Judge Ran Mortgage Company From Bench

Georgia man, wife took fifth 80 times at hearing
By MortgageDaily.com staff
4/25/2002

A Georgia judge ran his mortgage company out of his courtroom for 18 months in broad daylight, according to the National Law Journal (Journal). David F. Crenshaw ran The Mortgage Team of Georgia, Inc. from his Twiggs County courtroom on Main Street in Jeffersonville, the Journal said in its annual look at misdeeds from the bench.

The Journal noted that voters loved the mortgage judge, electing him to seven four-year terms.

Commissioners let Crenshaw hire an extra employee in 1998 when he said he needed more help. However, Crenshaw allegedly used the employee mostly for his mortgage company, which had the same address as the court. "I filed some tickets one time," the employee was quoted as saying, describing her official work. "That took maybe 15 minutes. I worked on two elections. Maybe five or six hours."

The Journal said that a county commissioner got suspicious when a customer asked for help filing out a loan application at 9 a.m.

The county had had other run-ins with the probate judge, who retaliated for what he considered a stingy budget by impounding fees, fines and forfeitures due the county, according to the Journal. He complained the commissioners had a witch hunt on for him.

The Journal said Crenshaw and his wife took the Fifth Amendment some 80 times at a Judicial Qualifications Commission hearing. Before the panel could act, a special prosecutor charged him with theft and in a plea bargain he agreed to resign, never run for judge again and pay restitution.

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