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tobebe88 · May 31, 2013, 04:10 PM

When selling a house in PA my name was forged on the closing documents by the lawyer who was handling the sale. I did not sign a POA. What can I do about it?
I do not want the house but I would like some kind of restitution.

joypulv · May 31, 2013, 04:28 PM

It is so common for lawyers to sign the names of parties who do not attend closings that I just don't see what possible 'restitution' you would be entitled to. In fact I would guess that it is writing somewhere that your lawyer represents you and that includes some signatures, but even if not, if you didn't show up or it was agreed that you wouldn't be there, any judge will throw you out of court for wasting the court's time.

Are you searching for freebies or do you have a real complaint about the lawyer?

ScottGem · May 31, 2013, 04:49 PM

Did you not get your share of the proceeds of the sale? You have to charge him for forgery.

tobebe88 · May 31, 2013, 04:50 PM

Where did you get your law degree? First of all I signed nothing that gave permission for anyone to sign my name. Second of all I was not informed of a closing time or place. If this is OK, why did the district attorney's office tell me to contact the bar association? My problem is with lawyers that think they are above the law.

tobebe88 · May 31, 2013, 04:53 PM

Originally Posted by ScottGem

Did you not get your share of the proceeds of the sale? You have to charge him for forgery.

Not all, they took it upon themselves to withhold part of it. I did not authorize this.

joypulv · May 31, 2013, 04:59 PM

The DA's office doesn't even want to hear about it. And what did the bar association say? Can't wait to hear.

I once had a very fine upstanding lawyer tell me to forge-endorse a bank check for 60,000 because I had had the names of the people I was buying from put on it instead of hers, to go in escrow. That saved me hours of work having it redone. I agree that's not quite the same, but it's the same in the respect of saving time and no one is damaged.
There's one lawyer who is often here, but not at the moment.
There are other nothing but legal sites.

Withhold part of it for anything more than the settlement difference and fees?

ebaines · May 31, 2013, 05:12 PM

Tobebe88: the question is - what financial harm or injury have you suffered? For example did the lawyer abscond with your funds? If you can't demonstrate some sort of loss there is nothing to sue over.

tobebe88 · May 31, 2013, 05:23 PM

Originally Posted by joypulv

The DA's office doesn't even want to hear about it. And what did the bar association say? Can't wait to hear.

I once had a very fine upstanding lawyer tell me to forge-endorse a bank check for 60,000 because I had had the names of the people I was buying from put on it instead of hers, to go in escrow. That saved me hours of work having it redone. I agree that's not quite the same, but it's the same in the respect of saving time and no one is damaged.
There's one lawyer who is often here, but not at the moment.
There are other nothing but legal sites.

Withhold part of it for anything more than the settlement difference and fees?

The DA's office did not say they didn't want to hear about it. They referred me to the bar because it is an issue with a lawyer and I have not contacted them yet.

The fact that your lawyer told you to do an illegal act tells me that he/she is also one that thinks they are above the law. So what you say has no merit. Yes other amounts were withheld.

Please do not respond as I will no longer acknowledge your posts because you are biased.

ScottGem · May 31, 2013, 05:45 PM

Originally Posted by tobebe88

Please do not respond as I will no longer acknowledge your posts because you are biased.

First, please do not presume to dictate who can respond to your posts. You are free to ignore any response you don't like.

Second, you give us very few details so we have to guess a lot about the situation.

Forgery is a criminal act. If the DA referred you to the Bar association it is likely because they believe no criminal act occurred.

So lets get some more details so we can try to give you accurate advice.

1) who owned the property? You and who else?
2) how much was the property sold for, what was the proceeds of the sale?
3) how much was distributed to the owners?
4) were you aware the property was up for sale?
5) did any owner of the property hire this attorney to handle the closing?

I don't know of many lawyers that think they are above the law, but I do know of many layman who don't understand the law enough to be sure an illegal act occurred.

LisaB4657 · May 31, 2013, 06:00 PM

It is never permissible for an attorney to sign the name of their client. An attorney may sign their own name "on behalf of" their client but only if their client has specifically instructed them to do so. If an attorney has signed someone else's name, especially without permission, then it is forgery.

To the OP: you should contact the Bar Association immediately and open a claim against the attorney who signed your name. Because there is an attorney/client relationship the DA will most likely not begin criminal proceedings until after the Bar Association has investigated.

As for restitution, you would be entitled to an damages that you suffered as a result of the unauthorized signing. If the attorney permitted money to be withheld at closing without your approval then you may be entitled to reimbursement for that amount. From the information you've provided here I don't see any other damages for which you would be entitled to be reimbursed.

tobebe88 · May 31, 2013, 06:21 PM

ScottGem:
First: I am not dictating who can reply I am informing them of my future actions. Who do you think you are telling me what to do!
Second: All it takes is asking if not clear on something.
If the DA didn't think anything was wrong they would have said so as they asked if I had signed a POA.
And now I will do as you wish and ignore you.

LisaB4657, Thank you for your logical reply.

ScottGem · May 31, 2013, 06:33 PM

Originally Posted by tobebe88

ScottGem:
First: I am not dictating who can reply I am informing them of my future actions. Who do you think you are telling me what to do!
Second: All it takes is asking if not clear on something.
If the DA didn't think anything was wrong they would have said so as they asked if I had signed a POA.
And now I will do as you wish and ignore you.

LisaB4657, Thank you for your logical reply.

One, I am a moderator of this site.

Two, That's what I just did, asked you to supply more details so we can help better.

Three. I didn't say the DA didn't think anything was wrong, I said he may not have felt there was criminal action and the DA's office can only act on criminal actions.

While I don't disagree with Lisa's response, I believe there is a lot of information missing here to give definitive advice. But I'm not surprised you think it logical over the other (similar) advice you have received because its what you want to hear.