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From the notebook of a trademark-patent attorney
THE DISASTER THAT HAPPENED TO MISS JANSET’S HUSBAND
WAS IT DUE TO GOODWILL OR CARELESSNESS?
Mrs. Janset was preparing the salary increases planned for the staff in her carefully furnished room at work when her mobile phone started ringing. The caller was the janitor of the apartment she lived in. She was worried. She wondered why the janitor was calling, or was there a water leak in the apartment or something.
She answered the phone reluctantly. The man on the phone said in a respectful tone, “Mrs. Janset, I apologize for disturbing you, but the judicial notification officer came to your house a moment ago. He brought a notification. However, when he couldn’t find you at home, he took the notification to the mukhtar.”
Mrs. Janset interrupted the doorman’s conversation and started asking questions.
“Notification?” What notification? Who sent it? What was the subject?
The doorman; “Sir, believe me, I asked these questions persistently, but… The officer could not give me an explanation… He could only inform the relevant person… Let them go and get it from the mukhtar,” he said.
“But the envelope in his hand had the stamp of the Istanbul Anatolian Enforcement Office printed on it, sir. It was a big, big blue stamp. It could have been sent from the enforcement office.”
“God, God, what business do we have with the enforcement office? I must have misunderstood?”
“No sir. I did not misunderstand. Officer Senin stuck a piece of paper on the door. At that moment, he put the notification on the chair at the door. I saw the stamp very clearly… It was the stamp of the enforcement office. It was a stamp with blue ink.”
“Okay, Ahmet Efendi. I will come early in the evening and get the notification from the mukhtar lady. Thank you very much for calling.” He hung up. It was disturbing to receive a notification from the enforcement office, of course. What could it have been? The bank had probably skipped one of the fixed payments. He got a little angry, but he did not dwell on it too much.
That day, she left work early and went to the headman, but learned that the headman’s office closed at 14:00 and that she started working at 09:00 in the morning. She left the headman’s office to come back in the morning.
She was annoyed to waste time on such trivial matters amidst all her work. “What kind of work is this? It’s literally rude. Disrespectful. A person calls and says you have so much debt. How can someone be directly taken to court? They should be treated the same way, so they can see how it works…” These were all things that were going through her mind. She was so sure that she was being made to deal with a trivial matter.
In the family, keeping track of the bills and all kinds of subscriptions were always Janset Hanım’s job. Her husband never dealt with these matters. Even if he tried to, he couldn’t do it. For example, she couldn’t find the address of the institution she would subscribe to… Even if she did find the address, she wouldn’t be able to complete the documents. You know, if Janset Hanım didn’t intervene; They would sit in the dark for days, weeks, without electricity, water or natural gas, just because the formalities could not be completed.
Essentially, her husband was a very good surgeon… He was very successful in his job. However, he was completely uninterested in matters other than his work and patients. Were the children registered for school? Were teachers’ meetings attended? Was there food at home? He didn’t care at all. Janset Hanım also had the cards to the account where his salary was deposited. She used a credit card for her personal expenses, and Janset Hanım made the payments.
When they met at home in the evening, Janset Hanım talked about the doorman calling, leaving work early and coming to the mukhtar, and a possible notice from the bailiff, but her husband listened to her casually, out of earshot. While Janset Hanım was talking, he called the hospital. He asked his assistants about the conditions of the patients he had operated on that day. In the meantime, he made “hmm” and “yaaa!” sounds to Janset Hanım as if he were listening. But he probably didn’t even understand the subject.
Janset Hanım was at the mukhtar’s door in the morning. The mukhtar’s office had been opened before she arrived. The mukhtar Hanım had been their mukhtar for years. They had known each other. They greeted each other and kissed. After a short chat, Janset Hanım told her why she had come. The headman pointed to the box where the notifications were kept. “Ms. Janset, I put all the notifications in the box on the right. The person concerned comes and takes them from there,” he said. Janset Hanım started checking the notifications in the box the headman showed one by one. There was no line or anything. She looked around. She couldn’t find her name. Although she said, “Ms. Headman, I didn’t see the notification,” the headman said, “I put all the notifications there Janset Hanım, please look again, you might have missed it.” Janset Hanım started checking the notifications one by one once more, this time more carefully.
She noticed a familiar name in the middle of the pile and turned back again. Yes! The notification she had read and passed was in her husband’s name. She picked up the envelope in surprise. It had her husband’s name and the stamp of the Istanbul Anatolian Enforcement Directorate on it. She did not open the envelope so as not to arouse the mayor’s suspicion. She said “Thank you, mayor, see you later” as if the notification was addressed to her and hurriedly left the mayor’s office. She got into her car right next to the door.
She hurriedly opened the envelope. Inside the envelope was a payment order. “Payment order specific to bills of exchange”. The name written in the creditor section was a name she had never heard of. Her husband’s name was in the debtor section. The amount of the debt was written as 110,000 US Dollars, accrued interest, enforcement costs, attorney fees, and collection. The payment order was accompanied by a photocopy of a promissory note (bill of exchange). Her husband’s handwritten name and faint signature were visible in the debtor section of the note.
But how could this happen? Her husband would never give anyone a promissory note. He had nothing to do with debts and receivables.
So what was this promissory note, a promissory note for exactly 110,000 USD, drawn up in the name of a man she had never met. How could her husband incur such a large debt? She felt dizzy… What didn’t she know about her husband of all these years? Had he gambled? Had he gotten involved in something wrong with someone and given this promissory note. Her mind was in turmoil, was it a woman’s issue? She tried to push bad thoughts out of her head, thinking such things were impossible. She had to call her husband, there had to be an explanation for this. She called her husband, the voice on the phone was calm and unconcerned as always.
“No, my dear Janset, there must be a mistake, my dear, what promissory note… I have nothing to do with promissory notes and baskets…”
About an hour later, they met in front of the Anatolian Courthouse. The police search at the door and the gloomy atmosphere had made both Mrs. Janset and her husband nervous. The enforcement office was like a mother’s day. Inside, many young people and lawyers working and walking around were hurriedly taking files off the shelves, taking them to the officers sitting at the tables and waiting, getting the officer’s signature, taking them to another table and dropping the files into the crowded file piles. The shelves on the walls of the narrow corridor-like hall of the enforcement office were jam-packed with files. Everyone inside was busy doing something. The office was no different than a crowded public bus. They waited for someone to take care of them. But waiting was pointless. After a while, they realized that no one cared about them.
Finally, when they saw that there was no other way, they walked through the busy crowd towards the middle-aged, nervous-looking man sitting at the far end of the hall at a larger table than the others.
Although Janset Hanım waited for the man to take care of them at the head of the table, after a while, with all her politeness, she said in a low voice, “Sir, I apologize for disturbing you. However, such a notification has come in the name of my husband.” The officer took the payment order from Ms. Janset’s hand. He glanced at it briefly and said, “Are you going to pay the debt, ma’am?”
Ms. Janset said, “No, we think there is a mistake, my husband has not given such a promissory note to anyone, we have no debt, you are the one who knows how the process works…”
Without waiting for Ms. Janset to finish her sentence, the manager said with an emotionless expression; “We cannot know that part of the matter, Ms., the creditor applied with his promissory note in hand, we sent a payment order. The next stage is the seizure of your husband’s movable and immovable properties.”
Ms. Janset’s husband, who was silently watching the conversation behind her, suddenly blushed when he heard the word seizure, and tried to scold the manager by saying, “Brother, I have not given a promissory note to anyone. I have no debt to anyone. What kind of seizure are you talking about?” The manager, who thought the conversation was going on,
said, “Okay, then you do as you wish, the courts are upstairs, if you have no debt, bring a decision and cancel the file, there is nothing we can do,” and returned to his files.
The husband and wife looked at each other pessimistically. It was obvious that this was not the path to follow. They went out of the apartment, asking for a way through the crowd and apologizing. They were desperate. What would they do if a lien was filed? How would they explain this situation to their neighbors, workplaces, and friends? This was a loss of reputation that they had never experienced before.
They did not have any savings to pay this amount either. Yes, they both earned well, but they liked to live well and go on vacation at every opportunity. They could not save any money with their children’s private school payments and expenses. As they walked in the courthouse corridor thinking about these things, lawyers wearing their robes over their clothes were running around them as if they were going somewhere. Lawyers, yes, lawyers. Janset Hanım, who suddenly came to life, said to herself, “Oh my God, how stupid I am.” It had not occurred to her to call the Ankara lawyer lady since the morning. However, if she could solve this issue, only her lawyer could solve it.
She immediately took her phone out of her bag. Under her husband’s questioning gaze, she quickly found the Ankara lawyer lady’s phone among the registered numbers and called it. She hurriedly explained everything that had happened to the Ankara lawyer on the phone. The lawyer, who listened to Janset Hanım, asked her to send a photocopy of the payment order and promissory note from the phone. The Ankara lawyer’s usual self-confidence, the cool demeanor of people who know what they are doing, and the familiar way she asked for the documents made Janset Hanım feel relieved. After talking to the lawyer, she felt the relief and warmth she experienced to her core.
The lawyer called after examining the documents. She wanted to talk to her husband. She asked him if he knew the creditor, if he had given a promissory note to anyone, and other questions. When the doctor said that he definitely had not given a promissory note, the lawyer said, “Okay,” “Have you signed any bundles of documents lately?”
“I signed epicrisis prepared by my assistants at the hospital, I signed reports, and then, about 6 months ago, my car had an accident and had to be in service for a month, and I rented a car at that time. I signed many documents during the rental. I didn’t sign anywhere else.”
The lawyer seemed to have found what she was looking for. “Doctor, I am sending you the information you need to obtain a power of attorney. Get a power of attorney from a notary, send me your signature samples. I also want detailed information about the place you rented the car,” she said. “Did you experience anything unusual during the rental process?”
The doctor said, “Lawyer, the place I rented a car was a rent-a-car shop in the street. If I remember correctly, it wasn’t a company either. It was a sole proprietorship. I had rented a Mercedes C-series car. I found it through an advert, the price of the car had caught my attention. They were renting it for half of the market price. “
“Hmm! Please tell me the name and address of the shop, I wonder if they are still in business, I will contact the person who appears to be the creditor without delay, let’s see what kind of relationship he has with you and for what reason he has a claim against you.”
“I am coming to Istanbul tomorrow. I will bring a friend of mine who is a graphology expert with me. First of all, I will try to determine whether the signature on the promissory note belongs to you and whether there is any forgery on the promissory note.” “I will keep you informed of the research I have done and the developments. Look, I believe you, doctor, if you say you didn’t give a promissory note, then you didn’t. We may be facing a fraud.”
After sending the information the lawyer requested, Janset Hanım and her husband started waiting. Days followed days. Sleepless nights, sleepless nights. She watched. Janset Hanım and her husband were very anxious. They waited patiently. Finally, weeks later, Lawyer Hanım called. The news was incredible. As a result of an incredible investigation and follow-up, Lawyer Hanım had caught a fraud gang and ensured their arrest.
When Lawyer Hanım explained everything that had happened in detail, Janset Hanım was horrified. It was a gang operation that would be reminiscent of a Hollywood script. When Lawyer Hanım first had the expert she had taken to Istanbul and had the promissory note examined in detail at the enforcement office, traces of fulaj were seen on the promissory note.
In these traces, the name of the “Mercedes -C- series vehicle”, the name of the renter, the name of the lessor, and the name and signature of the person making the rent were clearly visible. Then, in the research she conducted about the creditor, the lawyer found that there were 12 fraud investigations opened against the person who appeared as the creditor in the promissory note text, 5 of which had convictions and therefore a criminal record, and that there were ongoing trials for fraud in various courts regarding 7 crimes.
The lawyer applied to the prosecutor’s office with the findings she obtained, and upon her request, the person making the rent decided to wiretap the person who appeared as the creditor. The wiretap records from a few weeks were enough to clearly reveal the actions of the defendants. The lawyer had the enforcement proceedings cancelled using the investigation documents and evidence.
Now, they could continue their work and lives with peace of mind.
As Janset spoke to the lawyer from Ankara, she felt a great burden lifted from her. They had survived a great danger thanks to the lawyer. She took a deep breath. She expressed her gratitude and thanks to the lawyer lady many times. They were relieved. However, she and her husband would be much more careful when signing from now on.
Aren’t experiences the indelible marks left by past experiences?
WHERE DID THE DOCTOR MAKE A MISTAKE
1- If you are offered something for a price much lower than it should be, it is very likely that you will experience problems.
2- The doctor should have gotten a signed copy of the documents he signed.
If he had, the problem would have been solved much more easily.
Another mistake of the doctor was that he signed a bundle of documents without examining what they contained, as many of us do. The malicious tenant had made the doctor sign a promissory note that he had tucked between the papers – because he was careless.