Orlando Foreclosure Defense

That headline is the worst nightmare for any law firm, and for three of them in South Florida its a reality. The Florida Attorney General has recently issued a subpoena requesting thousands of papers from attorneys working on foreclosures. This investigation is targeting firms that handle a substantial volume of foreclosure cases for lenders, those firms are the Law Offices of David J. Stern in Plantation, the Law Offices of Marshall C. Watson in Fort Lauderdale, and Shapiro & Fishman which has offices in Tampa and Boca Raton.

Attorney General Bill McCollum has said that the reason for the investigation is that these firms may have presented fabricated documents in court to obtain get foreclosure judgments. The Attorney General has also claimed that these firms actions may have impacted thousands of cases in which the lender received a final judgment against the homeowner.

This whole situation has only just come to the attention of the economic crimes division because attorneys for homeowners brought it to their attention. The director of the economic crimes division, Mary Leontakianakos, has said, “I can tell you having seen some of this paperwork there is clearly some concern.”

The attorney who represents Stern’s firm, Jeffrey Tew, has said, “Every foreclosure is personally supervised by a circuit judge who is there to do one thing: Make sure the rights of the borrower or lender are protected.” In addition to this investigation by the state, Stern has also been sued by a homeowner who has accused them of generating fraudulent mortgage assignments.

This is the second time within the past year that the state has moved to investigate firms that handle foreclosures. As with the first time it will certainly take some time and effort to sort through the thousands of documents that will be involved with the investigation. These sorts of developments bring with it a great deal of anticipation to find out the end result, but as time is the enemy with these investigations it will be some time before we all find out the result. I will certainly keep abreast of any developments in this and hopefully update with a posting.

Most people think of mortgages as they functioned thirty years ago. A prospective homeowner goes to the bank, takes out a loan and pays the bank a mortgage payment every month. In thirty years, once the loan is paid off, the bank gives the homeowner a satisfaction of mortgage and everyone is happy.

This was before the rise of modern securitization, pooling and bundling shemes where mortgages were traded, sold, transferred, raided and pillaged- these are the same schemes that have left our economy in shambles.

I also hear many people express the belief that banks do not want their homes when they are discussing the current foreclosure crisis. They mention that banks are not in the business of owning and selling real estate. They discuss how their home is worth so much less than what is owed on the home, and assume that any bank must be suicidal if they proceed to obtain a judgment for foreclosure.

However, just like the mortgage securitization and trading schemes, there is more that meets the eye when it comes to what the bank wants. There are reinsurance agreements, reimbursement agreements and a host of offerings by the Treasury, FDIC and Federal Reserve designed to cushion the blow that this housing crisis has dealt to the banking industry.

The video link below represents one individual’s opinions on behind the scenes dealings between the banking industry and government. Please feel free to email us if you have any information or ideas on what is going on behind the scenes.

Everything is not as it seems. Just start digging a bit and you will find yourself tumbling down the foreclosure rabbit-hole.

Indymac and One West Video Link