William Pattison 's Blog

BRASS Services is going out of business after years of service....

William C. Pattison — Mon, 19 Jun 2017 11:30:55 EST

Brass services is dissolving as a business as of the date of this entry. This is due to the death of our majority shareholder, Shane Mohler, who has been going through some serious health problems the last few years. His wife Jennifer felt that BRASS was Shane's business and should end with him.

This also mean that this is our last blog on Source of Title. We would like to thank all those who commented and shared their thoughts on the subjects explored on this blog. Good bye and good works....

Reconstruction of Past Persons

William C. Pattison — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 20:04:49 EST

You can have your DNA sequenced for $99. Tools to analyze your results can be downloaded to your computer or your results can be uploaded to various websites for the same.

At GedMatch.com participants upload their dna test results from Ancestry.com for free. Then they can conduct chromosome comparisons with relatives and other participants, review individual gene structures, use genetic clocks to time historical mutations and more. Most interestingly to this discussion is the "Lazarus" option, allowing the reconstruction by comparative analytics and inference of a deceased persons' genome.

As such, we are "recreating" the biology on a computer of someone who is gone. As techniques improve, our accuracy will improve. We can prove our methods by testing the inferred genome against interred remains for accuracy. We already do this commonly in forensics cases and for historical and archeological reasons. In still other circumstances, courts have ordered such measures when family is behind such testing, often for medical reasons.

So, why resurrect the past? Because we can and will. The sweeping scope of human civilization is hard to resist and a few short-term ordinances intended to prevent this in one jurisdiction will not stop it form occurring: see the case of stem cell prohibitions in America while the rest of the world advanced medical science around us.

In the end, the ability to recreate Elvis, MLK or your grandfather may be your willingness to plunk down some change in the right hands. The ethics of implanting memories from public records, biographies, films, family photos, memiores, achievements, and more is unclear. While it is accepted that our families will raise and indoctrinate our own kids into a cultural heritage and social way of life over eighteen years or so, is it fair to implant memories, personality, and behavioral paradigms into another new human being simply because their genetics match that of a deceased person?

Furthermore, while we certainly cannot deny basic rights and recognitions to a person because of where they were born, what their genetic makeup is, or what their family structure may be, will they use the opportunity to make claims on past estates and properties that their historical "originals" once owned? What happens when three Thomas Jefferson's all want a piece of Monticello?

Reason will prevail on some level, and such claims will not be upheld. However, society may need to adjust to a "Furutama"-like state of affairs as we resurrect the past through virtual avatars of Ben Franklin and Betsy Ross while moving toward the ability to clone them in 3D. Them Wright Brothers better stay off-a my lawn.

As a potential business angle, the value of historical research into the life of a deceased person will be in great need as the well-to-do seek to ensure the most exactingly accurate / hyper-realistic version of their loved ones are brought back to them through whichever medium. Skills in title research, genealogy, public records and critical thought will be in great demand. Understandings of psychology, anthropology, sociology and history will help to place data into context for a nascent artificial intelligence avatar coming into the world and being asked to be "that" someone.

Welcome to the world of the future.

Violations of Professional Codes

William C. Pattison — Mon, 16 Feb 2015 20:34:56 EST

Some recent discussion regarding the role of title abstractors and their ability to offer legal advice has been a topic of note. Most of the discussion is about how we can convey an understanding of our legal constraints to our clients; what words are most effective in helping those who seek our assistance to get the most out of our services without stepping over an invisible line marking the boundary of our jobs and the start of someone elses.

In this way, the discussion is one in which the abstracting community must not only address the legal profession, but many others that run parallel to or in similar fields to our own.

One such profession is that of licensed private investigators. In the US most States have chosen to require private detectives to operate with a State issued license.. Inquiring about personal matters like credit or character or family for profit are prohibited except to licensed members of this profession.

As the laws vary by jurisdiction, it is best to directly consult the wording of the State civil codes before over-promising you services.

ALSO, to be clear, every single jurisdiction regulates each profession in some manner. What I mean by this is that you should not assume that for the lack of a specific "Business and Professions Code Governing Daffodil Jugglers" that you can trot out and charge to toss someone's flowers. A history of legal rulings set the context for liability should you drop a flower vase on an audience member. Other legal codes govern your ability to perform in the street at 3 am on a Monday night. Yet others may be professional codes that, in the meta, impose. regulation directly as by virtue of regulating entertainers and performers like in Vegas.

The point of all of this is that, so long as we, as professional researchers consistently limit ourselves to the topical matters of our field and act with a duty of care and meticulous diligence, we can generally limit our culpability and liability in most instances. When we "go outside" the scope of our efforts and incorporate records outside the land indices, we run a risk of inadvertently overstepping our roles in title research. Both clients and your insurance agent may ask questions like: Why did you even consider reviewing the vital records index, and why do you feel yourself to be exceptionally qualified to review such matters, and what does the business index have to do with real property claims and liens? Proper questions that are uncomfortable due soley to the fact that it was the abstractor himself who inspired them.

An End to Outsourcing & Off-Shoring of Title?

William C. Pattison — Tue, 03 Feb 2015 20:39:59 EST

As unlikely as this sounds, we may be seeing cracks forming in the current practice of eliminating local experts.

As real estate markets are still tight, lenders and realtors are demanding fast, efficient, accurate services from title companies.

However, the ability of these large firms to compete in this area is limited due to years of moving operations to places like the Philippines and India in order to gobble profits in a short-lived cash grab.

Make no mistake: I have no problem with foreign competition when a fair playing field is evident. Indeed, so long as the corporate officers are serving the interests of the shareholders and not themselves, I would find such actions proper. The impropriety exists because these things are not true. Customers are officially waiting three days (the grapevine suggests longer) for preliminary reports. These reports often arrive with major flaws: missed title matters, misposted data, typing and transcription errors, and more. Staff stretched to the minimum is unavailable to execute corrections, leaving escrow officers apologizing for unwarranted delays and realtors threatening to take their clients elsewhere.

Now, a few small title companies are making moves against the big players. Hiring long time employees away from the big firms, a few old title folk have been promised the leeway they need and the support they deserve in producing a quality product. They are busy setting up shop as I write this. Interesting times.

Civil Records, Probate, Title and Same Sex Marriage Collide at Supreme Court

William C. Pattison — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 12:51:32 EST

Same-sex marriage, gay marriage, or any other name assigned to couples of the same gender living in a domestic union has given rise to a number of social matters that civil law is attempting to catch up with. The US Supreme Court may lay some of these concerns to rest soon, as it has agreed to hear the matter of legalizing these unions across the nation.

With such unions legally valid in 34 states and many Western countries, it appears that the slow but inexorable tide of history is in favor of legalization.

A case of a gay couple in New York who adopted a child born in Ohio demonstrates a need in one instance for an update to civil laws. The new parents are unable to acquire a proper amended birth certificate from Ohio. While their marriage is registered and proper in the State of New York, the State of Ohio on the other hand does not recognize gay marriage and as such will not effect the proper birth certificate amendment upon adoption that every other child is entitle to have. This creates a tangle of problems for that child when he gets old enough to go to school, and engage in all of the assorted civic activities that others are allowed to do.

Indeed, even his ability to act as nearest relative for a sick parent could be denied as has occurred in some cases with people bearing explicit, written power of attorney paperwork. Furthermore, the right of inheritance could be called into question, given that a parental connection is not established by way of a simple, amended civic document.

Let us be clear: same sex marriage did not cause this problem. The refusal of public officials to honor the affirmed, fundamental rights of a class of people contribute to this situation. It will take bold action by the Court to move society into the 21st Century, but we'll all get there.

Season Shift in Foreclosure Marlet

William C. Pattison — Thu, 15 Jan 2015 13:36:25 EST

The winter months have me down and there seems to be nothing new under the sun that is worth blogging about, so I've been less-than-topical lately and want to get (somewhat) back on track here.

Let us review the current investors market in residential mortgage foreclosures.

The average number of homes going to auction on any given day has declined. We can expect our auctioneers to call oujt one property each day (again, on average during normal / non-holiday weeks) which have equity still in them. A few others get called out for "reversion" (a bit of a misnomer) to the bank due to lack of bidders (no equity / underwater valuation).

This situation is vastly different from a few years ago when the holiday season and New Year were ongoing rushes to foreclose during the worst of the housing crisis. Indeed, just a few months ago during those balmy days of summer that I miss so dearly, the market was significantly busier for investors. Crowds small and large would gather outside the courthouse anticipating the arrival of Mike and Les at 12:30 and 1:00 for a bidding war. Now the steps contain only a few of the Forty Thieves and the occasional newbie checking out the rough waters.

On the same note, when the mortgage and housing crisis was at its peak, few people were interested in my free investment seminars. Now, however, a plethora of people are signing up and paying my fees as the days of free opportunities have passed. Funny how things work.

As a question to others: What do you do to advertise your seminars and classes?

I use MeetUp, Eventbrite, Open Exchange and our social media (FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, G+, Tumblr, etc..)

Je Suis Charlie

William C. Pattison — Mon, 12 Jan 2015 16:50:32 EST

The foundational liberties of Western Civilization were shaken by the recent murders of journalists in France.

The abstracting community shares the grief and heartache of the families, friends, colleagues and fellow nationals of the victims.

We rise in solidarity with those who bend but refuse to break.

We steel ourselves with the conviction that freedom is never free and earned through the blood of those bravest amongst us.

Now, we pick up the pieces and face a new dawn.

We resolve to be better; to live better and love better than ever before.

Their legacy is our duty.

Their hope is the world we must build.

New Year Fun: Shoot for the Moon then Abstract the Lunar Homestead

William C. Pattison — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 16:49:24 EST

An interesting bit of fluff is the occasional news story about entrepreneurs who sell parcels of land on the Moon.

Have you ever considered what it takes to search title on a property that is extraterresterial? Well, here's a primer for you.

First off, we must understand the basis in law for such claims. A quick read on Wikipedia provides a all-too-brief overview of some of the theory and application of laws throughout history.

The Outer Space Treaty of the 1960's is often misunderstood as to barring ownership in outer space. However, it actually only prevents nations from making territorial claims to celestial bodies and does not address the rights of the individual to hold and control land. As a result of this, one enterprising individual declared the nation of "Celestis" to be in existence in the 1960's. As a self-declared King of Celestis, he sold certificates granting title to parcels of Lunar land as metered out from the location of the original Apollo landing site. His family has continued this business to this day.

Taking wind from such efforts, a few groups of people have set out to sell land. Some offering official looking deeds, maps, and informational packages about their Loonie Citizenship. Others with larger visions have sold naming rights to stars and land on other bodies in our solar system.

Given the recent Kepler telescope findings demonstrating that virtually every star in the galaxy bears a planetary system, there appears to be plenty of land for the taking in the universe.

BUT, HOW DO WE SEARCH THE TITLE, you ask?

Somebody in the 1980's came up with the brilliant realization that the Moon actually passes through the virtual "air space" of earthly jurisdictions. Calculating that it passes over Luna County, New Mexico in it's orbit, they began to record homestead claims describing Lunar lands at the Luna County Recorders Office. Naturally, in order to locate the records, one would need to start the research a bit non-traditionally; no mapping program, assessment roll, parcel viewer, sales list or property tax listing will exist as to help define current ownership or lot status. A survey of individual homestead declarations day-by-day and year-by-year would need to be accomplished in order to compile a database of registered Moon lots. In point of fact, it might be necessary to do so in each and every recording jurisdiction which the Moon passes over, in order to be comprehensive in the research.

A review of all legal entities, corporate or individual or otherwise, as to the nature of their claim, their legal standing, and any records that they maintain, would certainly be critical to crafting a comprehensive ownership report.

It has not been uncommon for claims of ownership to be listed with micro-state groups (thanks to Celestis above), so researching the records of micro-patrological nations may be necessary in addition the those of the standard recognized countires.

Due to the difficult getting official government agencies to accept Looney filings, cliams have sometimes been made by way of intellectual properties: claims in book form registered with ISBN numbers and registered copyrights may mean conducting Copyright, Patent, and Trademark searches online at the Library of Congress website. Business name filings, internet address registration, and simple Google searches are yet other viable routes that claimants have taken for securing their interplanetary property rights. Consider the number of space probes bearing personal messages from Earthly donors or SETI projects beaming signals into space as places that some humans have posted notice of their intended planetary residence

Finally, before issuing your report, an extremely long list of exceptions, disclosure, disclaimers, warnings and notification limiting all sorts of liabilities and reliances would need to be attached.

Chilling the Bid

William C. Pattison — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 20:07:15 EST

An illegal but all too common practice in foreclosure auctions, is hard to spot except in a recent incident which was loud and blatant.

A recent auction day in San Mateo County brought out a homeowner about to lose her house.

She brought with her the local media, ten Occupy protesters, and her son in a business suit. Now, none of this is technically illegal, however what happened next was. Her son waited for the property to be called out by the auctioneer. He then proceeded to read a long statement about the house, warning investors against bidding and noting all sorts of personal matters as encumbering the property.

Furthermore, after listening to the Occupy protesters, it became immediately obvious that they had been duped. They were yelling about little old ladies losing their family hovels in poor neighborhoods, when this particular homeowner was about to lose a four million dollar mansion in the Hillsborough foothills that she had got from her former boyfriend. Deceptive at best;

In the end, the homeowner and her family clearly did not understand the foreclosure process, nor her rights. A simple bankruptcy filing could have staved off foreclosure and given her time to rearrange her life. Indeed, the idea that shouting down the auctioneer would prevent the auction is naive, when the first bid is always by the bank anyway: the house leaves her hands regardless of whether the bank acquiresit or a third party investor bids higher and captures it.

Bankrutcy Protection for Foreclosure Investors

William C. Pattison — Sun, 07 Dec 2014 18:15:33 EST

OK, my title is a bit misleading. Many house flippers feel "safe" NOT checking the bankruptcy status of homeowners in foreclosure. A few misunderstandijgs have given rise to this notion.

One reason given is a general misconception that trustee firms handling the auction or the banks are responsible for and actually conducting reviews of Federal court filings on the day of auction. This presumption is based on the fact that many scheduled auctions are called out as "delayed" or "postponed" due to bankruptcy. Hence, "someone: must be minding the shop. The truth is: this is not so. No prior check by lender or trustee occurs. Bankruptcies are only effective in causing a delay if a homeowner has notification papers delivered to either or both of them. A one week delay is a common push-back while the bandruptcy filing is verified.

The second reason that I have been given by investors for institutionalizing the bad behavior of not checking PACER is that title companies no longer do so. Failing to parse the fact that these insurance companies are offering a different product and using blanket, general exceptions to indemnify themselves against liability, the investors think that they too are able to bury their heads in the sand with no consequences. Luck runs out and the ball eventually lands on red. In other words, they are gambling and will find loss in the long run with such a strategy..

Third, as one goes, so go the others. In other words, if one investor conducts his business in this manner, then his peers tow the group-think line and follow suit. This may be spurred on by the rise of foreign nationals pooling their funds in order to acquire houses at any cost. They often show no care for conventions of investing as they are seeking real estate no matter what. In fact, liens and other encumbrances of record or otherwise will simply be passed along in uninsured buyer sales to unsuspecting "captive" audiences of foreign nationals seeking the American Dream.

Finally, for the real cheapskates out there, the $0.10 cost per search page that PACER charges to a credit card eats away at the bottom line (read: profit margin) for each house purchased.

San Mateo County Advances Anti-Business Plans

William C. Pattison — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 19:03:24 EST

The Deputy County Recorder met today with the elected Recorder. They met in the open public area of the Recorders Office and openly discussed plans to restructure their public access area in such a way as to prevent businesses from "copying their database."

This was to be accomplished by changing the current public work stations, removing chairs and tables and replacing them with standing computer monitors. The explicit intent was stated so as to remove any place where a laptop might be set-up and used to transcribe information from their systems.

The past Recorder often blustered about not having people "do business in his office", but did not act so boldly and directly against those engaged in fair and reasonable commerce.

Indeed, he seemed to recognize that filing agencies and title firms and researchers serve the public by providing necessary professional services that would otherwise consume the resources and ability of a County office to handle.

The current Deputy Recorder has had several complaints lodged against her by both County staff and the public. She has engaged in a crusade to make our firm's specialist unwelcome; staring across the room at our foreclosure expert while he explains how to find liens, or calling our researchers outside for confabs about taking client calls while children run about the office screaming, or removing access to microfilm from the public area, or telling her staff not to say hello to us when we greet them at the door. No joke. This is the petty little tin-dictator stuff that she does.

Following a recent complaint letter about her that was posted on the county website, she went into overdrive behind the scenes harassing her staff about stopping to chat for a moment with us and telling people that she was working to get rid of us from the County. She even went as far as mentioning this to one of OUR clients, which got back to us directly. This is incompetent and malicous at best and discriminatory and harassing even moreso.

Custodian of Records

William C. Pattison — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 19:23:03 EST

Public agencies in most jurisdictions must have within their ranks a legally mandated "Custodian of Records." The title may vary slightly, but the duties of the position are essentially the same: to account for the civil papers, files and records entrusted to that government agency.

There exists practical value to knowing this fact. For a researcher, understanding the final disposition of various records can mean the difference between success and failure in connecting a title chain.

Example: A break occurs in a title chain. It is in the mid-1800's. As such, it is long prior to the establishment of any local zoning, HOA's, special districts or tax bonds on the loot in question. A lack of peripheral records for known owners on either side of the break s evident as the researcher attempts to examine voter rolls, business filings, genealogical databases and more for any clues about the various parties in title. However, one additional set of pertinent records did exist at one time and may still be available. The combined Property Tax / Assessors Rolls for the period in question might narrow down the names and date of transfer. The record of final disposition of the rolls is recorded in the legal ledger and accounting books of the custodian of records for the Treasurer and Assessor offices. Asking for this person, in order to access that ledger can be invaluable in determining if a local library, museum or nonprofit inherited the old microfilm reels, or if they are stored in a government archive, or destroyed long ago.

The position is sometimes held by the elected official holding office or a high level administrator given the title of "Deputy" of the agency. It is a position required by federal law and written into state government codes as a feature of ensuring the integrity of our civil, public records. As it is codified into law, it is intended to be a moral reflection of the values of open, democratic governance of our society. Also, as such, it becomes a civil right of We the People to know about and to exercise our right to access such matters, whatever our need.

Standards and Practices of Foreclosure Investors

William C. Pattison — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 16:17:27 EST

Sounds like an oxymoron to those who deal with house flippers, eh? lol.

Despite the irony of such words being strung together in that order, there are a number of best practices, customs and common traditions which converge here to form a loose basis that distressed property buyers should consider.

Firstly, the abstracting of title should be done at the county records office. That is to say that commercial subscriber services are all good and fine as cross-checks regarding lien priority, but they often miss-index or simply miss data. Any lawsuit that arises from the title chain will certainly incorporate questions about how the investor acquired his title chain and where. No online service is going to issue a notarized affidavit about how the investor researched their database. However, the county records index and documents are certifiable and valid as such in court.

Secondly, using a professional title abstractor to do the research is important. This is a person who is specialized in understanding title matters and who can attest under oath to having followed the standards and practices of his profession. A casual investor poking about in the records may be great at revamping and marketing a house, but is unlikely to know as many ins and outs of a title search. As such, the standards of the title industry should be the standards by which an investor seeks to adhere.

Thirdly, investors should be adhering to basic good business practices. A written business operations agreement, whether a partnership contract or corporate charter or LLC agreement is very important for all investors and owners to know their rights and duties. Furthermore, miscellaneous professional liability insurance for the managers / officers / administrators is an valid consideration when the stakes are high like in home sales. Adhering to the operational boundaries established by agreements and contracts are simple, yet foundational standards in and of themselves.

Finally, due diligence prior to investing means looking at every possible resource for information about a home and its owners. Building & Planning permits, sewer laterals, business registries, zoning, CC&R's, mapping easements, civil lawsuits, bankruptcies, and assessments are just the starting points for determining cost to risk ratios. Smart investors observe and strive to understand market forces on national, state, regional, and local levels. They are guided by the good common sense of market investing. Each and every consideration creates a new data set and a new parameter of operation.

The differnce between a wise investor and a fool will be in the final outcome when money is counted at the end of the day. Refusing to spend up-front for quality research will save hundreds over 12 months, but could cost tens or hundreds of thousands in lien penalties if these best practices are not followed. How kind are your friends when you lose their money and how do you live with yourself if you let that happen?

Camera on Foreclosures: The Dirty Little Cheaters

William C. Pattison — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 21:18:16 EST

Portable digital video cameras are now ubiquitous. Whether on an IPad, cell phone or GoPro attachment, we see their fallout on the daily news, Funniest Home Videos, Right This Minute, talk shows, and YouTube.

The usefulness of these in foreclosure auctions has not yet been fully realized.

A growing part of the commercial service sector in mortgage-related activities is the area where a firm offers to help homeowners postpone or prevent mortgage foreclosure.

This often involves a complex web of loan modifications, refinances or short sales, following a thorough review of the matters of record for flaws in the notice process, legal descriptions, and other paperwork.

A new and simple bonus is added to the mix by forcing the trustees to adhere to the proper auction protocols. This is done by using mobile video cameras.

The "dirty little secret" that many trustee firms don't want the public to know about is their frequent failure to properly call out a property auction on the posted auction day. Their auctioneer shows up late at the sale site having been delayed in traffic; a situation already sufficient to cause a delay and rescheduling of the auction when the homeowner and other public bidders have acted in good faith to be there at the appointed time. Secondly, the auctioneer calls out the wrong address, reading it or the parcel number incorreclty, causing another flaw in the auction process. This is assuming that he is not rushing to play "catch-up" and skips calling it out at all, on the presumption that it is "underwater" and going to revert tot he bank anyway. Finally, the auctioneer fails to realize that he called the property for auction at the wrong start time when most counties have multiple customary start times for the various auction sessions.

All of this presumes that the paperwork has been filed in the correct county; a situation that is handled wrong on a weekly basis even in small, low volume counties.

Naturally, the mobile video cameras offer a solution of proof that a PUBLIC process had been handled correctly. Make no mistake, laws barring surreptitious recording of private persons do NOT apply to this legal, public process that the Citizens of the State have a right to access. Indeed, posting this online daily would be a tremendous public service and perhaps the trustee firms should now be lawfully required to do so every day. Ideas?

Legacy

William C. Pattison — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 18:15:28 EST

As many of you know, I was very sick over the past couple of years, with heart and kidney failure. Your kind wishes and messages were much appreciated.

I am back at work, walking on my own and able to see again )sufficiently well). I still do dialysis at home nightly, but am down to a single daily blood pressure pill, so life is MUCH better.

All of this has got me thinking about my mark on the world. Running an honest business that help its' people put food on their tables is rewarding but hardly enough. Occassional donations or volunteerism is nice, but unlikely to "change the world".

Therefor I have tied my interests in public records, history and civics to a new peducation project which I started yesterday:

SIX GENERATION PROJECT is a not-for-profit effort to educate children and adults about civics and history through the lens of their own family heritage. By studying and researching their ancestors over the pas 6 generations, they will discover the excitement and mystery of the passt; they will come to appreciate the trials and tribulations of their forebearers in new and thrilling ways.

I don't know how to do all of this alone, so I invite you, my title and abstractor friends to pitch in and become a part of something bigger. Thank you aal, again.