Michael W. Stoltzman Jr. joined The Ryan Firm in August 2010, and primarily practices real estate, mortgage lending, and business litigation, as well as corporate governance.  As part of his practice, Mr. Stoltzman and The Ryan Firm represent local and nationwide lenders, loan servicers, and foreclosure trustees, as well as individual investors, property owners, and business owners in a wide variety of civil litigation spanning all of California and Nevada.

 

Mr. Stoltzman prides himself on providing aggressive but attentive, economic, and strategic representation of his clients, which is thoughtfully calculated to provide the best results for the Firm’s clients in the most effective, timely, and economical ways possible.

 

During the pandemic, Mr. Stoltzman’s representation of the Firm’s clients required him to develop creative solutions to their problems in order to ensure that regulations enacted at the national, state, county, and city levels did not adversely impact his clients and cause them to incur disastrous—and potentially ruinous—financial losses.  This involved taking on cases from other firms that had advised his clients that nothing could be done during the pandemic, only to have the Mr. Stoltzman deliver results during these difficult times.

 

Mr. Stoltzman has an extremely broad level of experience in civil litigation, in courts throughout the states of California and Nevada, including both trial and appellate courts, as well as bankruptcy and probate courts.  Mr. Stoltzman’s practice has led to a near-perfect appellate record, including authoring and successfully arguing several significant Court of Appeal cases, and a published case on a unique issue of California real estate law:  Shuster v. BAC Home Loans Servicing LP (2012) 211 Cal.App.4th 505.

 

Mr. Stoltzman’s tireless effort has contributed to scores of the firm’s notable decisions:

 

• Obtained a favorable judgment on a borrower’s challenge to the validity of a deed of trust that did not list a trustee, among other challenges.  This judgment was affirmed on appeal, in a published appellate decision.  Shuster v. BAC Home Loans Servicing (2012) 211 Cal.App.4th 505.

• Obtained an order that deemed borrowers vexatious litigants, prohibited them from filing new litigation with or without representation of counsel, and ordering the borrowers to pay $500,000 as a pre-condition to the continuation of litigation against our client.  Merritt v. Specialized Loan Servicing LLC, et al. (H048463).

• Obtained appellate court reversal of erroneous trial court judgment, wherein appellate court held that there were affirmative defenses that precluded the plaintiff’s claims.  Deutsche Bank v. E*Trade (A150279).

• Obtained judgment on claim under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which was upheld by the 9th Circuit.  Shetty v. Specialized Loan Servicing LLC, et al.

• Obtained judgment on claims raised under the Home Owner’s Bill of Rights, and other legal theories, which was upheld by the California Court of Appeal.  Ratterree v. Seterus, Inc., et al.

• Obtained a judgment of dismissal on all claims raised to challenge an investor’s interest in a loan, which was upheld by the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel.  Walsh v. Seterus, Inc., et al.

• Obtained an order confirming that our client’s collection efforts did not violate a bankruptcy discharge injunction.  Even though the law changed on the pertinent issues during the course of the appeal, the favorable order was still affirmed on appeal by the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel.  Papic v. Seterus, Inc., et al.

• Obtained summary judgment on claims raised by borrower in an effort to challenge foreclosure proceedings.  This judgment was appealed by the borrower but affirmed on appeal by the California Court of Appeal.  Sweeting v. BAC Home Loans Servicing LP, et al.

• Obtained an order sustaining demurrers without leave to amend, to various foreclosure challenges raised by the borrowers.  This order was appealed but affirmed by the California Court of Appeal.  Peterson v. BAC Home Loans Servicing LP, et al.

• Obtained an order deeming borrowers vexatious litigants, prohibiting them from filing new litigation without representation of counsel, and ordering them to pay $250,000 as a pre-condition to the continuation of litigation.  This order was affirmed on appeal.  Merritt v. Specialized Loan Servicing LLC, et al.

• Obtained a judgment for clients who had participated in loan pool organization, purchase, and investment, wherein the plaintiffs were seeking a multi-million dollar judgment against our clients.  Sarsenstone v. Fernandez, et al.

• Obtained a judgment for clients who were seeking to foreclose on a severely-defaulted loan.  The borrower appealed, but, based on our briefing and argument, the judgment was affirmed.  Thomas v. Bank of America, N.A., et al.

• Obtained an unlawful detainer judgment for clients.  The borrower appealed, but, based on our briefing and argument, the judgment was affirmed.  LaSalle Bank v. Thomas, et al.

• After a long-defaulted borrower filed a bankruptcy action to stop a foreclosure sale, we made a motion for in rem relief from stay, which was granted.  The borrower appealed to the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel, who affirmed the order in whole.  In re Salma Merritt.

• We filed a motion to dismiss, which was granted by the District Court.  The borrowers appealed, but the 9th Circuit affirmed.  Deville v. SLS, et al.

 

Mr. Stoltzman received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance from Chapman University in 2006. Mr. Stoltzman then obtained his juris doctor degree from Chapman University School of Law, where he also studied abroad at Cambridge University at Sidney Sussex in Cambridge, England.  Mr. Stoltzman was also a Staff Editor and Articles Editor for the Law Review at Chapman University School of Law.  He subsequently clerked for the Honorable Richard Aronson of the California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division Three.  Prior to joining The Ryan Firm, Mr. Stoltzman practiced real estate and business litigation.  Mr. Stoltzman is licensed in every State and Federal Court in California, as well as Nevada.

 

In his free time, Mr. Stoltzman enjoys spending time with his family and friends, reading, playing hockey, surfing, hiking, snowboarding, split-boarding and snowmobiling.