The Road to Hell is Paved With Good Intent

Arguably the most important part of the process of reviewing the public record is determining the intent of the person who drafted each document; in most cases - as below - that intent is pretty clear, but spelling errors and misuse of language can have serious consequences. I will admit to being pedantic about spelling and use of grammar (for reference see most other posts on this website), and in some situations - again, as below - I wish that more people felt the same.

Coming to Muskegon

I thought he lived in Queens!

Every Document Tells A Story

Foreclosure is almost always a messy business, and sometimes things don't go quite as planned. To wit:

Above is an affadavit by Provident Bank, the bank which foreclosed on a piece of property described in Paragraph 2.

Paragraph 3 explains that the property was foreclosed upon, and that due to inaction of the borrowers, Provident became owner of the property.

Paragraph 4 shows that there was a mobile home permanently affixed to the property (this generally means the axles are removed and it is set into a foundation).

Paragraph 5 explains that Provident sold the property.

Paragraph 6 states that another bank, Apex Financial, had a loan against the mobile home, and suggests that Apex then repossessed the home - whether this means they kicked everyone out and nailed the door shut or physically ripped it from the foundation, I'm not altogether certain (though, for purposes of the story here, we'll assume that they dragged that thing straight outta the concrete).

Then the best part (7 through 9)- Provident Bank bought the mobile home and abandoned it.

Does this mean that at the end of the story, there was half a mobile home and a half-ton of mobile home parts layin' around somewhere? That part of the story's not in here, but I think it's not a bad ending.

It's Worth Hiring A Typist

I don't have time to go through the punctuation on this one - but the second sentence of the first paragraph mentions that the property is more fully described in another recorded document. Hopefully that scrivener did a better job.



A scrivener, also known as a scribe, is shorthand today for a person who drafts documents. In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke the word "scribe" is used interchangeably with "lawyer"; historically, it was a position that held great authority, in civil and military arenas. One still-active society of such capable notaries is the Scrivener's Company in London, which dates from the fourteenth century.

Apparently it's not as big a deal these days.

A Baby Names Book I Haven't Seen

Not Bloody Likely

Sorry for the extended hiatus - looks like the frequency of updates here may have some correlation to the amount of work I have to get done.

Anyway, this document inspired me in the middle of a stressful day.

Grown-up Jokes