Here is their side of the story:

Pray for the Nick and Donna Nickerson Family – Idaho Ranch Update November 17, 2019

Dear Friends and Family,

God is good all the time. And you know what? All the time, God is good. We are all together and have not forgotten that no matter what we are going through, God is still on His Throne. This has been somewhat of a rough week, but we are committed to rejoicing and being glad in the Lord always. We believe each day, even this past Tuesday, is a day the Lord has made. For some reason, some very evil men and women have decided we need some extra blessing – Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in Heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. We are all doing well. Our resolve to do the right thing is as strong as ever. We know we are standing on the truth and are trusting the truth will set us and our Idaho Ranch free. Thank you for your outpouring of love, prayers, and support. We are shocked, saddened and angered with the treachery, deception, and maliciousness we have been attacked with this week. From our perch on the hillside above our ranch, we are witnessing and being victimized by a Constitutional crisis in Clearwater County, Idaho. Sadly, it is being led by those who are supposed to protect us and being endorsed and validated by those who should know better. Our statement and details of our story will be released soon.

 All truth, facts, and law refute the many lies being told and prevent any of the atrocities we have suffered this past week regarding our Idaho Ranch. Some of you have asked for facts to refute the questions and commentaries being hurled at you. Below are a few statements to clarify the true history of our battle to save the ranch and to correct the false claims being reported by others.

1) We have committed no act or inaction to warrant or justify our property being taken from us. We did not miss eleven payments and the Court did not find that we did. We were on time and current in January 2010 and were maliciously prevented from a performance from that time forward. Deficient accounting practices and malicious prevention of performance created any and all false claims of delinquencies or default. To be clear, we made every payment we were allowed to make and expended heroic efforts to FORCE the banks to work with us, take our payments, and allow us to rightfully save our ranch and entire financial portfolio. Though certain situations exist where a homeowner fails to make payments, and their failure to perform may warrant a foreclosure of their property rights, ours did not. This is judicial theft and mortgage terrorism, not a lawful or rightful foreclosure.
2) We are the sole and rightful owners of our Idaho Ranch. We own our Idaho property by Warranty Deed, not a Deed of Trust. We did not agree to nor execute a Deed of Trust against our property in 2002. The Deed of Trust being publicized is definitively fraudulent and was not executed by us. The document presented cannot even be lawfully used on a 50-acre agricultural property in the State of Idaho.

3) PHH was not the purchaser of our property at a foreclosure sale, is not currently the owner of our property, and has never been the lawful owner of our fifty-acre ranch. Dispossessing us of our ranch through an ejectment action without fully establishing PHH to be the owner of our property is illegal, unconstitutional, and constitutes judicial tyranny. This is especially true with all the evidence of fraud the court has refused to consider or allow in the record.
4) Ejectment, which is an eviction action used to dispossess a rightful owner of their property, is governed by common law in Idaho. The writ executed on November 12 was signed on September 10, making it over 60 days old.

5) The ejectment action executed on November 12 was filed at the end of 2018, not eleven years ago as recently reported. Ejectment efforts began in the fall of 2018. We were informed all ejectment efforts were stopped as of September 2019. It was our understanding on the morning of November 12 that we were rightfully in possession of our ranch and were awaiting justice to be rendered through appeal or by escalation to higher courts. A stay pending appeal was not in place due to the personal assurances of Sheriff Chris Goetz that the possession of our property was not in jeopardy.

6) Forcefully dispossessing our family from our ranch on November 12 was not legally, morally, or ethically justified or warranted. We are the sole and rightful owners of our Idaho property and have committed no action or inaction to breach or violate any alleged agreements. We have not abandoned or vacated our property and have publically and judicially stated our resolution to maintain ownership.
7) Sheriff Chris Goetz, along with local deputies and the Idaho State Police, led an armed raid against our persons and our property on November 12 two weeks before Thanksgiving. The raid was not peaceful and was aggressively conducted against our wishes and without any lawful order. The writ executed required the Sheriff to cause us to remove our personal belongings PRIOR to being authorized to remove them himself. Clearwater County Sheriff Chris Goetz had previously informed us all efforts to remove us from the property had ceased and assured us he would inform us if anything changed. Further, he provided assurances we would have three to four-week notice should the banks choose to move forward again. We were not served prior to the November 12th raid.

The raid lasted over 15 hours, not just a few hours as reported. Reports it was conducted without violence are comprehensively untrue. Snipers with assault rifles drawn were in position in the early hours of November 12. We were lured to the Sheriff’s office for a 9 a.m. meeting on November 12 in thick fog with assurances nothing was happening. The ranch invasion began upon our departure from the ranch. The raid did not end until between 12:30 and 1 a.m. November 13. The property has been secured with armed guards ever since. We have been told we will be shot if we enter our property. Details of the raid are being documented and will be online soon.

9) No due process or jury trial has occurred in this case. All judgments in PHH’s favor have been awarded by summary judgment. No admissible evidence has ever been provided by PHH Mortgage Services to demonstrate their ownership, any existence of a default caused by us, or any established standing for PHH or any other entity to bring a foreclosure suit against us. The foreclosure sale of our property was executed with an expired writ, referenced a void judgment, violated Idaho code regarding order and conduct of sale, contradicted the subsequent writ and Sheriff’s Deed issued to PHH Mortgage, accepted a grossly inadequate sales price, and other such illegalities. We challenged the authenticity and enforceability of the sale before, during, and after the sale. JPMorgan Chase still claimed to be the owner of the property post-judgment, after the alleged foreclosure sale, and after the issuance of the Sheriff’s Deed in PHH’s name. This is a wrongful and fraudulent foreclosure and it has been pursued maliciously without cause, right, or legitimacy.

10) We did not fail to redeem the property. We were denied our one year right to redemption due to illegalities surrounding the foreclosure and resulting Sheriff’s Sale. There were three contradictory claims to ownership in effect during our redemption period by three different mortgage-related entities. Any attempt by use to redeem the property would have legitimized their fraudulent and illegal foreclosure proceedings and negated our judicial standing.

11) Reports we were given three opportunities to present evidence and failed to act is irrefutably untrue. Summary judgment was granted to Chase and a partial summary judgment was granted to PHH in 2012 without our knowledge or involvement. Our attorney has formally admitted he lied to us, negligently failed to present evidence provided to him, and concealed the true status of our case from us. We were denied opportunity to amend our complaint or expand the factual record of the case when we assumed responsibility for representation post those underlying foreclosure judgments. The court refused to consider around 400 pages of testimony and evidence that supported our claims and refuted all claims against us. Our rights to conduct discovery were and have been comprehensively and systematically denied. All attempts to enter evidence were blocked or disregarded. No trial or evidentiary hearing was ever held. All requests to provide witness testimony have been denied. We have never stood before a jury of our peers. An appointed, not elected judge, signed the writ for the dispossession of our property. We are victims of systemic corruption, procedural manipulation, mortgage terrorism, police brutality, and judicial tyranny, not ineffective self-representation.

12) All truth, facts, evidence and laws are on our side. We are fighting this battle because it is the right thing to do.

 Our story of the horrific events of November 12 and all we have endured since are being documented and will be uploaded soon. There is much to tell of this violent assault on our family, animals, ranch, and even innocent neighbors and friends in the vicinity. Our house and all buildings were forcibly broken into by physical force – kicking, large bolt cutters, axes and clubs – even though a locksmith was onsite. Mud, leaves, and debris was tracked all over a white carpet that a family of 10 had kept meticulously clean. Windows were broken with glass left lying all over the floor and porches to rip the carpet, injure our animals, and mar decking when walked on. Broken canning jars filled with pumpkin for Thanksgiving pies and breads were left on the flooring to stain the tiles, carpets, and spread the orange colors all over the house. The guesthouse hot water heater was drained onto a carpeted wood floor and the carpet was left wet with no fans or other restoration efforts in place or attempted. A female family member was double handcuffed and left to sit in cold rain on a brick retaining wall for an extended period of the time when over 7000 sf of covered roofs were available. Dogs trying to defend their home from men wearing body armor and drawn assault rifles who were screaming and breaking into our buildings were pepper-sprayed, beaten, apparently tranquilized or knocked unconscious. Cut fencing was not repaired so the dogs were then left to run loose in the community and place other livestock at risk when the raid was over. We requested our belongings be driven to our neighbors. The Sheriff and onsite SWAT team refused. We requested our food, frozen goods, and other perishable items be allowed to remain at the property until stores opened the next morning and new refrigerators and freezers could be purchased. Our requests were denied and our freezers were emptied into black trash bags and brought to us on the side of the road. Officers with assault rifles drawn watched while we unloaded four large freezers (over 60 cubic feet) from the back of moving trucks onto a gravel pullout. Refrigerated items and some of the pantry items were also brought to the side of the road. We requested toothbrushes, pajamas, our Bibles, a change of clothes, our coats. All were denied. We asked for a one hour cease and desist to be able to request a stay. It was denied. All legal paperwork, notes, and evidence were stolen from the property to prevent us from showing and telling our story to those who might help stop the unwarranted assault. Neighbors were threatened with being shot. For over 15 hours Sheriff Chris Goetz, his team of heavily armed desperados, and their armed accomplices from the Idaho State Police held our family hostage on the side of the road in the rain with temperatures in the 30’s. No food, water, bathrooms, or other humane concerns for our health and safety were offered. We were not allowed to enter our home or retreat from the area. The only relief received was offered by friends and family.

 There is much more to share. Our statements are being prepared. Our stand is we have not relinquished possession of our property even though our physical presence has been violently removed and blocked. This was an armed invasion by the police powers of the State of Idaho in a civil matter that was determined without any due process. It was pre-planned and executed with intent to harm, not protect. Two staging areas were set up to execute this raid – one at the Idaho National Guard on Hwy 12 and the other near the Idaho State prison located on the outskirts of Orofino. Deputies had already secured the perimeter of our property when we were informed the raid was commencing. State police flew past us as we returned to our property after finding out we had been double-crossed by Sheriff Chris Goetz with the approval of County Prosecutor Clayne Tyler. Prior to us returning to our ranch to witness the stripping of our property rights under a waving American flag, we personally informed the Clearwater County District Court; County Commissioners Mike Ryan, Rick Winkel, and others present and/or listening to their session by phone; Clerk of the Court Carrie Bird; Clearwater Tribune writer Elizabeth Morgan; and other public officials who will be named in our detailed documentary. Armed guards were staged behind us as we passed predisposed checkpoints. Friends in the area traveled toward us to warn us we were being ambushed by officers with guns drawn. The road to our property was blocked with at least six law enforcement vehicles. The property was surrounded by snipers. We did not leave our ranch willingly and we formally claim and preserve all rights to the ownership of our property and intend to maintain full possession of our ranch as the only true and rightful owners.

Unbelievable is the only word we have to describe what has and is happening. The reality is it happened to us, and the undeniable truth is it could happen to you. Pray and share our story.

 

If God be for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31

The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?

Psalm 118:6

 

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Ephesians 6:10-13

God is still on His Throne, and He is the One who will render the final judgments in this matter. We pray God renders to each man according to his deeds. As we continue the fight, it is in God we trust.

Walking in that peace that passes all understanding,

The Nick and Donna Nickerson Family