Houston Chronicle takes the field (Was: Apostasy Continues to Share the Misery) -- Mamusz' Restoration Forum

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Date Posted: 19:47:39 12/18/11 Sun
Author: George
Subject: Houston Chronicle takes the field (Was: Apostasy Continues to Share the Misery)
In reply to: George 's message, "Fox Sticks with the Story Was: Apostasy Continues to Share the Misery" on 18:25:13 12/16/11 Fri

More details of the story have come out today.

According to the Chronicle (Chronicle.com):
(Story title: Praying for a legal mirxcle)

1. A $125,000 sale was recorded in county deed records in 2008.
2. The pastor who was involved in the sale was a man named Rory L. Murphey.
3. The person who bought the property is Aneil Balkisson, president of B. Brothers homes in Forida
4. The Houston law firm Grealish & McZeal handled the paperwork and documentation for the sale and received $50,000 of the proceeds for its services.
5. Murphey admits he signed a warranty deed on the propoerty transferring it to Balkisson's company.
6. Murphey kept the deal a secret.
7. Ken Monzelle White was paid a $6,125 consultant or agent fee on the sale.
9. The document from the church that allegedly authorized the sale was signed by Murphy and another woman who falsely claimed to be the church secretary.
10. The docment from the church was notarized by a televangelist, Gene A. Moore, Sr., who is a Texas notary public. Moore has a reputed history of using church properties as collateral for personal loans.

All this means is that even if a congregation can elect or hire its own pastor, rather than accepting an appointed one from a hierarchy, it can still get taken by a bunch of crooks.

It also means that the system very often doesn't work, as far as providing documentary assurance that people are who they say they are, and that they are legally authorized to do what they say they are authorized to do.

But it shows how hard and expensive it is to get justice in civil court. To straighten out this problem may very well cost more in legal fees than the property was sold for, and any judgment awarded can be escaped by the defendants filing bankruptcy. And all the money that was designated to go to the church from the sale (after everybody else got their cut) was $68,000.

If this is how legal real estate deals work, we are all in trouble. If you sold a $125,000 house, and had to pay $57,000 in fees to do it, you'd have to sell the house for $182,000 just to break even on the deal. And next year the federal government expects to collect a tax off real estate sales, too, so add that to the total.

Peace and justice?

George

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