author Michael Lewis, his source, Steven Eisman, and
Lewis’s publisher, W.W. Norton, for twenty‐six allegedly defamatory statemen... More...   $0 (11-14-2014 - NY)

Ennis Paint, Inc. sued Melvin and Sharon Carter on a promissory note in the
principal sum of $1,953,000. The Carters counterclaimed for usury. Both sides moved
for summary judgment on their respective claims, and Ennis Paint also moved for
summary judgment on the Carters’ usury counterclaim. The trial court denied the
Carters’ motion, finding that the note is not usurious, and ... More...   $0 (11-14-2014 - TX)

Anna Maines Johnson filed for divorce from Daniel G. Johnson. After a bench trial, the trial court entered a Final Decree of Divorce and issued Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. In three stated appellate issues, Daniel challenges the trial court’s refusal to grant his reimbursement claim. Daniel contends that: (1) the trial court divested him of his “separate property” contrary to the... More...   $0 (11-14-2014 - TX)

Appellant Jorge Guevara M.D. appeals the trial court’s no-evidence summary judgment granted in favor of appellees Mark Lackner and Robert E. Lackner on Dr. Guevara’s claims of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and conspiracy. By three issues, Dr. Guevara contends that the trial court erred in concluding that his evidence presented in response to the Lackners’ motion for no-evidence summary ju... More...   $0 (11-13-2014 - TX)

Minneapolis, MN - United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger today announced the sentencing of MARK ALLEN GARCIA, 60, and PATRICIA ANN MCQUARRY, 56, for conspiracy to defraud the United States by filing false individual income tax returns. On May 20, 2014, following a one-week trial, a federal jury found the two defendants guilty of all charges. United States District Court Judge Patrick J. Schiltz se... More...   $0 (11-12-2014 - MN)

Ross Stone appeals a final summary judgment in favor of Nancy Stone in a dispute involving the distribution of homestead property as part of the estate of their father Jerome Stone. The trial court held the transfer of the property to Nancy following Jerome’s death was not an impermissible devise of homestead property. We find the trial court erred in part, but nevertheless affirm the result.More...   $0 (11-12-2014 - FL)

Ron A. Fiorini (Fiorini), a 23-year-old college student at Fresno Pacific University, was shot to death by police on October 5, 2010, after drinking two 23.5-ounce cans of Four Loko.
Fiorini’s father, Brett Fiorini (plaintiff), sued City Brewing Company, LLC (City Brewing), the company that brewed, bottled, and labeled Four Loko, for negligence and strict liability. He alleged a single can o... More...   $0 (11-06-2014 - CA)

Appellant, Waterford Harbor Master Association (“Waterford”), appeals a final judgment rendered in a suit for declaratory relief and monetary damages filed by appellees, Michael Landolt and wife, Ann Wismer, (“the Landolts”), and on Waterford’s counterclaim for declaratory relief. We affirm in part, and reverse and render in part.
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I. BACKGROUND
Waterford Harbor is a subdivi... More...   $0 (11-06-2014 - TX)