Category Archives: Missouri

LegalZoom.com sued in Missouri class action: maybe now we’ll find out what the practice of law really is

Posted on February 21, 2010 by Harry Styron

What do lawyers do? In other words, what is the scope of the lawyer racket?

A suit filed in December 2009 in Cole County Circuit Court in December 2009 may give us some idea of whether LegalZoom’s document-generation service overlaps the practice of law in Missouri. LegalZoom has filed a motion to move the suit into federal court.

LegalZoom.com., Inc. takes information from its customers and uses that information to complete documents, which it sells to those customers. In some ways, it’s a web-based version of the books of forms that have been available in paper form for hundreds of years and in digital form for 30 years or more.

The lawsuit was filed by persons who used LegalZoom for the preparation of a will and organizational documents for a limited liability company. The plaintiffs asked the court to certify that they were representatives of all Missouri residents who have done business with LegalZoom. The plaintiffs and their lawyers want Read the rest of this entry →

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An overview of Ozarks fiction

Posted on January 30, 2010 by Harry Styron

I’ve posted as a page, under the “Diversions” category (see sidebar), a work in progress, which is an overview of Ozarks fiction. My intent is to gradually assemble a fairly detailed compilation of links and impressions about fiction in which the setting of the Ozarks and the people of the Ozarks play significant roles.

I hope readers will comment, point out out omissions and quibble with my choices of authors and titles to mention. As I receive comments and suggestions, I’ll make changes in the body of the text, so that we’ll end up with a wiki-type compiliation.

Don’t be shy about commenting.

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Meth on property doesn’t mean rescission or damages

Posted on January 29, 2010 by Harry Styron

Goldiluxe bought property from Abbott  for $140,000 without seeing it, relying on a property inspector’s report and a real estate agent’s video. The property included land, with a house, a cabin and three mobile homes.

Goldiluxe paid $50,000 down and gave Abbott a note for $90,000. A few months later, the police raided the property and made arrests for meth-related crimes. Goldiluxe’s owner visited the property and found two mobile homes on the property to be junk.  She had the two junk mobile homes removed from the property and moved one new mobile home onto it. Goldiluxe continued collecting rent for another year after the police raid, eventually falling behind on mortgage payments to Abbott.

To stop the foreclosure, Goldiluxe got an injunction, and also asked the court Read the rest of this entry →

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How the Democratic Party lost the Ozarks

Posted on January 9, 2010 by Harry Styron

Matt Meacham’s essay, “Plenty of Hope After All,” is a thoughtful insider’s reaction to a Washington Post’s reporter’s superficial article about West Plains, Missouri. The Washington Post sent Eli Saslow to West Plains, a busy trading center in the south central Ozarks of Missouri.

West Plains attained some temporary notoriety in 2009 because of the appearance of this billboard, Read the rest of this entry →

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It really is all that bad. So what.

Posted on January 6, 2010 by Harry Styron

After posting a long piece about the grim economic outlook on January 3, I’ve had pangs of regret about the tone of it.

While there aren’t many signs of growth, our basic social and economic institutions are still functioning. Though unemployment rates are high, 9o% of the workforce is employed. The vast majority of people are current on their mortgages and credit cards. Businesses, schools, hospitals and churches are still open.

Most businesses that have been around for five years or more will weather the storm. They’ve weathered others.

Dianne Elizabeth Osis, publisher of the Springfield Business Journal, speaking for her staff, wrote Read the rest of this entry →

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Ozarks economic outlook for 2010

Posted on January 3, 2010 by Harry Styron

As with any identifiable region, the Ozarks’ economy is a partly a product of adjacent economies interacting with internal and external forces. A survey of the metro areas that ring the Ozarks may give us a hint about what to expect for the future. The economic engines within the Ozarks also deserve a look. This long essay will yield the conclusion that 2009 will be a year of Read the rest of this entry →

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Posted in Arkansas, economic development, Missouri, Missouri economy, Ozarks, Ozarks economy, real estate development, tourism and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Variance for cell tower pokes a hole in Columbia’s height ordinance

Posted on December 22, 2009 by Harry Styron

Boards of adjustment can grant variances from zoning ordinances. But why should they?

What purpose is served by a government agency playing favorites?

The Missouri court of appeals affirmed the Columbia board of adjustment’s decision to allow Sprint to erect a 95-foot cell tower, disguised as a flagless pole, in a zoning district where structures taller than 41 feet were prohibited.

The court’s decision, The Highlands Homes Association v. Board of Adjustment, dated December 22, 2009, Read the rest of this entry →

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The Constitution still keeps the government at bay, but lets jerks get by

Posted on December 15, 2009 by Harry Styron

Eddie Wade, heading north from Fayetteville, was stopped at a roadblock, where he was arrested for driving drunk. The trial judge dismissed the charges, and the sheriff appealed to the Arkansas Supreme Court. The dismissal was upheld. Not because Eddie Wade was sober, but because the Benton County Sheriff set up his roadblock in Washington County.

Eldon Bugg befriended an elderly woman at church and borrowed money from her, signing a promissory note. He created a false paper to show that his debt had been repaid. Her estate sued him for the debt and got a judgment. He refused to pay, though the court found that he had the ability to pay. Citing him for contempt of court, the judge ordered him to be locked up. The Missouri Court of Appeals ordered his release. As every American knows (or knew during the week that they studied the Constitution) the U. S. Constitution abolished imprisonment for debts.

These appellate decisions, handed down this week–Wade v. Benton County Sheriff and Estate of Downs v. Bugg— show that Read the rest of this entry →

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It’s time: HOA budgets for 2010

Posted on October 25, 2009 by Harry Styron

Homeowner associations (HOAs) generally have fiscal years that correspond to calendar years, which means that it’s time for HOA boards to begin work on their 2010 budgets, so that the new budget–which establishes the HOA board’s authority to collect assessments and spend money–is in place before the start of 2010.

Missouri HOAs, other than condominium owners associations (COAs), don’t have any special statutes to follow. Instead, they are governed by corporation statutes and by their recorded covenants and by their bylaws, which are often not recorded.

Here’s an overview of the sources of general and financial powers of HOAs and COAs: Read the rest of this entry →

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The long arm of the law doesn’t always reach a guarantor

Posted on October 16, 2009 by Harry Styron

The United States is a fairly friendly and respectful federation, at least when it comes to enforcing judgments so that creditors can get paid. This arrangement encourages commerce.

If a lender gets a judgment in one state, that judgment can be registered with the court of another state, and the lender can use the local court and sheriff to apply the tools of debt collection: garnishment of bank accounts and accounts receivable and asking the sheriff to seize and sell the debtor’s property.

If the judgment from the other state is not premised on personal jurisdiction over the out-of-state defendant, then the court where the defendant or his property is located may not Read the rest of this entry →

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