Your House. Your Name. $24.6 Million You Never Owed. | JC's INBOX

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You're listening to No Tears for
Black Girls.

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I'm Samantha Paul.
Starting today, we're

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introducing a new mini episode
series called Jay CS Inbox.

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JC Reedberg is not only an
award-winning author and the

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writer of the No Tears for Black
Girls series on Amazon Kindle.

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He's also the creator and
research producer of this

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podcast.
In these mini episodes, JC

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brings you quick fact checked
briefs on underreported crime

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related news impacting the Black
community, plus the adjacent

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societal stories shaping what
happens next.

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No rumors, just what's
confirmed, what's alleged, and

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what to watch.
Today's JC's inbox starts now.

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Imagine this.
You finally get a little

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breathing room.
Not lottery money, not a

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windfall.
Just that rare moment where the

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bills aren't yelling as loud.
You're thinking about the next

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move like somebody who's had to
become a strategist just to

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survive.
Refinance, consolidate, sell and

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downsize.
Keep the house and pull a little

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equity.
Maybe you're trying to help your

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mom get stable.
Maybe you're the one who became

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the stable one for everybody
else.

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Either way, you're standing on
the edge of progress, doing what

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people always tell you to do,
build something that lasts.

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Now picture this.
You sit down to handle business

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and you see a word that doesn't
belong next to your address.

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A word that makes your chest
tighten because it's not a late

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fee, not a missed payment, not a
scammy e-mail you can delete.

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It's a claim.
It's a mark.

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It's a shadow on the one thing
you thought was solid.

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A lien.
And not a lien for a few $100.

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Not something you can shrug off
and fix in an afternoon.

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A number so high your brain
rejects it at first.

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A number that looks like a typo
until you realize it's filed

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like it's real.
A number that doesn't just

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threaten your money, it
threatens your options, your

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timing, your ability to move,
your ability to breathe.

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There's a special kind of fear
that comes with realizing

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somebody can reach into your
life without ever stepping foot

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inside your home.
No broken window, no forced

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door, no masked face.
Just paperwork, a filing, a

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stamp, and suddenly the home you
worked for feels like it's in a

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fight you didn't start.
And if you've never dealt with

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this, let me tell you what makes
it worse.

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It's quiet.
Paper crimes don't come with

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sirens.
They come with surprises.

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They come with delays.
They come with hold music

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transfers, a whole new language
you never asked to learn, title,

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recorder, filing, verification,
civil process.

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That's the kind of crime that
can make you feel powerless

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because there's no scene to
point to.

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Just documents that suddenly
have power over you.

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That's why this story matters.
This is one of those cases where

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the crime doesn't look like what
people picture when they hear

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the words crime, but the damage
can still be personal,

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destabilizing and expensive to
unwind.

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And in a city where stability
already cost too much, that kind

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of disruption can push a family
from we're making it to we're

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drowning fast.
Here's what's confirmed from an

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official Los Angeles Police
Department newsroom release

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posted March 1st, 2026,
describing an arrest and an

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ongoing investigation.
According to the LAPD,

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detectives with the department's
Commercial Crimes Division,

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specifically the Real Estate
Fraud Unit, arrested a Los

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Angeles resident named Rita
Ortiz, age 58, on Thursday,

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February 26, 2026.
The department said the arrest

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was for an alleged violation of
California Penal Code 115,

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Subsection A, which relates to
filing a false document.

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An arrest is not a conviction.
This is an active investigation

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and I'm giving you what the
department publicly stated.

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The LAPD said detectives began
investigating what they

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described as a series of
recorded mechanics liens on

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multiple properties within the
city of Los Angeles that were

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reported to be be false or
fraudulent.

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And if the term mechanics line
sounds like something that only

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matters to contractors or
lawyers, understand this.

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When something gets recorded
against a property, it can

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create real problems for a
homeowner even before anything

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gets fully sorted out.
It can complicate selling.

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It can complicate refinancing.
It can slow everything down at

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the exact moment you're trying
to move forward.

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Now here's the part that jumps
off the page.

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The LAPD said the liens listed
extraordinary amounts with some

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as high as $24,640,000 for
services allegedly rendered by a

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company called Ortiz Consulting
Limited Liability Company,

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described as cleaning or
consulting services.

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That number is not small.
That number is life altering on

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paper, even if it's disputed,
even if it's challenged, even if

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it's eventually removed, because
while you're fighting it, your

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life is still on pause.
The LAPD said their

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investigation identified Rita
Ortiz as the person controlling

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Ortiz Consulting and as the
person who recorded the

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allegedly fraudulent liens.
They also said multiple victims

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property were affected in Los
Angeles, with additional victims

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and affected properties in
Beverly Hills and Riverside

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County.
When you hear multiple areas

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like that, you're not hearing
coincidence, you're hearing the

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shape of something investigators
believe may have reached more

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than one person, more than one
household, more than one set of

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plans.
The LAPD release also described

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how Ortiz presented herself.
The department stated that she

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purported to be a real estate
consultant and business coach,

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offering services related to
property sales, investment

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properties, home leasing, short
sales and loan modifications.

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The LAPD said it is believed she
may have offered services

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through a nonprofit organization
named Make Your Dreams Come

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True.
And the LAPD stated that she is

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not licensed by California's
Department of Real Estate to

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perform any real estate
services.

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And look, this is where the
story gets real.

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Because most people don't wake
up thinking I'm about to get

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scammed.
They wake up thinking I need

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help.
I need a workaround.

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I need somebody who understands
the system.

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I need a fix.
And in real life, especially

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when you're juggling work,
family, unstable rent, rising

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costs and the pressure to stay
afloat, help can sound like

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hope.
Consultant can sound like

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somebody about to put you on on
game, coach can sound like

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somebody finally giving you a
way out, and names that sound

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motivational can hit you right
in the soft spot.

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Because everybody's trying to
make a dream come true out here.

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Everybody.
That's why I call paper crimes

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loud, even when they're quiet,
because the consequences are

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loud.
A filing like this can derail A

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refinance.
It can pause a sale when you're

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trying to move your kids.
It can complicate inheritance

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plans.
It can drag you into months of

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stress you didn't earn.
And your nervous system doesn't

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care whether the threat came
from a gun or a document.

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When your housing feels
threatened, your body still here

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is danger.
And if you're listening and this

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feels far from your life, let me
bring it closer.

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When you talk about property,
you're talking about one of the

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most fragile forms of stability
in a lot of black households.

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You're talking about the thing
that is hardest to secure and

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easiest to lose when systems get
messy.

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You're talking about whether a
family has any cushion at all.

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You're talking about whether
something can be passed down or

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whether everybody has to start
over again.

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Not.
So what do you do with this

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right now?
First, you don't panic.

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Panic makes people easy to
manipulate a second time.

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You move with awareness.
If you own property, it's worth

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periodically checking your
property records to make sure

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nothing has been filed that you
don't recognize.

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If you're hiring someone who
claims they can handle real

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estate services, verify
credentials through official

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sources, not just social media
and reviews.

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If someone is promising
guaranteed outcomes on

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complicated processes like loan
modifications or fixing title

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problems, fast, slow down.
Ask for licensing.

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Ask for everything in writing.
Get a second opinion and if

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something shows up on your
record that you didn't

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authorize, treat it as urgent.
The LAPD said this investigation

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is ongoing and asked anyone with
information to contact their

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commercial crimes division or
submit anonymous tips through

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Crime Stoppers.
I'm not going to rush through a

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string of numbers and audio
because that never lands the way

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it should.
If you want the official contact

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information, go straight to the
LAPD newsroom.

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Release LinkedIn, the show
notes, use the exact correct

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channels.
And let me leave you with this.

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A lot of people think true crime
starts when something violent

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happens.
The attack, the abduction, the

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gunshots, the headline.
But some of the most devastating

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harm happens in slow motion,
through systems, through forms,

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through filings, through people
who understand the rules well

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enough to weaponize them against
people who don't have time to

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study the fine print.
So I want you to picture it one

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more time, but picture the
ending differently.

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Picture catching it early.
Picture checking the record

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before you need something.
Picture verifying credentials

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before you sign anything.
Picture protecting what you

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built, not just with locks and
cameras, but with knowledge of

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how the paperwork world can be
used against you.

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That's why this is in my inbox.
Real case, real document, real

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consequences.
And if it's still developing,

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I'll say that, too.
This has been JC's inbox.

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I'm JC Reedberg.
Stay alert, Protect your name,

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and protect what you've built.