The Appellant Dawn Prosser appealed from a judgment of the District Court in favor of James Carroll, the Chapter 7 Trustee of the bankruptcy estate of Jeffrey Prosser, Dawn’s husband. Dawn challenged the District Court’s denial of her motion to dismiss, as well as other pleadings. She argued that the court erroneously allowed recovery for transfers of property made more than two years before the bankruptcy petition was filed, and that the Trustee failed to prove the post-petition transfers were out of the ordinary course of business.Continue Reading Motions Screech to a Halt in Attempt to Keep Money from Creditors

In a previous post, I offered tips on how to avoid foreclosure.  Most of those suggestions centered on how a mortgage borrower should talk to the mortgage lender at the onset of financial difficulties.  But what alternatives do borrowers have if they are already in active foreclosure litigation and they don’t qualify for loan modification programs such as the Home Affordable Modification Program (known as HAMP)?  In that case, a borrower’s options narrow considerably, but a few options might remain open.Continue Reading Settling Foreclosure

Curtis V. Gomez, Chief Judge of the District Court of the Virgin Islands, recently heard a motion by the plaintiffs to substitute a party in the matter of Richards v. Marshall.  The action was initiated in 2009. Plaintiffs Barbara Richards and several other tenants ("Tenants") alleged that they sustained various injuries after being exposed to toxic mold allegedly present in a building owned by the defendants, Alfred Marshall and Sydney Katz, doing business as A & S Realty Associates (“A & S Realty”).Continue Reading VI Court Rules on Substitution of Parties to Action

There is an old saying that you can’t fight city hall, but any administrative law attorney will tell you that this is not true.  If a local government agency makes a decision that affects your personal interests, you most certainly can appeal that decision.  But in doing so, appellants must take care that they lodge their appeals with the correct adjudicative body.  Aggrieved parties cannot simply run to court to appeal an administrative decision that did not go their way.  Instead, they must take full advantage of any administrative appeals process that the local government has put into place.  This rule, known as the “administrative exhaustion” doctrine, is a bedrock principle in governing the interaction between government agencies and the court system.Continue Reading The District Court of the Virgin Islands Vindicates the Administrative Exhaustion Doctrine in Challenges to DPNR Land Use Permits

The U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources and the Government of the Virgin Islands brought an action against companies that had owned an alumina refinery and an oil refinery on St. Croix.  Judge Harvey Bartle wrote the opinion in Barnes v. Century Aluminum Company, Slip Copy, 2013 WL 3356421 (D.Virgin Islands June 28, 2013) after considering the motion of Lockheed to exclude the opinion testimony of Dr. Bradley Sample.Continue Reading Eco-Expert OK to Testify on VI Bauxite

In 2009, Rian Watts and David Morrell were interested in buying a furnished home located in Estate Bonne Esperance on St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.  Tanya Blake–Coleman, a licensed real estate broker in the U.S. Virgin Islands, represented the sellers of the property.  Ms. Blake–Coleman was employed by My Dream Properties, Inc., d/b/a Re/Max Dream Properties (“Dream”).  Dream was owned by Rosemary Sauter (“Sauter”), also a licensed real estate broker.Continue Reading Failure to Prosecute: Dream Home Purchase Turns into Litigation Nightmare

Judge Michael C. Dunston, in the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands, Division of St. Thomas and St. John was asked to rule on a bank’s motion to dismiss in a contract dispute arising from the sale of a condominium in Cacciamani and Rover Corporation v. Banco Popular, 2013 WL 3759824 (V.I.Super. July 10, 2013).Continue Reading What is “Unjust Enrichment” in a Breach of Contract Claim

Chief Justice Curtis V. Gomez of the District Court of the Virgin Islands, Division of St. Thomas – St. John was asked to rule on  two motions by pro se plaintiff Richard Wingrove in the matter of Wingrove v. Bank of Nova Scotia, Slip Copy, 2013 WL 3853402 (D.V.I. July 24, 2013). The first was captioned as a “Petition for Injunction Order.”  The second was entitled a “Motion of Information to the Court.”   Richard Wingrove was the titleholder of Parcel No. 1B1–B Remainder Estate Wintberg, located on St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands (the “St. Thomas property”). In October 1999, Wingrove borrowed $30,000 from the Bank of Nova Scotia (the “Bank”). Wingrove later defaulted, and the Bank filed an action against him for debt and foreclosure in the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands.Continue Reading Pro Se Litigant has Hands Full in Property Dispute