Although we had all hoped that the fraud related to the "subprime mortgage meltdown" was behind us, perpetrators of fraud seem to create new schemes with each new moon, and some of the more "lucrative" schemes of the past remain a risk today.

Fraudulent Promissory Note & Bonds

The U.S. Treasury, Office of Inspector General (OIG), has recently published an alert regarding a new fraud scheme. Real estate professionals should be aware of the scheme and its potential impact on a purchas

We recently reported that the Minnesota Court of Appeals' November 23, 2003 decision in Eischen Cabinet Co. v. Hildebrandt cast doubt on the service of a mechanic's lien statement by certified mail. In that case, the Court of Appeals ruled that while a mechanic's lien may be served by certified mail, the service of the mechanic's does not become effective until the date of acceptance. As a result, even if the mechanic's lien statement is sent by certified mail many days before the expiration o

Imagine this scenario: you are owed $2,000.00 from an individual for goods and services you provided. For months, you are promised that payment will be made but no payments come in. At a certain point, you grow tired of the excuses and you decide that you are going to proceed with litigation. You go in to Court, you win your case and you get a judgment. However, you still receive nothing on your debt. Now what?

Many creditors often find themselves in this situation. Most of the time, the am

A general contractor ("General") typically has a contract with a property owner ("Owner") to provide construction services. In turn the General contracts with numerous subcontractors ("Subs") to actually perform many portions of the work. If all goes according to plan, the Owner pays the General, and the General pays the Subs. Unfortunately, in some cases the General does not pay the Subs. This failure to pay often stems from a dispute between the Owner and the General. In other cases, the Gen

A local consumer law attorney is suing property managers, arguing that property management companies and/or managers who send statements of account to homeowners with past due balances may be violating the FDCPA to the extent that such statements do not contain FDCPA legal notices.

This article examines two legal issues. First, are association assessments legally considered debts subject to the federal law known as the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (the “FDCPA”)? Second, i

Our law firm recently had the privilege of representing a community association in a complex legal matter involving a post-bankruptcy lien foreclosure. Initially, we successfully obtained judgment for foreclosure in the Hennepin County District Court. The debtors’ attorney appealed the matter to the Minnesota Court of Appeals, which upheld the district court decision in favor of our client. This article briefly discusses the underlying issues, rationale and decision in that case. The ca

I. The Applicability Issue.

There has been much litigation on the question of whether or not the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA") applies to the collection of community association assessments. The recent trend is that courts are routinely holding that the FDCPA does apply to association fees. Accordingly, we recommend that all parties collecting association assessments comply with the FDCPA. A copy of the FDCPA is attached hereto as Exhibit A.

A. What is a debt?

The t