Click here to download PDF of the Court’s opinion

Among other things, it confirms the lower Court’s “findings of fact,” namely:

• I victimized hundreds of sellers of real estate and stripped them of their equity when I purchased their properties.
• I victimized dozens of families when I saved them from losing their homes in a foreclosure rescue scheme.

Banned for Life in Washington

It also confirms the lower Court’s decision to enjoin me from certain real estate activities, namely:

• I am permanently banned from transacting with owners in any type of foreclosure.
• I am permanently banned from transacting with former owners to recover overages from properties sold at tax sales.

Make No Mistake About it

Although there will be no more appeals and I have to live with this ruling, it in no way diminishes the real facts, namely:

• Everyone with whom I transacted was paid in full, as agreed.
• Everyone I rescued from foreclosure is in their home today and likely has as much if not more equity than ever.
• A million dollars has been spent on a consumer protection case having exactly zero consumer complaints.

Escheating Tax Sale Overages

This was never about a foreclosure scam and I have no victims. Not one.

It is about RCW 84.64.080, escheating tax sale overages, and Washington counties upset we dared set foot on their turf.

I think the law says overage funds belong to former owners of tax foreclosed properties (the owner at the time of the sale), and in May of 2009, the Appellate Court of Washington, Division II, agreed.

We’re both wrong.

Turns out what RCW 84.64.080 really says, at least according to Washington County Treasurers, is until someone actually applies (and even after, in more cases the you can imagine)… those tax sale overages belong to them (and don’t you dare forget it).

Who’s Escheating Who?

The State refuses to say what prompted their investigation… and we know it wasn’t a consumer complaint.

That leaves only the counties and in all likelihood, Pierce County Deputy Prosecutor Robert Dick.

You can be sure the State knows that admitting their investigation was done at the behest of Washington counties confirms what I’ve been saying all along…

It’s a turf war.

And were it not for the fact that unclaimed tax sale overages eventually escheat to Washington counties, the case of The State of Washington vs. Joseph M. Kaiser never happens.

To My Friends…

Thank you for your support throughout this ordeal.

Battling the State of Washington and it’s Consumer Protection crazies has been tougher than I ever imagined, and the emails and phone calls were and will always be appreciated.

May you never travel this path…

Joe Kaiser

To say that I was nervous doesn’t begin to describe it, and you can be sure I spent the next weekend thinking, “if only I had said . . . ”

But, it’s done and I feel good about the appeal, my performance not withstanding.

And now we wait for the ruling, which in all likelihood comes in the next six to nine months.

Joe

The oral argument portion of the appeal in The State of Washington v. Kaiser, et al, has been scheduled for September 9th, 2010.

It’s a 10 minute per side hearing, so there’s not a lot that can be argued in that time. Still, I’m looking forward to the chance to participate and perhaps make a salient point or two along the way.

Have to admit . . . it’s been a long and difficult road and will be glad to get this part done.

Assuming it would be the same nonsense as always (with the State desperately trying to twist and distort the facts to make a case where they themselves know none exists), I never bothered to look at it . . . at first.

And sure enough, I was right.

In turn, we filed our “Reply Brief,” which addressed the foolishness in their rebuttal.

For anyone so interested, attached here is the Reply Brief.

What’s next?

We anticipate an oral argument hearing sometime in the summer. It’s a simple affair with each side having 10 or 20 minutes to explain their position and perhaps answer questions posed by the three-person court.

And then, we wait.

The last appeal where the court determined we were 100% right about the ownership of the tax sale overages, (with the State being 100% wrong, btw) took another five or six months from the hearing date to learn of their decision.

That puts us into the end of the 2010 or even the beginning of 2011 until results of the appeal are known. And, if successful, we get to go right back into court and do it all over again.

That’s the hope, at least.

My attorney, David Corbett, filed our appeal today.

He did a wonderful job drafting the brief and I am delighted to have found a really great attorney to help me from here on out.

Here’s the brief: (1) Opening Brief, (2) Appendix to Brief

Fascinating stuff, for sure.

In the arena,

Joe Kaiser