Nationwide Title – the Hypocrisy is overwhelming
Nationwide Title Clearing is making headlines. First, it obtained an injunction against fellow foreclosure defense attorney Christopher Forest, requiring him to remove video depositions of three of its employees from youtube. Why, exactly? Well, from what I can tell, NTC doesn’t want the public to be able to see video depositions of its employees, who apparently testified that they executed hundreds of foreclosure-related documents without reading them and without knowing their contents. How does that give rise to a right to injunctive relief? Honestly, it beats the heck out of me. My best guess, from what I’ve read in the media, is that the employees who testified in these depositions had their personal lives disrupted because of the high level of public outrage at the content of the depositions.
Meanwhile, NTC has sued my friend and foreclosure defense lawyer Matt Weidner for libel, asserting he damaged its business reputation by blogging that NTC employees are “robo-signers” that “manufacture evidence” to facilitate foreclosures.
Am I crazy, or does anyone else see the hypocrisy here? Think about it.
On the one hand, NTC wants to sue Matt Weidner for damaging its business reputation by using terms like “robo-signer.” In doing so, NTC wants to take the position that everything is on the “up and up” with how it does business (and it was “defamed” by Matt’s suggestions otherwise).
Meanwhile, NTC is fighting vigorously to shield depositions of its employees from the public, pushing for an injunction requiring Christopher Forrest to remove the video depositions from youtube.
As I see it, if everything is on the “up and up” at NTC, as it wants to allege in the suit against Matt, why is it going to such efforts to shield its the public from learning about its operations? In other words, if NTC is being “defamed” by use of the term “robo-signer,” then why is it unwilling to let the public see testimony from its employees about the manner in which they execute documents?
Let’s put it this way. I don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors at Nationwide Title. It seems to me, though, that if everything were up on the “up and up,” as it wants to contend in the suit with Matt, then it wouldn’t be so hesitant to let everyone see and hear what’s going on at NTC from the mouths of its own employees. Show us the depositions. Explain it to us. If you’re an upstanding, reputable company, open your doors and prove it.
Maybe I’m naive. If it were me, though, and somebody was falsely accusing me and/or my company of “manufacturing evidence” or doing something illegal, I’d do whatever I could to prove my innocence. I’d be talkiing to the media, opening my books and records, explaining my company’s operations – doing whatever I could to reveal the truth. I certainly wouldn’t be going to court to try to shield evidence of my conduct.
If you’re reading this, NTC, consider this a challenge. If your employees aren’t “robo-signers,” then terminate the injunction. Heck, give me consent to post the video depositions on this website. Let the public hear your employees testify – let the public be the judge. If everything is on the “up and up,” I’m sure you’ll have nothing to worry about. If you’re not willing to do that, as the injunction suggests, you can’t blame anyone for questioning exactly what’s going on behind closed doors at NTC.
Mark Stopawww.stayinmyhome.com
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