Cancer Did What Linda Orlans And An Inept Judge Couldn’t Do

Steve Dibert, MFI-Miami

“To the last, I will grapple with thee… from Hell’s heart, I stab at thee! For hate’s sake, I spit my last breath at thee!  -Khan Noonien Singh quoting Moby Dick

For the past 18 months, I have blogged about Lynne Lucas, my client in Northern Michigan who was fighting an illegal foreclosure that contained fraudulent assignments, robo-signing, unrecorded mortgage assignments, fraudulent notary signatures and a myriad of other illegal activity committed by the staff of Orlans Associates.  She also had to deal with the second most incompetent judge in the state of Michigan, Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Martha Anderson.   She did this all while battling terminal cancer.

Last October, a video crew from the Korean Broadcasting System spent two days interviewing Lynne for a documentary. During the interview, she proclaimed that she was going to win both the battle to keep the house and the battle against cancer.   She vowed to fight for both until her last breath.  She did and she wanted others to know they could stand up and take on their banks as well.

I am amazed at the number of people knew who she was because of my blogs.  Every attorney and every reporter I have spoken to during the past year ask me how my “client with cancer” is doing and if she is still in her house.

Yet, I don’t know if she fully understood the yet unwritten legacy she will leave behind for the thousands of people in this country fighting against the odds to save their home from illegal  foreclosure by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and unscrupulous foreclosure mills.

A fight I had the privilege of being a part of for the past 22 months and one that has spawned huge legal cases and investigations across the US.

The investigation MFI-Miami did on her file has led to criminal investigations into robo-signing by employees of Orlans Associates by both the Michigan and Massachusetts Attorney Generals, propelled Marshall Isaacs to robo-signing super stardom and was the genesis of two class action lawsuits filed by Ingham and Branch Counties against the banks, mortgage servicers, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Orlans Associates and Trott & Trott for failing to pay the Michigan Real Estate Transfer Tax on properties in foreclosure.     The follow up investigation done by MFI-Miami indicated these entities defrauded nearly $1.2 billion from Michigan counties and the Michigan School Aid fund since 1998.    Her foreclosure has also helped an investigation MFI-Miami will release in the next few weeks showing how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac foreclosures are illegal in 5 states hardest hit by the financial crisis and how FHFA and the U.S. Treasury have some serious explaining to do to the American people.

Like most people, Lynne didn’t seek the glamour of being a revolutionary, she was content being a waitress at a casino and living in her house on the lake in Northern Michigan but her fight, the fight of one person, can serve as an inspiration.  I know her fight will live on and hopefully will serve as an inspiration to others to stand up against an unjust system that puts profits and individual greed against the simple concepts of community and love thy neighbor.