Former legal clients claim Scott County judge forged document

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By Ann McGlynn | Friday, May 09, 2008 |

A couple whose $300,000 home was mistakenly built on two lots is suing Kyle Williamson, a Scott County associate court judge under criminal investigation, accusing him of forging a document that informed them the sheriff’s sale of one of the two lots had been canceled.

Kevin and Kimberly Good of LeClaire, Iowa, sued Williamson in Scott County District Court. He was their lawyer before he was named a judge.

A representative of David Franks, attorney for the Goods, declined comment. Williamson could not be reached for comment.

Williamson, appointed to the bench in October, has been on paid medical leave since Jan. 18 at $9,434 a month. The Iowa Attorney General and the Division of Criminal Investigation have confirmed Williamson is under criminal investigation.

According to the lawsuit:

The Goods live at 27061 238th St., a house built in 2004. They learned their house was mistakenly built over a lot line — approximately half of the garage on one lot, the remaining portion of the house on the second lot — in June 2006.

They discovered the problem when named as defendants in a foreclosure action on what they thought was the neighboring lot. The foreclosure was filed by Illinois Cement Co. against Great River LLC and the Goods.

The Goods sought legal advice from Williamson, who at the time was in private practice. He agreed to assist them.

The lot was foreclosed upon, and the property was scheduled for sale by the sheriff in January 2007. The Goods told Williamson they wanted to attend the sale in order to acquire the lot to “resolve the issue of their home partially being constructed on Lot 16 which they did not own.”

Williamson told the Goods the sale had been canceled.

Goods feared missing the sale and requested written confirmation from Williamson that the sale had been canceled. He provided them with a document titled “Cancellation of Sheriff’s Sale” with a signature of the plaintiff’s attorney William Laird.

The document was forged, they said. The document “was created by attorney Williamson who forged attorney Laird’s signature on the pleading making it appear the pleading had come from Mr. Laird’s office.” It was never filed with the court.

The property was sold on Jan. 30 for $24,000. The Goods did not attend because they thought the sale had been canceled.

“Consequently, Lot 16 containing a portion of their home was sold at the foreclosure sale without the Goods even having an opportunity to bid on and purchase the lot,” the lawsuit states.

The Goods also have sued Michael Mahler, Great River LLC, Strong Point Systems, John Kehoe and Shive-Hattery Land Surveyors in an attempt to resolve the lot-line issue.

They are asking for unspecified damages from Williamson.

Ann McGlynn can be contacted at (563) 383-2336 or amcglynn@qctimes.com.