Michigan State Rep-Elect Banks' Car Repossessed

Newly elected to the Michigan House of Representatives, Brian Banks is poised to be sworn in as the representative for District 1 in Lansing in January.  District 1 includes Grosse Pointe Shores, Grosse Pointe Woods, Harper Woods and some of Detroit.

There maybe some question as to how he'll get to Lansing though.  According to a Nov. 12 article by MyFoxDetroit.com, Banks' Land Rover was repossessed last week after more than four months of being followed by a recovery agent. Banks' 2003 Jaguar was repossessed earlier.

Banks, an eight-time felon convicted of passing bad checks and credit card fraud from 1998 to 2004, has said publicly that he’s turned his life around after earning a Master's degree and a law degree.

In October, Banks was evicted from two homes he leased in Harper Woods and a judgment for $3751 was levied against him after checks he wrote to his landlord bounced.

According to the attorney for one of Banks' Harper Woods landlords, criminal charges are a possibility his client is considering. According to MCL 750.131, if Banks knowingly wrote a bad check over $500, he could be charged with a 2-year felony.

Which begs the question, will fellow Michigan House members seat Banks' if he has pending criminal charges?

Legislators will likely consider the 2010 amendment to the state's constitution that bars felons from holding state office if they have a conviction involving fraud or dishonesty in the last 20 years. As the crime must be related to the officeholder's official capacity, this rule may not apply to Banks. However, the constitution does permit either house to expel a member by a two-thirds vote.

To date, Mr. Banks has not responded to emails and phone messages left by Patch.