NEW ORLEANS — For the first time in years, a judge is taking action to stop a man accused of repeatedly using fraudulent documents over the last four years to take people’s houses out from under them.
At least seven property owners have sued Jonathan Burden since 2019, accusing him of tricking them into signing allegedly bogus property transfers. In at least one case, Burden is accused of using an outright forgery to take a house from a dead woman and her surviving son, then sell it the same day for $100,000.
But those lawsuits have languished for years, and court records show Burden repeatedly fails to show up in civil court or changes lawyers to avoid answering the allegations in those lawsuits.
Federal bankruptcy court has been a different story. The U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee, an agent of the federal Justice Department, forced Burden to pay fines in 2020, finding he had duped 11 property owners into paying him to handle their bankruptcy cases even though he had no authority to do so.
But Burden was once again a no-show on Friday, when he was called into Bankruptcy Court to answer allegations that he seized a Uptown fourplex from a woman’s bankruptcy estate after she died this past January.
“He's hiding. He's running. He knows he's in the wrong. We're coming for him,” said Jonathan DeTrinis, the attorney representing the late Lorraine Robinson’s bankruptcy estate and its administrator, Lorraine’s brother Johnnie.
This time Burden’s failure to appear didn’t delay the hearing. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Meredith Grabill listened to testimony from Johnnie Robinson, heard from the U.S. trustee and ordered Burden to stop collecting rents at Robinson’s old house and to stop "taking any action to obtain, possess, or exercise control over the property."
Grabill also gave Burden two weeks to appear in court, pay back the rents he’s collected and explain why he shouldn’t face sanctions.
Also ordered to appear is attorney David Alfortish, who told WWL-TV he no longer represents Burden but was also sued by Lorraine Robinson’s estate because he notarized a quitclaim deed that Burden used to lay claim to the property, starting in December 2019.
Johnnie Robinson testified his sister had suffered a stroke and heart attack and was wheelchair-bound and incapable of understanding the document at that time.
Alfortish told WWL-TV he did accompany Burden to Lorraine Robinson’s home and watched her sign the document, although he acknowledged he did not ask her for identification, as is typical practice of notaries when they attest to the authenticity of someone’s signature on a legal document.
“Mr. Robinson's going to take back possession of the property, legally, through the legal process and protect the rent that was being stolen by Mr. Burden,” DeTrinis said.
Johnnie Robinson was emotional after Grabill’s ruling. He said he’d felt helpless when he went to collect the rent at the property in March and April and was confronted by Burden, who told him to get off his property and called the police.
New Orleans police officers came both times and ordered Robinson to leave, based on the Orleans Parish Assessor’s Office records, which still show Lorraine Robinson gave Burden the property for $0 in December 2019.
One NOPD officer can be heard in a video Burden posted on Instagram in April, ordering Robinson to leave Burden and the tenants alone, unless he can get a court order. On Friday, he got just that from Grabill.
“And I'll be able to get the property back, put this guy where he belongs and get him out of here. Because the judge saw through it all too. She knows this guy ain't right,” Robinson said.
Burden recently tried to evict one of the tenants, so DeTrinis went to court to oppose the eviction. Burden responded by seeking a restraining order against the attorney in Orleans Parish Civil District Court, accusing DeTrinis of "stalking (him) on Instagram."
A hearing was scheduled for that case this Wednesday, but Grabill's order specifically bans Burden from pursuing the petition for protection until he shows up to answer her questions in Bankruptcy Court.
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