Copyright Troll's Property Seized To Pay Bankruptcy Debts (ktetch.co.uk)

ktetch-pirate writes: Copyright troll firm Prenda may be gone, but one of its principals — Paul Hansmeier — is starting to feel Karma's burn. In a bankruptcy hearing on the 3rd, Judge Sanberg ordered it converted to Chapter 7, requiring assets be seized and liquidated to pay the 2.5M+ in debts including judgments from courts around the country, as well as proceeds from the sale of Hansmeier's 1.2M condo in Minnesota. She justified it by saying he had a practice of deceiving the courts with his extortionate schemes.

Comments

HA

[ldobehardcore]

Serves that pile of human garbage right. Take them for every dime. Leave them out on the streets.

Re:HA

[KGIII]

This is even better than prison. At least i think so. In prison, they can hide their shame from the world at large. Now, half the man (or less) and subjected to publicity they walk among the people they once abused. What better way for the fickle hands of fate to deal the next hand?

Re:HA

[KGIII]

Maybe they'll string up before they go to prison? I'd not, of course, suggest they do so but I'm thinking it might work out best for them in the long run. I don't see where they'll *likely* end up in prison, however. It could happen but it's unlikely.

Re:HA

[TWX]

This is even better than prison. At least i think so. In prison, they can hide their shame from the world at large. Now, half the man (or less) and subjected to publicity they walk among the people they once abused. What better way for the fickle hands of fate to deal the next hand?

I've known people like the subject of the article. You're not thinking like they and their peers think. They do not feel shame for their actions nor do they feel shame for being subjected to punishment for them. They feel their actions are legitimate and they feel anger directed toward those that have thwarted them, and actions like the court has taken only stiffen their resolve.

People like this need to be put into jail if they're to actually learn. People like this that continue to have their freedom are still free to pursue more of these kinds of schemes because they've seen how little the consequences, really, are for them. Left like this, with some means, they're going to simply repeat the pattern that we've already seen.

Embarrassment on the streets? Walking among those they abused? Do you feel like everyone is watching you on the streets? Do you feel like the entire community knows who you are or even cares? Hell, criminals that have inflicted violence on others and been convicted semi-anonymously walk the streets and no one really knows what they've done or how that could mean that they are riskier than others; copyright trolls are less of a danger and far less directly impacting on the local community and will easily avoid any sort of public shame during the course of their days.

This is a victory, but it's hollow one and only one more battle, not the end of the war.

1.2 million dollar condo... in Minnesota?

[macraig]

How does one manage to pay 1.2 million dollars for a condo in Minnesota? Are real estate prices really that insane there? It ain't San Francisco.

And what happened to John Steele, who practically started this whole damned business model and now seems to have escaped under the radar? I've seen no reporting on his fate since Prenda Law fell apart.

Re: 1.2 million dollar condo... in Minnesota?

[jimmybuffet]

The twin cities (Minneapolis, St Paul) is actually a fairly expensive area to live (I've lived there). Rochester, MN also has some expensive realestate.

Good.

[wjcofkc]

It's been nice to see over the past few years more stories about patent trolls going down hard rather than getting away with theft. It seems to coincide with a certain judge in Texas retiring.

You'd be surprised

[rsilvergun]

Just how much money is out there. The rich don't flaunt their money any more. It keeps the pleebs from noticing and keeps the "We're broke, so we need more Austerity" myth going...

Ha ha ha ha

[JustAnotherOldGuy]

My insightful commentary on this is, "HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

Bankruptcy Attorney Here

[spartacus_prime]

By filing Chapter 13 initially, this guy was hoping to hold onto his assets, including the condo. TFA indicates that the maximum creditors could receive would be $161,400, which seems outrageously low for a debt load in the millions. I hate Chapter 13s because they are so numbers-intensive, and for people desperately wanting to hold onto their house (or car, or what have you), often times the numbers don't work. By converting to a 7, he basically loses all assets of a significant value that he cannot fully exempt from liquidation. So the condo, any vehicles with significant equity, all are seized by the Chapter 7 Trustee. He won't lose most personal effects, since the courts aren't going to waste their time taking the shirt off his back.

But if the DOJ is looking into this, he's fucked. Bankruptcy fraud was what sent the Giudices to prison, and I have had at least one client catch the eye of the DOJ in the past.

The real question now will be how long the liquidation and disbursement process will take. If they find other assets, it could very well last beyond the 5-year period of a Chapter 13.