When giants step on little people, do they suffer the same consequences as the Lilliputians?

The answer is most often a jolly green belly laugh. Ho, ho, ho. Of course not.

Advertisement
 
It's not news. The mighty don't get hit like the meek, not in this life. If the playing fields were always level, then power would be of no particular use.

But that's what civil litigation is all about, leveling the playing fields before a fair judge and jury.

How should a giant suffer?

That's a question sure to be considered in an intriguing civil case playing out in District Court pitting ordinary citizens Gerald and Katrina Thitchener against behemoth Countrywide Home Loans Inc.

A while back, I brought you the story of how the Thitcheners had lost their condominium at 2981 Country Manor Lane, No. 118 after Countrywide mistakenly foreclosed on it and later sold it after what must have been for the elephantine corporation a minor mix-up. The foreclosure was supposed to take place on unit No. 10.

The Thitcheners allege in court papers they not only lost their home, but belongings and irreplaceable family photos.

A little background: Gerald Thitchener was a serviceman stationed at Nellis Air Force Base before being honorably discharged in April 2001. A short time later, he joined the Air National Guard in Tucson.

When the war in Iraq heated up, the Tucson unit was called up for active duty, and Gerald was deployed there with Katrina and the family following him.

Although they were in financial hardship and had missed some payments on their condominium unit -- no one in the armed services except the defense contractors makes any money -- the residence was not in foreclosure. The Thitcheners later declared bankruptcy but still managed to hang onto the unit and pay the electric bill.

Countrywide admits it knew the Thitcheners had declared bankruptcy, and a court filing reveals the mega-company was aware of the serviceman's military obligations.

It even carefully admits in a document by its attorneys Cam Ferenbach and Meredith Stow of Lionel Sawyer Collins that it was at least partly responsible for the mistake, which also involved a real estate agent.

However the responsibility is parsed, in the end it's Countrywide's mistake. The company took away someone's home and at least some of the family's belongings. In fact, one of the peripheral players in the case admitted that "he was doing what he was told by Countrywide."

Just what is Countrywide?

So why carry on so elaborately in a case in which it's already stipulated to be screwing up? Because it can afford to, that's why.

But once a plaintiff has survived the discovery process and gotten to trial, the parties are supposed to have equal voices. Terry Moore and Terry Coffing, attorneys for the Thitcheners from the Marquis & Aurbach firm, are there to see that it happens.

They contend in court documents that Countrywide's inaccuracy and arrogance is worth more than the relatively paltry dollar amount associated with the Thitcheners' home and property.

It will be interesting to see how Countrywide's attorneys fend off such problematic facts as the assistant manager of the condo project admitting, "I have never been in one that was repossessed that still had the power on unless it had been turned on by the repossessing entity."

Many questions of fact remain in dispute, but I have one for the court of public opinion:

What do you suppose would happen to you if you inappropriately seized someone's home, contacted a Realtor, had it sold and pocketed the profit?

After you made bail, I mean.

Mere citizens would face the crushing weight of the law.

Let's see how well a giant does.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.