Letter to The Editor: Arizona County Colludes with Bank to Take Family’s Home

By Morgan Langan, Cornville Resident
(February 1, 2018)

Arizona is a non-judicial foreclosure state as are 31 other states. This means that a judge will never question paperwork submitted by a bank, the result is that your family home can be taken by a bank even if the banks’ documents are fraudulent.

In Yavapai County Arizona, the County officials actually assisted a bank in the foreclosure of one family’s home. Morgan Langan and his family purchased a home and the adjacent land in Cornville Arizona in 2007. In 2014, Langan combined the parcels as one parcel following directions from County Development Services Department simultaneously requesting the balances from the bank to payoff existing loans. A new deed was filed including a resurvey by a local engineering firm.

The local branch of National Bank of Arizona (NBAZ) that purportedly financed both properties provided varying payoff balances with multiple account numbers from different banking entities. When he asked his local banker of 7 years to explain the discrepancies she directed him to contact the banks’ corporate offices. The bank never responded to his questions. Instead a company named Cenlar FSB responded on the home loan stating they were not aware who funded the loan. There has never been a response to this day regarding his land loan or an explanation of why both NBAZ and a bank he had never heard of, California Bank and Trust were both seeking payment, the balances due were different as were the account numbers.

After months of asking, Langan informed the bank he was placing payments into an escrow account until they answered his questions, time was of the essence. Rather than answer, the bank initiated non-judicial foreclosure action on his land. Langan ultimately purchased the land at a trustee sale on 8/21/15 and instructed the bank how to vest title. Here is where the County collusion began: The bank’s trustee fraudulently filed a deed that failed to follow Langan’s vesting instructions; when Langan went to the County to correct the title, they refused. At the time, the title department had been removed by the Yavapai Board of Supervisors from the assessor’s office. Ballard Spahr LLP represented the assessor during this dispute in which Attorney General Brnovich issued an opinion that the removal was unlawful. The County has never corrected the error, Langan is self-represented and the County attorneys will not talk to him nor will anyone from the Board. Ballard Spahr LLP a major “white shoes” national firm also represents the bank against Langan.

3 years of legal nightmares have ensued for Langan and his family. They have been sued 3 times by the bank, Langan has appealed and been denied relief at every level of the state court system, 4 times in the Arizona Supreme Court with 3 appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court.

On 8/3/16, nine Sheriff Deputies in 6 County vehicles broke Langan’s gate and removed Langan and his family at gunpoint from their home. On 5/8/17, LT. David Williams pointed an assault rifle at Langan when he blocked access through his gate. There were at least three vehicles and 3 officers present; they were flashing lights and used sirens and a blow horn to call Langan to the gate. Afterwards they said they were just there to deliver paperwork to conduct another Sheriff’s sale on the land. On 1/19/18 Langan was forced to pay $172, 587.05 including 16% interest to prevent the land from being transferred to a third party, he had paid $220,001.00 for the same land at the first sale in 2015. At this writing, 11 days after the sale, the Sheriff has refused to provide a title. Langan has never been abusive or threatening to any County official.

No judge has ever reviewed the bank’s non-judicial foreclosure paperwork, which has been independently documented to be fraudulent by Palmer Investigative Services out of Prescott. No judge has ever questioned the bank’s authority to title the land contrary to Langan’s intentions when he purchased it in 2015.

Of course there is a much deeper story going on. You see Langan and a team of voracious and patriotic researchers have discovered through this process a solution to why the entire foreclosure scandal has been allowed to perpetuate. Since the “financial crisis” began over a decade ago it is estimated that 17 ½ million American families have been removed from their homes by banks. The banks that created the crisis are able to do so without a single banker ever going to jail because they have successfully lobbied congress to change federal laws providing them immunity. In Arizona and 31 other states they have lobbied to change State law so that the above actions are considered “legal”. Even President Obama stated in a 60- Minute interview “Some of the most unethical behavior on Wall Street was not illegal.” The Constitution disagrees; the fifth and fourteenth amendments guarantee, “no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law”. Langan and at least 60% of the American families suffering the humiliation of loosing their home, most during some family emergency, have not received due process. The banks and the legal system are desperate to prevent Langan’s solution from being shared with the public. This is where you come in… we need your help to get this initial message published. All is said under oath. Thank you for your consideration.