Dear Florida Senate Banking Committee,

I was appalled and disgusted to read Senator Joe Negron’s comments denouncing the Florida Attorney General’s investigations into foreclosure mill law firms.  Senator Negron even had the gall to take umbrage at the term “foreclosure mill” and presented an alternate viewpoint that a “Foreclosure mill could also be called very busy law firm because you provide excellent service to your clients.”

Senator Negron may be representing his Gunster associates instead of the people of Florida.  The foreclosure fraud issue is an international hot button issue.  Violations of due process and constitutional rights have been clearly documented by academics, legal professionals, consumer rights agencies, and attorneys across the state of Florida.  The level of fraud and misconduct by predatory and abusive financial institutions and their corrupt law firms have been the focus of US Congressional hearings, investigations by the FDIC, the SEC, the OCC, the US AG, USDOJ, individual states’ AGs, a multi-state AG panel, etc.  These investigations were not initiated because law firms were providing excellent service to their principled financial industry corporate clients.

Numerous court opinions from across Florida have highlighted foreclosure mill misconduct.  The partners and associates of these mills fabricate the evidence needed for their client to prevail in court.  This “evidence” is created based soley on information generated by a computer task list, often sent to the mill by a default processor such as Lender Processing Services.  Is there a rule of attorney professional conduct deems that conduct acceptable?

Has Senator Negron read the announcements by the Office of the Florida Attorney General regarding their investigations into Florida’s foreclosure mills?  Does Senator Negron believe these acts are to be commended in the name of providing excellent service to clients?  Economic Crimes Division of the Florida Attorney General’s Office investigates four top foreclosure mills  http://ning.it/92f7xy and http://ning.it/cREUqI and http://ning.it/bVaJ9H and http://ning.it/aXvWH7 and http://ning.it/9I75pg

The five most galling actions taken by the foreclosure bar are:
1) Filing millions of deficient documents (assignments of mortgage, endorsements/allonges on promissory notes, complaint verifications, affidavits of lost instruments, affidavits of indebtedness) signed by low level “document solutions” representatives who have no attendant personal knowledge or competence
2) Foreclosure bar employees signing assignments of mortgage, and thereby transferring property, under the guise of being a representative of the grantor when they are employees of the law firm who is representing grantee.  The grantee is the Plaintiff in the foreclosure action where these documents are often the sole proof of standing and ownership of the mortgage.

3) Filing signed legal documents by attorneys who exhibit such wild variations to their signatures that one is left to question the authenticity of the signers’ signatures

4) Distancing attorneys from accountability and liability for their actions by filing pleadings under the name of one attorney but always signed by a second attorney and then adding a third independent attorney into the mix by the commonplace practice of hiring local, independent counsel (who do not file any notice of appearance and refuse to state the name of their client) to litigate the cases, and

5) Willful disregard for the spirit and intent of the amended rule 1.110(b) published on Feb. 11, 2010 by the Florida Supreme Court.

  • Florida Default Law Group Sanctioned by Judge John K Olsen, Federal Judge in Ft Lauderdale   http://tinyurl.com/28lkk5s
  • Smith Hiatt Diaz Sanctioned by FL Judge Dennigan SHD Show Just Cause & Defreitas Smith Hiatt Contempt hearing Transcript 8-30-10%20transcr… & Dunnigan Order 49K Sanction
  • Smith Hiatt Diaz reminded of obligations by FL trial Judge Silver: Smith Hiatt Diaz SHD Hillsborough Judge Silver Reminder Order.pdf
  • Marshall Watson deficiencies discussed by FL trial Judge Rondolino Decker Dismissal Granted by Judge Rondolino.pdf
  • Law Office of David J Stern ex-employee admits to fraud factory practices Tammy Kapusta, paralegal KAPUSTAtammie.pdf
  • Attached assignments of mortgage executed by mill lawyers or employees
    • Cheryl Samons, employee at Law Office David J Stern (unsigned, witnessed assignment of mortgage)
    • Law Office of David J Stern, fraudulently dated to prior to the date of notary stamp existence – FL notaries are commissioned for a 4 year duration.
    • Marshall Watson attorney Caryn Graham executes two assignments of mortgage with variations of her signature for clients
    • Marc Ben-Ezra executed assignment of mortgage for his client
    • Roy Diaz & Virginia Hiatt of Smith Hiatt Diaz executing assignments of mortgage for clients
    • Ron Wolfe, managing partner of Florida Default Law Group signing assignment of mortgage for his client
    • Douglas Zahm of Law Office of Douglas Zahm signing assignment of mortgage for his client
    • Ilene Cooper, VP of Law Office of Shapiro Fishman signing assignment of mortgage for his client

Public perception will be thoroughly eroded if fraud, misconduct, and as defined by Florida statute §817.545, criminal acts by law firms are done in the name of providing “excellent service”.

Senator Negron made yet another extremely uninformed comment, “Doesn’t a bank have a right to foreclose on property if someone doesn’t pay the mortgage, even if financially it would make more sense to go to a short sale? Or is there some theory that I’m not aware of where the attorney general would have the right to tell a bank, ‘No, we’ve decided what’s in your best economic interest and we can enforce that’?”

In response, I direct Senator Negron to review the U.S. Congressional actions that occurred on October 3, 2008 when Congress provided the U.S. Treasury with the authority to spend $700 billion to stabilize the U.S. economy. Congress created the Office of Financial Stability (OFS) within Treasury to implement a Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). At the same time, Congress created a Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) to “review the current state of financial markets and the regulatory system.”

From the Congressional Oversight Panel website,

COP is empowered to hold hearings, review official data, and write reports on actions taken by Treasury and financial institutions and their effect on the economy.

Through regular reports, COP must:

  • Oversee Treasury’s actions
  • Assess the impact of spending to stabilize the economy
  • Evaluate market transparency,
  • Ensure effective foreclosure mitigation efforts
  • And guarantee that Treasury’s actions are in the best interest of the American people.

Lastly, Congress has instructed COP to produce a special report on regulatory reform that will analyze “the current state of the regulatory system and its effectiveness at overseeing the participants in the financial system and protecting consumers.”

Other oversight bodies examining TARP include the Special Inspector General for TARP (SIGTARP) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Further information on TARP is available through the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the official TARP website, FinancialStability.gov.

I also urge Senator Negron to familiarize himself with the FinancialStability.gov website where it is clearly stated, “Mortgage Foreclosure Mitigation: All recipients of capital investments under the Financial Stability Plan are required to commit to participate in mortgage foreclosure mitigation programs consistent with guidelines Treasury released as part of its Making Home Affordable mortgage modification program.”

In closing, please respond by email with fee for a recording of the Jan 11, 2011 hearing on Foreclosure Fraud.  I have asked for the cost of the recording for the December 8, 2010 hearing on Foreclosure Fraud and have yet to receive a response.

Sincerely,
Lisa Epstein
ForeclosureHamlet.org

~

EXHIBITS

Samons Unsigned Notarized Witnessed

Caryn Graham1

Graham v2

Ben Ezra Assignment of Mortgage as Grantor

Complaint With Diaz Assignment

Virginia Hiatt AOM

RWAOM3

zahm aom

Ilene Cooper1