Author Archives: jeshuatlauka

I have a few business clients who are out of state corporations. They have never set foot in Grand Rapids, Michigan. However, thanks to technology so much of business can now be done virtually. There isn’t much that can’t be done with a computer, internet and phone. The same can obviously be said with yourContinue reading “Business Owners: Pitfalls of Doing Business over State Lines”

A couple of Michigan real estate law updates:   But first, a Pennsylvania proposed law would ban municipalities from penalizing tenants or their landlords when residents make legitimate 911 calls. See the ABAJournal for more details. Apparently this law is in response to a local ordinance that authorized police to force tenants out of their apartments after threeContinue reading “Real Estate Law Update: Crime Victims Could Sue Local Govt. for Evicting Them?”

I recently posted a guest blog article on Grand Rapids Area Professionals For Excellence about contract pitfalls that small business owners can run into. You can check it out by clicking here       I’d be happy to hear – have you ever found yourself signing a contract without reading it, and then laterContinue reading “Lesson for Small Business Owners: It Pays to Carefully Review Your Contracts”

I had a client talk with me about a real estate matter he had been dealing with. He entered into a purchase agreement to sell some real estate he owned. The buyer couldn’t  obtain financing within the time period spelled out in the purchase agreement, and so, my client decided not to give him anyContinue reading “Real Estate Law: What Does it Mean to Slander Someone’s Title?”

I recently found myself in an all day mediation. I was sitting in a conference room for 8 hours straight. Next to me was seated my client, across the table from me was seated my client’s brother and his lawyers.   The years of animosity between the siblings was obviously apparent to all in theContinue reading “Lessons in Estate Litigation: The Role of Mediation”

Happy New Years Eve!     The Department of Justice announced today that a Real Estate Investor pleaded guilty to 11 counts of fraud related to bid rigging at public real estate foreclosure auctions. You can see the press release here   The Crime   According to the press release, A private investor, Joachim, conspiredContinue reading “California Real Estate Investor Pleads Guilty to Bid Rigging and Fraud at Public Real Estate Foreclosure Auctions”

The latest  news from the Office of Comptroller of Currency (OCC)… If you aren’t familiar with the OCC, check out the website Pursuant to the OCC’s mission statement on its website, “The OCC’s primary mission is to charter, regulate, and supervise all national banks and federal savings associations.” [The OCC’s] goal in supervising banks and federalContinue reading “$3 Million Penalty Assessed Against American Express Bank by OCC For Unfair Billing and Deceptive Marketing Practices”

I was in Circuit Court this morning in Ottawa County, Michigan. I was there to make legal arguments in a real estate lawsuit.   During the hearing, I found myself engrossed in making notes, mentally responding to the legal arguments that were being made by opposing counsel, and at the end of his oral argumentContinue reading “Lesson from Court: The Sobering Reality of Injustice.”

So I received a nice check in the mail a few weeks back addressed to my law firm for approximately $1 Million.   It was related to a “request” from a foreign company (very far away, too far away to meet in person) to retain me as counsel in a business transaction in Michigan.  Continue reading “Estate planning lawyer gets 6 years in $46 million scheme preying on terminally ill???”

These past few weeks I have been inundated with depositions in several real estate lawsuits.   Whenever I prepare my clients for depositions I always emphasize the overarching rule when being deposed:   tell the truth.   There can be serious consequences for giving false statements under oath.   Under Michigan Law, MCL § 750.423 perjury isContinue reading “Under Penalty of Perjury: Former Real Estate Chief Pleads Guilty to Perjury”