Dear Friends and Virginians:
It’s been three weeks since I last posted. So much has happened: the Charlie Kirk assassination (horrific), the criminal indictment of James Comey (not a fan), the victory of UVA over Florida State (epic).
Each one of these topics was worth an article, which I formed in my mind — but never had time to write down.
I’ve been too damn busy representing clients. This past Monday I was in trial in Leesburg defending the Trustees of a historically black church against a Bank seeking to foreclose on their property. Normally foreclosures aren’t worth a major trial, but this was different — because the Bank had made a major mistake.
The error tracks back to a unique provision in Title 57 of Virginia law, which allows a church to incorporate (like any other charity), while still holding its property through Court-appointed Trustees, which is the historic practice.
Here, the Bank had loaned the money to the Church Corporation but failed to get the Trustees to sign the Deed of Trust. The loan went into default during COVID and the Bank sought to foreclose — then discovered the error.
Last year, on my motion for summary judgment, the Loudoun County Circuit Court ruled that the Deed of Trust was defective and struck it from the land records.
On Monday, the Circuit Court completed the case by ruling that the Bank had failed to prove that the Trustees were “unjustly enriched” by the Loan. (They had paid back nearly $5.0 million on a $4.4 million loan). So the case is effectively over. And the property will be in the free and clear.
The Bank’s error — like so many before — occurred because it was in a hurry to make a loan to a borrower with intermittent cash flow but significant land value. Now it’s an unsecured loan and they have no way to recover.
The Lord moves in mysterious ways.
JCP Notes: Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court granted our writ in the “496 Elden Street” case in which we are seeking to enforce the “direct payment” law under Va. Code 25.1-247.1, which deals with condemnation cases.
That law has been in effect since 2018 and Virginia state agencies (ok, VDOT) have refused to follow it when condemning properties. We’ll find out in 2026 if the Supreme Court is finally ready to enforce the law.
Peace,
Chap