The tip for title insurers is to stop insuring title for Oakland County real estate that has a sheriff deed signed between April 1, 2009-December 31, 2012. Why? Because Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard rigged a contract to go to some of his friends who also happened to be deputies at the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office. This violated Michigan law regarding employee conflict of interest and federal law regarding conspiracy and perjury before a federal judge. The evidence was part of an Oakland County Circuit Court case, New Jerusalem Deliverance Church v. Evangelical Christian Credit Union, case number 11-119411-CH, Judge Daniel Patrick O’Brien presiding. The case is currently on appeal, COA case number 309571.
In summary, New Jerusalem is arguing that the sheriff deed foreclosing upon its Pontiac church building is invalid because the sheriff deed was signed by a special deputy who was not properly appointed by the sheriff.
• The special deputy who signed their sheriff deed was Thomas Rabette, an attorney. Prior to 2009, Rabette served as a marine special deputy.
• In early January 2009, Rabette was the attorney who filed the articles of incorporation for American Process Service, Inc., (APS). John Roehrig was the incorporator, but Rabette’s wife, Judith Boaks, a CPA, was the registered agent for APS.
• Later in January 2009, the contract for civil processing for the sheriff’s office went up for bid. The new company, APS, won the bid.
• Sheriff Bouchard and the chairman of the Oakland County Board of Commissioners in April 2009, Bill Bullard, signed the contract. Usually, for a chairperson to sign a contract on behalf of the entire group of elected officials, the group must vote on the contract. New Jerusalem argued that Michigan’s conflict of interest laws required that the elected officials approve the contract via a 2/3 vote recorded in the minutes of a noticed public meeting. Nowhere in the 2009 minutes of the Oakland County Board of Commissioners is recorded a vote on the civil process servicing contract.
• In 2010, APS submitted an annual report that lists Rabette as the registered agent. In addition to John Roehrig, the annual report also lists Rabette and another Oakland County Sheriff’s Office deputy, Roger St. Jean, as officers of APS.
• Thomas Rabette, his wife Judith Boaks, Roger St. Jean and his wife Linda, and John Roehrig each contributed the statutory maximum to Bouchard’s failed gubernatorial campaign. New Jerusalem argued that these campaign contributions served as pay-to-play for Bouchard rigging the civil process service contract to APS. In total, APS officers contributed $17,000 to Mike Bouchard’s 2010 campaign to become the governor of Michigan.
• New Jerusalem therefore argued before Judge O’Brien and on appeal that, not only did Bouchard and Bullard misappropriate millions in taxpayers’ funds, but that the sheriff deed is invalid because Oakland County’s civil process servicing contract with APS is null and void. By implication, all the Oakland County foreclosure sales since 2009 are invalid if APS employees conducted the sheriff sale.
• New Jerusalem accused Thomas Rabette of committing perjury before federal judge Robert H. Cleland in an affidavit submitted in New Jerusalem’s predecessor federal case, case #10-cv-12566. In Rabette’s affidavit, he said that he was never contemporaneously employed by both the sheriff’s office and American Process Service. Rabette’s affidavit contradicts Bouchard’s April 1, 2009 appointments in which Rabette was appointed both a reserve special deputy employed by the sheriff’s office and a civil process service special deputy employed by American Process Service.
Of course, I wouldn’t expect title insurers to deny insurance coverage for an entire county’s foreclosed properties without proof of the cloud in the chain of titles. Moreover, if title insurers incur any losses due to clouds on title from invalid sheriff deeds, title insurers would need evidence to recover their losses from Rabette’s bond and insurance.
For a copy of the evidence that is or has been before the courts, title insurers can use the case numbers provided above in order to download the documents from the courts. Be advised that the courts charge for copies of their documents. The most complete set of evidence could be found in the Oakland County Circuit Court case. The link to its website is http://www.oakgov.com/clerkrod/pages/courtexplorer.aspx . However, Oakland County charges $1.00 per page for court documents. There are over 300 pages of documents, thus title insurers could pay more than $300 to Oakland County for copies of the documents. Alternatively, New Jerusalem’s attorney, Arthur C. Kirkland Jr., can provide a digital copy from his work product for $200. To purchase a copy, please click on the button below.
Title Insurers’ Ebook of Bouchard’s Corruption
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