Breaking News: Deval Patrick Sometimes Pays Gas Bill Three Days Late

[Ian David]

Breaking News: Deval Patrick Sometimes Pays Gas Bill Three Days Late

OK, we don't know if that's true or not, but we wouldn't be surprised to see such a headline, after the probing, largely inscrutable expose in today's Globe about some minor weirdness involving a mortgage that gubernatorial candidate Patrick and his wife got from a Georgia bank. According to the article, Patrick took out a mortgage using his Milton house as collateral, but the bank involved, which had ties to Patrick's then-employer Coca-Cola, didn't record the loan for two years. Which makes Bostonist say, well, nothing, because it doesn't seem that suspect.

Recording a mortgage, if we recall correctly from law school, means going to the Registry of Deeds and having an entry made in a big book, saying there's a mortgage out on some property. Its purpose is to create a public record that puts potential purchasers on notice that someone other than the property-owner has a stake in that property - so Patrick couldn't sell his mortgaged house to some sucker for full price, only to leave that sucker responsible for paying the mortgage. Of course, so far as the Globe article indicates, Patrick never tried any funny business, making the bank's failure to record the mortgage not very scandalous at all. In fact, much of the boring work that courts and lawyers do involves the confusion that arises when someone doesn't register a mortgage or a deed. It happens all the time.

So why is the Globe all over this? Bostonist can think of two possibilities: Either Tuesday was a very slow news day, or the paper of record was alarmed at Tom Reilly's poor showing in state democratic caucuses and flagging poll numbers and figured some confusing, vaguely suspect financial stuff would take Patrick down a peg. Who knows?

Financial improprieties or not, Patrick was wise to ditch the glasses, as this photo, circa 1997, proves.


More:
http://www.bostonist.com/archives/2006/02/07/breaking_news_deval_patrick_sometimes_pays_gas_bill_three_days_late.php

[tarkus]

1. I like Patrick, but former lawyers for Coke bother me...

Of course, I don't live in Massachusetts so I guess it doesn't matter much. I certainly hope someone beats Mitt Romney...