Marion County, IN: Just One More Homeless Iraqi War Veteran

As if our fighting troops did not have enough troubles on the battlefields of the world, they also face domestic battles to even buy a home. Case in point, Matt E., an Iraqi War veteran and still an active duty military man, signed a purchase agreement for the Indianapolis home of deceased Holocaust Survivor Al Katz on July 19, 2012. Matt had his cash on the barrel on hand, but, as of July 20, 2015, nearly three years later, Matt owns no home.

What has Matt done wrong in his fervent attempt at achieving the American Dream of home ownership? It is simply that Matt wants to buy a home, which he loves, from an estate in which administrative reimbursement claims have been languishing for years that the Marion County Circuit Court has never heard, preventing the house closing until the estate claims are settled beforehand.

Matt has spent years of his young and precious life protecting the people of the United States and years of his young and precious life waiting for an Indianapolis court to hear multiple estate administrative reimbursement claims filed by Lawrence Newman, Al Katz’s son-in-law, with the court since 2013. Although under Indiana law a court is deemed a “lazy judge” if the court does not hear a motion or schedule it for hearing within 30 days after it is filed, the Marion County Court Administrator has twice ruled that Judge Louis Rosenberg is not in violation of the “lazy judge” rule.

All the forces are against Matt in his lonely battle to buy a home, except for the force of justice. May Matt win this battle for justice just as he has courageously fought for the American people.

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