did the company have a name? was the suit filed in any particular court in any particular state?
Odd how super-librarian powers dont extend to providing a single verifiable detail to prove this really happened.
on further reading:
I think I’ll come out OK since the aircraft is valued at more than a quarter of a million dollars and it is chained to the ground until after the sheriff’s sale.
fakety fake fake fake fake.
why does that line make you say it's fake?
because you can't imagine a parking meter big enough to chain it to? :)
Details, please. If it's all gone through the court process, then it's all on the public record as findings of fact by the court. There's nothing preventing a release of any of that information by which someone could verify the details in this tall tale account.
Link here to prices for various Cessna 340's. $250K value could very well be accurate.
My only red flag is that the first fax happened in early August, and assets have already been seized. In my experience, justice is not that swift.
why does that line make you say it's fake?
a)if property is impounded, it's seized, ie taken away
b) I seriously doubt a jet that valuable would be taken for such a small settlement- why not take the car instead?
c)those jets are very expensive to own- anyone who could own one would easily have enough cash to pay this suit off- even the very rich tend to lease them though. We're supposed to believe this guy owns a jet outright but has no cash whatsoever?
d)"chained to the ground" - chained to what exactly? how big a chain? come the fuck on.
also:
I asked that they seize a Cessna 340, a Lexus, and cash assets of the defendant.
never mind that this sherriff in this mythical state seizes things based on personal request- all that to pay off under $17,000?
First fax, August 7th (a Sunday). Assuming she filed and served that same day, the defendant would have (here at least) 20 days to file their response. That brings us to August 27th, first business day after the weekend would be Monday the 29th.
On the 30th, the librarian could go and try setting up a court date. Serving the Notice of Motion, then serving the fixed Court date, running the trial, serving the Judgement Debtor Examination... Assuming at least five days' notice for each, even if the court can fit you in at YOUR earliest convenience, you're looking at late September, early October. Then you'd need to get the Sherriff out, and he's a busy man.
So it IS possible for things to go along at that pace, but that's assuming an incredible alignment of the stars. I doubt it.
And now the entry has been removed in light of a settlement agreement ...
via mefi:
LexisNexis misspelling + webpage disappears on the same day of posting with an excuse of a "gag order" over a supposed settlement + library fax machine/personal lawsuit discrepancy = HOAX.
I now vote for HOAX.
posted by ericb at 2:39 PM PST on October 14
You're all just jealous of my new cessna.
Am I missing something? The story doesn't seem to be there anymore.
While I can't even read the article anymore, some of your objections do seem unreasonably nitpicky, Jimmy.
a) This is a plane we're talking about. Moving it would require hiring a pilot to fly it to another airport, assuming there's even one in the area. It seems quite reasonable that the sheriff would simply lock it to the ground where it is. I would suspect airports do such things all the time when there are delinquent airport fees.
b) perhaps the car was not readily available, or it's location unknown? Was there even a car worth $17k listed amongst available assets (keeping in mind auction value is much lower than normal value)?
People get stuffed seized for debt and sold at auction all the time that has true value much greater than the debts. The debtor takes what they can get, but that's also why there are laws limiting how much the debtor can profit from the auction.
c) The Cessna 340 appears to be a small aging dual prop plane. Expensive to buy (but not as planes go), not really that expensive to own. Especially if you're not flying it because you don't have the liquid cash this month.
You're assuming the person would act in a rational manner with regards to their debts. People don't generally tend to act in a rational manner in regards to money, and this is a junk faxer we're talking about.
d) And how exactly would you secure a plane?
Planes commonly have external hoist attachment points that link to the frame. Run a heavy chain through one of those, with a good lock and a heavy weight, and that plane isn't going anywhere. It's better than a hanger even, because most hangers aren't single plane, they're shared, so it isn't convenient to keep the hanger locked all the time.
This whole thing might be BS, but are you having a bad day Doctor? These objections really seem grumpy.
Cheer up. It's Friday.
You think the guy would mention something like this on his blog. Nothing there, I smell a rat.
I'm a little confused, what just happened? Someone please explain
The thing got taken down due to an alleged "settlement."
I am not grumpy, just bored at work. I will admit I have no idea how they go about impounding a plane.
The more relevant objection (raised by our friends at Mefi) is, "why is he personally filing a lawsuit based on faxes sent to his employer's (the local government, we presume) fax?"
and oh and I also enjoy picking on right-wing douchebags who write shit like this on their blog:
Here is an open letter to New Orleans :
You suck and I’ll never set foot in Louisiana again.
"chained to the ground" - chained to what exactly?
i'm guessing they would just be using regular light aircraft tiedowns, like these. i have no idea if dude's story is real or whatever, though. (die bloggers die!)
on preview: ah.
I would think the owner has to pay an airport to rent a space for the plane (assuming he doesnt own his own airport) So if he couldnt pay the bills anymore, I assume he would be "evicted."
If not, I would think the authorities could inform the airport the plane was grounded and not to let it take off. The "chaining down" just seemed a bit melodramatic and, well, fake to me, but again I really have no knowledge of the subject.
But I think the blog proves my instincts were right- that the image of the heroic crusader against junk faxes who gives the money to the poor kids with leukemia because gosh darn it he really cares was a little too good to be true.
Here's a copy of the original post for those of you who missed it.
from a link in the MeFi thread
Others [planes] have keypad security systems in the cockpit that shut down the engine when the wrong code is entered.
Man, hate to forget the code at 20,000 feet.
Yeah, I know it's not for in-flight.
To clear up some of the questions asked by readers skeptical of the claims involved. The faxes apparently caim to the librarian's personal number. He just used his librarian google-fu powers to find the sumbitch and put the clamps on.
Small claims court works faster than any other litigation, provided you have all of the documentation. Personal experience say it is damned hard to get someone served if they don't wanna be, and trebly hard if the defendant is out of state.
So, while I still think that this situation smells mackerel-strong-fake, I don't think that the objections based on how fast this transpired or that the librarian works for a public entity are the basis for the foul smell.
The gag order on a small claims proceeding smells like Charlie the Tuna. Seizing the plane for multiple $500 judgments also wafts sushi (although combining all of the cases for one settlement may have tipped the balalnce on that one).
But I think the blog proves my instincts were right- that the image of the heroic crusader against junk faxes who gives the money to the poor kids with leukemia because gosh darn it he really cares was a little too good to be true.
I couldn't navigate this site well enough to see any of that. But, it doesn't sound that far-fetched that some people are just philanthropic--especially people that take on meek (non-confrontational) careers. My friend's father died of leukemia, he donates money without having to be awarded it. I donated one of my old cars to the liver disease research people. My brother is trying to take a sabbatical next year to work with doctors without borders or some other foreign aid company (imagine the money he'll have to spend just to get there). I can go on. I don't want to assume here, but you seem to be projecting a lot about yourself in that statement, a la Hegel.
As for everyone elses skepticism: holy shit.
I am receiving enourmous amounts of junk faxes because I have a personal line that belonged (over 3 months before we got it) to a very large domestic auto company distribution branch. We have even been recieving calls from within the company in addition to these junk faxes! You'd think that someone would have sent out a memo to the dealers within the minimum three months that the line was down, no? It's really getting frustrating to come home to an answering machine filled with beeps (because some days they happen one after another, once even five times in a row).
Anyway, if anyone can tell me where to navigate to the pages where he discusses how he tracked down the faxers please teach a monkey to fish...
We recently switched to caller ID but some of the bloody numbers are blocked!
tall taleaccount.