TOP 10 ARIZONA LAWSUIT VERDICTS OF 2008

ASSET PROTECTION UPDATE - TOP ARIZONA LAWSUIT VERDICTS OF 2008

We are continually surprised by the number of successful and educated business people and their advisors that underestimate the exposure they and they clients face just from “walking around rich” or even with just the appearance of wealth. We warn people about these exposures and seek to place barriers between this kind of harm and the assets of those we protect on a daily basis.

Sometimes our advice and experience is well-heeded, sometimes it is not. Don’t take our word for it – here are the facts; see the original story store as published in ARIZONA ATTORNEY, the magazine of the State Bar of Arizona by clicking here.

ARIZONA LAWSUIT AWARD SUMMARY

- True to what we are seeing in the real estate market, a home building company claimed the top verdict of $269 million;
- Once again, each of the top 10 verdicts was more than $5 million. The lowest was for $6Million;
- 9 out of the top 10 were more than $10 million;
- There were 24 verdicts over $1 million;
-Other verdicts resulted from actions for breach of contract, condemnation, product liability and elder abuse.

WHAT DOES THIS TELL US?

- That in almost all cases, the amount of liability insurance carried by the defendant was insufficient to meet the verdict;
- That liability insurance remains and important first line of defense, just the cost of defending one of these suits could be financially devastating;
- That the insurance coverage needed to be supported and further recovery limited by active Asset Protection planning;
- That in several cases it is unlikely that the assets of the corporation involved will be sufficient to pay the judgment, placing owners and officers in harm’s way;
- That all industries are vulnerable, this not “just” about any one group or profession;
- That a lifetime of work and the security and future of any of these defendant businesses and their owners and employees can be destroyed by a single law suit;
- That we are in a time, socially, politically and economically that requires each of us to take proactive responsibility for protecting our wealth, or the wealth of those that we serve as advisors.

IKE DEVJI and JEFF CHRISTENSON featured in WORTH Magazine

SEE THE WORTH FEATURE HERE: http://worth.com/index.php/advice?id=5&view=single

Arizona advisors to the Affluent Jeff Christenson and Ike Devji selected as WORTH Magazine national “Leading Wealth & Legal Advisors”

Phoenix, AZ - JUNE 2009

Jeff Christenson, a Phoenix money manager and President of Christenson Wealth Management and Asset Protection Attorney Ike Devji, Executive V.P. of the Wealthy 100, Of-Counsel with the law firm of Lodmell & Lodmell have been selected by WORTH magazine as part of the Leading Wealth & Legal Advisor Program, a vetted venue for top wealth and legal advisors nationwide. This section is designed to introduce some of the country’s leading wealth advisors and attorneys to Worth readers and provide sound guidance on how to maximize advisor relationships. Christenson and Devji will contribute professional columns for the re-launched magazine which has been designed as the essential guide book for the ultra affluent throughout the year.

“Given what’s happened in the market since October, high net worth families are making tough decisions about their investment and legal advisors and the quality of advice they’re receiving,” said WORTH Publisher Patrick Williams. “Giving investors sound information about leading wealth and legal advisors Like Ike and Jeff will help them make a more informed choice when selecting an advisor or adding to their team.”

Devji, who helps protect billions of dollars for clients internationally and who ran one the largest Asset Protection only law firms in the country, agrees, “We find that our client’s needs are increasingly sophisticated and complex as their net worth grows and their business and personal interests and exposures diversify. We often work together to find and refine solutions for each other’s clients and that’s what makes us unique, the team approach and the best of class bench we have built to serve our clients as needed on an a-la-carte basis. That’s what our clients like about us and that’s what Patrick Williams and WORTH found unique about what we do”. Devji has quietly long been the go-to resource for some of Arizona’s wealthiest residents who are interested in proactively protecting their wealth both domestically and offshore.

WORTH has undergone a complete re-invention in the past few months with an aim to enlighten, inspire and serve a select group of high net worth individuals with an avid interest in the intelligent stewardship of their personal wealth. Featuring a contemporary design and compact format (7.875 inches X 10.5 inches) and printed on paper typically reserved for books, the magazine is geared to be an elegant, practical and portable resource for dynamic CEOs, entrepreneurs and investors.

Christenson and Devji, although in different fields, often work together to meet the varied and sophisticated needs of their high net worth clients both in Arizona and across the United States. “Our clients are leaders in every imaginable industry; medicine, real-estate, executives, professional athletes and entertainers and even others in our own businesses”, said Christenson, a 15 year veteran of the financial services industry. “What they all have in common is that they have spent a great deal of time and effort becoming successful and turn to us help them stay that way”.

The duo look forward to being part of the distinguished WORTH community and continuing the work they are known for and which their clients see as more essential than ever.

Understanding the Arizona Anti-Deficiency Statutes and What they Mean to YOU

Understanding the Arizona Anti-Deficiency Statutes and What they Mean to YOU

We have many questions and conflicting interpretations of the Arizona Anti-Deficiency statutes and what they really mean and do. For clarification I turned to Attorney Neal Bookspan who is a partner at Phoenix law firm Jaburg & Wilk and who handles a variety of business, bankruptcy and litigation issues. A link to Neal’s profile can be found by clicking here: ABOUT ATTORNEY BOOKSPAN and I have included some basic contact info for him below as well.

Neal, thanks for your help on this issue. Here’s what Neal had to share:


Ten Truths Regarding Arizona's Anti-Deficiency Laws
1. Arizona's anti-deficiency statutes only provide protection to borrowers on residential property, not commercial property, industrial property or raw land.

2. The Arizona anti-deficiency statutes are A.R.S. §§ 33-729(A) and 33-814(G). Section 33-729(A) applies to purchase money mortgages (when is the last time anyone saw a "mortgage" document used in Arizona??) and purchase money deeds of trust that are foreclosed judicially. Section 33-814(G) applies to deeds of trust foreclosed through a trustee's sale. Almost all deficiency issues in Arizona arise under § 33-814(G).

3. Under either statute, the threshold question is whether the property at issue is "two and one-half acres or less which is limited to and utilized for either a single one-family or a single two-family dwelling." Under the existing case law the dwelling must be built and at least occasionally occupied.

4. The property may be "occasionally occupied" by the owners or rented to third parties and qualify for anti-deficiency protection.

5. Arizona's anti-deficiency statutes apply to second priority mortgages and deeds of trust if they are purchase money obligations. Non-purchase money mortgages and deeds of trust are not protected by Arizona's anti-deficiency statutes.

6. If a purchase money mortgage or deed of trust subject to Arizona's anti-deficiency law is extended, renewed, refinanced, or worked out, the loan retains its status as purchase money and the borrower remains protected by Arizona's anti-deficiency law.

7. To obtain a deficiency judgment after a trustee sale, an action must be brought within 90 days after the sale. If an action is not brought within this time period, the right to a deficiency is lost pursuant to A.R.S. § 33-814(D).

8. The Arizona anti-deficiency statutes are applied both against and to protect guarantors in the same manner they are applied against and protect borrowers.

9. Lenders may continue or postpone trustee's sales. This may be done an unlimited number of times and the only notice given of the new time and place for the trustee's sale is by public declaration at the time and place of the scheduled trustee's sale.

10. Where a deficiency is permitted, the sale of the underlying property results in a credit against the amount of the judgment in an amount equal to the higher of the fair market value of the property or the sales price obtained at a public sale. If a request is made within 30 days of the foreclosure, a judgment debtor may seek to have the court determine the fair market value of the property.