Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board v. Engelmann
Iowa Supreme Court
840 N.W.2d 156 (2013)
- Written by Rose VanHofwegen, JD
Facts
Experienced real estate transaction attorney Marc Engelmann (defendant) helped his clients obtain nine mortgage loans through fraud. The buyers and sellers agreed on a purchase price then listed an inflated price of $30,000 to $35,000 more on loan documents. Engelmann knew the true purchase prices were less than the amounts the forms showed but prepared loan documents showing the inflated numbers. The lenders relied on the loan documents and loaned more than the purchase prices, and the sellers gave the extra to the buyers as kickbacks. Engelmann charged $350 for each closing, reflecting a volume discount from his usual $400 fee. Otherwise, no evidence or claim showed he personally benefited from the transactions. After his clients defaulted on the loans in the 2008 market crash, a jury found Engelman guilty of conspiring to commit bank and wire fraud. As a result, the Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board (plaintiff) brought a disciplinary action against Engelmann for violating the ethics rules.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Waterman, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
