Foreclosure Ramblings – Winning, Evictions, The Crisis is Over

I “won” a foreclosure case yesterday.  By winning I mean the 2010 Foreclosure case was dismissed, and the bank cannot amend.  I believe the bank will refile, then the process will begin again.  A non-lawyer homeowner defendant in yesterday’s court room thought my win meant my client gets to keep the property without the mortgage.  No, it does not work that way.  It’s unfortunate when people accept the legal advice and opinions they get from their friends, neighbors, and the internet.  It can really hurt them. 

I had a woman call last week about a foreclosure.  She said she made an appointment with me months before, but did not come.  Her property was sold the day before, can I help her?  Highly unlikely.  The deeper you dig yourself into the hole the harder it is to get you out.

Someone tells me foreclosures should be like evictions, fast.   I promise you that will not happen in Florida in the foreseeable future. 

When I began practicing law in 1991 foreclosures were rare.  If someone found themselves in foreclosure they were usually embarrassed, and the foreclosure was quick and smooth.  Fast forward to 2009 when homeowners found they could no longer make their mortgage payments because they lost their income, and there were millions of them, hundreds of thousands in Florida.  At the same time people lost their jobs they found their home was suddenly worth significantly less than their mortgage balance.  There is no easy solution to this situation. 

I was told yesterday all the foreclosure defense lawyer does is delay.  You can view it that way but the delay is caused by forcing the bank to prove its case, and sometimes they can’t, as happened yesterday. 

As I waited for my case to be heard I was seated next to an attorney who was unfamiliar with Broward foreclosure procedure.  We were there early.  The judge took the bench early, which is great.  There were 40-50 attorneys or litigants in the court room, but only two teams, which means lawyers on both sides ready to argue.  The Judge heard both cases, then we all just sat there.  The lawyer next to me asked why cases were not being called.  Because the docket is all morning, and it’s early, if the Judge calls a case and only one lawyer is present and she goes ahead and decides to hear the case, then the other lawyer shows up 30 minutes later and says that’s not fair, I didn’t get to be heard, it’s a re-do.  The Judge got up and left the bench.  The lawyer next to me was aghast.  Why shouldn’t she leave the bench and take a break?  Without teams she has no cases to hear.  The lawyer wanted to know where all the bank lawyers were.  I explained cases were being heard in four courtrooms concurrently, all four courtrooms have a morning and afternoon docket, the bank’s lawyers are moving between the courtrooms.  She said she thought the foreclosure crisis was over.  I said believe that when they go down to 3 courtrooms, then 2, then 1.  Then they wipe out the foreclosure division altogether because we did not used to have a dedicated foreclosure division.

How Will You Feel When You Step On the Scale Tomorrow Morning?

I had an epiphany about weight loss this weekend.  I want to share.

I listen to audiobooks a lot.  I particularly listen when I am house cleaning, cooking, and working on household projects.  They bring joy to time.  Most of the time I listen to a book once.  Sometimes I think I can get more from a book if I listen again.  Sunday morning I was listening, for the second time, to Augustin Burroughs reading his book “This Is How”.  It’s a self-help book and the only Burroughs book I have listened to more than once, though I have read or listened to every Augustin Burroughs book.

Burroughs says if you have been trying to lose weight for 20 years and haven’t accomplished it, give it up.  Accept yourself the weigh you are, accentuate the positive.  I disagree, but I still love the book.  I think if there is something you have wanted for 20 years, 30 years, 40 years and obtaining it would be of benefit to you, keep trying.  I do.  I agree you should endeavor to enjoy yourself every day of your life, it’s a gift, that’s why they call it the present. 

As I was scrubbing my kitchen counter-top Burroughs said if you step on the scale in the morning and the number puts you in such a bad mood it negatively impacts your day, stop stepping on the scale.

I stepped on the scale that morning.  It bummed me out.  I was at a wedding the previous day.  The reception was at a delicious restaurant, you get the picture.   I gained 3 pounds.  I was not happy about it, but not surprised. 

I was also anxious because it was Sunday and I was going to a picnic.  Picnics are big on food.  Burroughs says don’t step on the scale, but  I know if I stop stepping on the scale my weight will go up and up and up, and I will be even more unhappy.

Burroughs Premise:  If you step on the scale in the morning and the number it registers has the power to bring down your day, don’t step on the scale in the morning.

Lindquist Premise:  If you step on the scale in the morning and the number it registers has the power to bring down your day, make damn sure you get a number that brings you joy.

I committed then and there that nothing at that picnic was going to bring me down, I mean up.   

The picnic had hot dogs, burgers, pork, chips, dip, fruit platters, vegetables platters, cheese platters, pickles, coleslaw, loaded potato salad, baked goods upon baked goods upon baked goods.  There was beer, cider, a full bar.  Ginger made a smurf drink with orange juice, cherry vodka, something blue and I don’t know what else.  I had a sip of Susan’s, it was delicious.  John generously offered me a lite cider.  I read the label, still 120 calories in a bottle and 10 carbs.  I took a sip.  He said, “Go ahead, have one.”  I told him no thanks.  If my weight went any higher I would bust a gasket and I had trial Monday morning.  I don’t want to be all bummed out about my weight and take that negativity into trial.  My client deserves better from me.

The 3 pounds that came from the wedding were gone the next morning.  I have a new perspective.  I won the trial. 

You have a great deal of control over the number on the scale.  If you think you don’t I urge you to think again.  The temptation I faced at the wedding was elegant, exquisite, sumptuous food.  Which brought on a lack thought, “I won’t see this food again.”  Here’s the tool, replace that thought with, “You may not see that food again, but really good food is readily available to most of us in the United States all the time.  Here’s a lack thought for you, How badly will you feel if you gain 3 pounds tomorrow?  What if you gain another 3 the next day too?  You do not want to feel badly, do you?  Do you want to exercise your power over the scale, or do you prefer to cave to the delicious cheesy concoction, cookie, pizza, and blue vodka drink, whatever?  What’s more important to you?”  Decide.  On the Biggest Loser and Chris Powell television shows they make those weigh ins very dramatic, like the number is going to be a surprise.  It need not be a surprise, they only do that to make good television.

The two pictures below were each taken the weekend of the Octoberfest picnic.  Pink shirt is 2013. Blue shirt is 2014.

10 Weight Loss Tips

I have lost 110 pounds in about a year and a half.  These are my current best tips.

1.         Pick a diet and follow it for a month.

The diet that has worked best for me is eating South Beach Phase 1 Foods, 5 times a day, no more than 300 calories a meal.

2.         Exercise hard and regularly.

I’m not saying be a runner.  I am saying you need regular physical exertion.  Please don’t tell me housekeeping is enough.  I go to a gym.  It’s measurable exercise.  Measurable is important as in measuring your food, your exercise and your weight.  My goal is to exercise one hour a day 5 days a week.  When I started at the gym all I could use was the stationary bike and pool, just do it.  I promise if you exercise 5 days a week for an hour a time after 30 days you will feel so good you will not want to stop.  As you keep on the path things may come up that keep you out of the gym for a week, like the flu.  Then you may be reluctant to go back.  Force yourself to go back.  I have a friend who has also lost more than 100 pounds.  The last time I saw her she said she looked like a cancer patient and I look good, why is that?  I think it is exercise.  She is not doing it.  She actually went to the doctor to be checked for cancer.  Thankfully, she does not have it.

3.         Weigh yourself daily.

Weight loss is measurable.  It’s not a feeling.  You can no more tell me that you feel like you are losing weight when the scale says you are not, than you can tell me you are making money as you have less and less.  Permanent weight loss is a downward trend over time.  Learn how your weight loss works.  Learn that it’s normal to drop a couple pounds and see it spike the next day, even though you did everything right.  Learn about yourself.  Figure out what works for you.  You need data to do that.

4.         Track your weight on a wall calendar.  It will show you trends.
            Knowledge is power.

5.         Measure yourself monthly.

The smaller you get the harder it is to drop pounds, but if you are still exercising you will still see inches coming off.

6.         Diet contests did me a world of good.  I use DietBet.com.

7.         Avoid temptation.

What tempts me?  Parties.  Travel.  What used to tempt me?  Restaurants.  Restaurants are fairly easy to work with because most menus are on line.  Look at the menu before you go, determine what you are going to order and stick with it.

8.         Buy yourself new clothes as much as you can afford and will wear.

This is so important psychologically.  When you know you look good you feel good.  Looking good in new smaller clothes keeps you on track.  Clothes at Goodwill and Ross are cheap.

9.         Do not expect perfection of yourself.

There are no perfect people.  Did you eat too much on Sunday?  Oh well.  Monday is a new day.  Did you not get in those 5 hours of exercise last week?  Do you need to modify your plan because you are never going to get in those 5 hours of exercise in a week?  Whatever.  Modify your plan, but stay the course.  You can’t eat too much every day, then you’re not working your plan anymore or your plan isn’t working.

10.       Focus

One of the most frequent question I am asked is if it is hard to lose weight.   Think about running a marathon.  Losing a lot of weight is not like the pounding your joints take running the marathon, but it is an endurance challenge as is a marathon.  Losing weight is such an endurance challenge it continues the rest of your life, may it be long, healthy and prosperous. 

My daughter had braces, and then invisalign, which was a thousand times better.  I never had braces.  So many people warned us that she must wear her retainer when she is done with treatment because those teeth want to go back where they were.  The weight wants to come back.

In order to achieve long term weight loss you must keep focus.  You must prioritize.  You must put yourself first.  You absolutely have the skills to do it, because you already do focus and prioritize on other things.  Do you go to work when you are supposed to be there?  You have the skills.

The challenge reminds me of something I have read about poker.  Most of the hands you are dealt are not winners.  You need to fold.  The winningest poker players only play good hands.  The greatest challenge to poker players is called “going on tilt”.  They go on tilt when they can no longer stand sitting at that table folding hands and want some action.  Then they lose.  The hardest part of weight loss is maintaining focus.

First Let’s Kill All the Lawyers

“Do you like lawyer jokes?”  I am asked.

“No.”

“Do you want me to tell you one?”

“No.”

“I know a really, really good lawyer joke, can I just tell it to you?”

“By all means as I can see it’s really important to you.”

My first husband was born in Poland, but both his parents were born in Lithuania.  He explained when the Russians came into Lithuania his parents were children and their families moved to neighboring Poland.

When we had been married for a couple years my mother-in-law, Stefania, came to stay with us for a few months.  On the one hand, she and I had communication problems because her English was not always good and my Polish was much worse.  On the other hand I learned Eastern European women are such good housekeepers you can eat a meal off the corner of your kitchen floor with no fear of contamination. 

My husband and I drove very used cars that always seemed to be breaking.  Stefania and I were having trouble with the car when I made a comment to the effect of the cars always being problems.  Stefania said that’s what her father told her.  I knew her father died in Lithuania when she was little.  I was surprised they had cars in Lithuania in the 1930s.  “Your father had a car?”  She told me her father had many cars, probably seven.  Seven cars in Lithuania in the 1930s, I asked what her father did to have so many cars.

Stefania explained her grandfather was a judge, a very important judge.  Her father was a lawyer.  When the Russians invaded her country they rounded up all the important people, took them outside the city and shot them.  Someone told her mother what happened.  Her mother got together all the valuables they could carry and she took herself and her two children to Poland.  The family also had a large amount of land, which the Soviets confiscated. 

Shakespeare did not write the line about first killing the lawyers as a joke, suggesting their death would lead to a better world.  The line was stated by a character who wanted to kill the lawyers so he might more easily place a man on the throne who wanted, but had no right to be, king.  The character hoped that by killing the lawyers there would be no one to defend the law.  When I hear that Shakespeare line, stated as though it is a joke, I see Stefania, who lost her grandfather, father, home and country, in one fell swoop so local lawyers would not be present to fight for their countrymen in Stalin’s Lithuania. 

My father-in-law’s family also fled Lithuania for Poland, but they suffered no loss of life, no lawyers in that family.