It is really sad when the local newspaper columnist becomes the news. It is remarkable that the Executive Editor and News Director of Treasure Coast Newspapers, Adam Neal, allowed it. The publishing of Larry Reisman’s July 19 column on Jennifer Pippin is full of secondhand-sourced facts to construct a narrative of doubt. Of course, if you are trying to take down the front runner in a hotly contested race, the opinion column is how you attempt it. Since your paper thinks Amendment 3 is bad, the last person you want elected to county commission is Pippin.
The TC Palm is still running a Facebook post that has artwork declaring the county could lose $63 million if the amendment passes. County Administrator John Titkanich has been telling media it is not true. Click on the pictured post, and you will see TC Palm did correct the estimate to $41 million over 2 years. The ole clickbait and switch.
Makes you wonder what Community Editor Larry Reisman is doing. Does he have an ombudsman?
But there is another important question that needs to be answered. Was Neal a part of the deliberative process to editorially permit Reisman to write such unsubstantiated claims against Pippin’s professional status and personal financial reporting that unjustifiably malign her integrity? Most of what Reisman wrote fails to meet the standards of USA TODAY NETWORK Principles of Ethical Conduct for Newsrooms.
In his July 19 column, Reisman quoted Pippin stating that her husband is the only person on the bank loan, and, that she consulted an attorney at the Florida Commission on Ethics. She stated that because she is on the title, the home is listed as an asset. However, she is not on the loan; therefore, she is not liable for the home. Hence, she did not list it as a liability on her Form 6.
Reisman claimed, “Their mortgage states that only borrowers who signed a separate promissory note—which we could not find in official records—have responsibility for paying back the loan.”
The Sunshine Journal has obtained a copy of the home loan that is used to finance the Pippin mortgage. It clearly shows Pippin’s husband is the only person responsible for the bank loan. Pippin clarified for The Sunshine Journal, “I was not even required to give my credit score because my husband was making good money and secured the home loan solely on his income.”
Reisman linked to the public record that shows the ‘mortgage security instrument’ and not the loan itself. With ad hominem assurance, he added, “Pippin has shown previously she attacks without all the facts.”
The comment on the note allowed Reisman to continue projecting that she was not thorough after sharing an equally secondhand-sourced narrative on Pippin’s professional history. Yet, the real reason Reisman could not find the promissory note is because it’s not a public record. Promissory notes are private contracts held by the lender.
Reisman must know that you will not find the promissory note without asking the borrower who signed it. He has been through the mortgage process in 1993, 2003, 2008 (HELOC), and 2015. Like the Pippins, he and his wife signed mortgage security instruments, but no promissory note is publicly recorded for any of them. Should the public ask him for them?
Also, Reisman had previously pulled the same editorial trick on another first-time conservative female candidate who ran for school board in 2018. It was Jackie Rosario who is up for re-election on August 18. Like Pippin, Rosario explained to Reisman that her husband was on the loan, and not her. At the time, Reisman ignored her too. “Rosario has a mortgage, which should have been listed as a liability,” he wrote. Rosario shared that he privately sent the same security instrument to her as his evidence.
Mortgages in the USA are ultimately backed by 2 government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The 11-page document provided in Reisman’s mistake-ridden column is the mortgage security instrument. As Reisman is fully aware, the people on the title must sign the mortgage documentation to securitize the mortgage instrument. Fannie Mae’s website states, “An individual whose credit was not used in qualifying for the loan but who does have an ownership interest in the property must be named in and sign the security instrument, but is not required to sign the note.”
If the holder of the promissory note is removed for whatever reason, a new mortgage is created. If the mortgage debt is renegotiated with another bank for a better term, a new mortgage is created on the property, which Reisman did in 2003 according to public records.
The Pippins worked with the lender in restructuring their personal financing, and her husband got a 3% mortgage in 2021, which is a very low rate. It is not the first time Pippin and her husband made shrewd financial decisions. Ms. Pippin publicly addressed her bankruptcy she filed in 2010 at Wednesday’s Let’s Talk Vero Zoom conference with commission candidates.
Pippin had purchased her first home in 2007, a year before the 2008 housing crash and Great Recession. She was only 22 years old, working full-time, already a mother, and finishing up at Indian River State College. In 2008, she and her husband welcomed their son into the world.
Following soon afterward, her father-in-law moved in because he had multiple surgeries from years of heavy construction as a union welder. They took care of him until he passed away unexpectedly in 2010. “I was in my early 20s, raising a one-year-old and a three-year-old while we cared for him,” she said to The Sunshine Journal, adding, “Between funeral expenses, the cost of daycare, and everyday bills, we were faced with some incredibly difficult financial decisions.”
The housing recession also put her, like many Floridians, fiscally upside down on her first home. Yet, even though pressed financially on all sides, Pippin avoided foreclosure. She said, “We decided to sell our home through a deed in lieu, which allowed the property to be turned over to the bank and resolved that debt.”
“I also filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy so we could provide for our young children, pay for daycare, cover our family’s expenses, and move forward after an extremely difficult season,” she shared. Within two weeks of filing for bankruptcy, she became a fully licensed Registered Nurse.
But they were not out of the woods entirely. The Pippins had moved into a rental house, which the owner foreclosed on 8 months into their lease. Moving forward, they found another residence with a new lease on life.
“We didn’t make those decisions lightly, but those were the right decisions for our family at that time,” she said, adding, “I would make the same decision again because my family came first, and ensuring my children were cared for was my top priority.”
Families became her priority during COVID after experiencing what her kids were dealing with in public school. Reisman did correctly point out how Pippin, along with 3 moms, sued the school district over mask mandates. The mothers lost the case, but, Governor Ron DeSantis was watching.
DeSantis and his team used the data, evidence, and findings of facts presented by the moms in court as part of their research for the Roundtable Discussion on Public Health on March 18, 2021. The roundtable discussion shared Florida’s COVID policy direction. The controversial broadcast featuring prominent medical professionals like Dr. Scott Atlas and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya is still banned by YouTube for violating its Community Guidelines.
Reisman correctly reported the request for the sheriff to investigate the pornographic books. Still, Pippin won that issue too when over 300 titles containing pornographically objectionable material were removed following an August 2023 school board meeting. Mothers, fathers, grandparents, and residents were organized. They read aloud passages of evidence from the books, causing Board Chairman Peggy Jones to gavel recitations of sexually explicit content found in school libraries. The meeting went viral with more than 20 million people having viewed it on social media.
Today, the school district is ranked 5th in the state and 2nd in third grade reading. Before the moms got involved, the district was ranked 37th overall.
It all proves that real battles for limited government, parental rights, common sense decency and serving Indian River residents first eventually turn into big wins.
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.