One of the avid readers of this blog alerted me to this very interesting development…
Now, how brazen, or maybe just plain incompetent, is this?
Notice of Filing of Affidavit of Reasonable Attorneys Fees
Dated June 28, 2010
Nothing too strange there…
Affidavit as to Reasonable Attorneys Fees
Standard run of “the mill” language (HA, no pun intended)
Affiant and Notary Signatures
Dated June 17th 2009
Hmmm… Lisa and Erin Cullaro…
Now where do I know those two names from…
Oh yea, now I remember… It is from a post I put up back in March…
Scandalous – Substantiated Allegations of Foreclosure Fraud That Implicates the Florida Attorney General’s Office and The Florida Default Law Group
“This is a foreclosure action filed by WELLS FARGO BANK, NA (the “BANK”). The BANK is represented by Florida Default Law Group, P.L. (“FDLG”). On behalf of the BANK in this case, and on behalf of other clients in other cases, FDLG filed affidavits to establish that the attorneys’ fees it was allegedly paid were reasonable. The affidavits purport to have been executed by Lisa Cullaro, the appointed expert on attorneys’ fees. The notary who allegedly administered the expert’s oath and vouched for her signature was Erin Cullaro, a former employee of FDLG and now an Assistant Attorney General in the Economic Crimes Division of the Office of the Attorney General.”
Economic Crimes Division. The same Economic Crimes Division that investigates firms like the FDLG?
What is it that William Black said?
“The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One“
Well How about this…
“The best way to stop an investigation is to become one of the investigators“
Not only was Erin just a former employee, it looks like she was one of the lead counsel for Michael Echeverria, the owner of FDLG (Florida Default Law Group)
Just recently their website http://www.echevarria.com/AttorneyProfiles.htm went “offline” but Google cashed version is here…
I also archived it here…
The public records request also revealed that Ms. Cullaro completed a “Request for Approval of Dual Employment” (From the Florida Attorney General’s Office) in which she certified that her secondary job notarizing documents “does not create a conflict of interest (as specified in Chapter 112, Part III, Florida Statutes) nor the appearance of impropriety…” Ms. Cullaro’s dual employment was limited to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 7:00 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. Defendants proffer that they will show affidavits executed on days other than those approved by the Office of the Attorney General and that travel records suggest that Ms. Cullaro would have not been present in Florida on the date and time that an affidavit was notarized.
Here are the signatures to compare…
So which signature is really Erin’s???
Well here is a copy of an Oath she signed back in 1996, wonder where she went astray…
That’s strange, the E on the above affidavit of reasonable attorneys fees look nothing like the signature on the oath…
Now, these issues are not a secret as they were reported in many well respected publications after hitting the blogs…
Such as;
Hard Hitting Report – Florida AG Bill McCollum Investigates its own, Erin Collins Cullaro
Daily Business Review: Law firm probed over ‘false’ documents …
to name a few…
Not to mention the investigation into the Florida Default Law Group on these exact issues…
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum Launches Investigations into Florida Default Law Group and Docx, LLC a/k/a Lender Processing Services
With that said, there are pending requests for depositions of these individuals, but their attorneys are fighting like bloody hell to not let them happen.
Reason being? They pull the affidavits when questioned so their theory is, why depose someone that is not relevant to the case anymore since we pulled the affidavit.
My response to that is, just because you got caught filing documents that are questionable, pulling them does not make you immune from filing them in the first place…
Kind of like when a shoplifter gets caught walking out of the store with some merchandise, then trying to give it back promising never to do it again to avoid being prosecuted, right?
Knowing what we all know, how can these affidavits still be allowed to be filed in the courts across this state to disposes people of their homes???
How can these affidavits be allowed while there is an internal investigation within the attorney generals office being conducted on these practices???
How many of these affidavits are in files that have not been submitted yet???
How much longer will the people put up with all of the frauds that are being perpetrated by these foreclosure mills, in which the courts are allowing, before they take matters into their own hands???
Guess it is time for this homeowner to send out their request to depose these nice young ladies.
I bet they will first try to pull the affidavit, then move for protective order…
Maybe they will replace it with one from Erin’s Husband… Wouldn’t that be nice…
Why run and hide if you have done nothing wrong?
to be continued…
~
Florida Default Group file papers for foreclosure, I just went through all the paperwork and they never went to court in three years, they scheduled three court dates and cancelled them and my original mortgage is lost. What they sent me was notoraized by Lisa Curallo and one is notarized in South Carolina???? They scheduled a foreclosure sale date in December 2010 and they cancelled the sale only three days before it was to happen. All this time I have not heard from Wells Fargo my mortgage company. Now I receive a letter from the Florida Default group telling me my house had been sold and that I had 90 days to move out of the house. Then I get a letter from some Mortgage Company telling me that I had to pay the difference between the amount the house was sold for and the amount of the mortgage. MY HO– USE WAS NEVER SOLD!!! It appears in court records under my husbands name in the meantime Wells Fargo has cancelled my homeowners insurance and have not been able to cancel my flood insurance because they require the copy of the foreclosure sale. THERE WAS NO FORECLOSURE SALE!! Mean time I pulled all the court records and the Fla Default group scheduled three court dates in three years and cancelled them all. They never went to court and I have been trying to work out a loan modification and have sent Wells Fargo probably 25 times information on my financial situation and I have not received a response. Now they are claiming that I abandoned the house, I AM HERE!!! and I have been paying my homeowners association fees. I have copies of electric bill, water bills for the entire time this charade has been going on, my house has never been abandoned and it is in perfect condition, my pool is clean, my yard is mowed and my hedges are trimmed. I am in LIMBO what do I do now? But I resent the fact that Lisa Currallo notarized papers saying my house had been sold at auction and for me to get out of the house!!!!!! Why is the state attorney not doing something about this, I called them and they told me to file a complaint, well I have done that several times and have received no response. Is this a nightmare or what?????
Maria Lopez
This is some great reporting but is anyone really under the delusion that anything is really going to happen to Florida Default of any consequence? I just got off the phone with the AG heading the case she assured me she is doing everything in her power per Florida Statute 501. The crimes are so much more expansive and the players are the banks themselves who continually hire this and other known corrupt law firms to prosecute corrupt foreclosure firms. The provisions in RESPA would have much more bite with the ability to end the mills and banks practices permanently. I am sure we will be saddles with new ineffective laws verses applying the laws on the books that would resolve this fraud and provide a remedy to us all. Details at http://www.Woodwardlaw.com
A couple of other things came to mind: one is that the last name of the affiant and the notary are the same; are they related. Isn’t there a problem with that? Also, I can’t believe that the “E” on the notary siganutre matches Ms. Cullaro’s official signature on file with the state. Didn’t Bryan Bly just get into trouble over that?
Yes, they are related, Erin is married to Lisa’s brother John who took over Lisa’s role after they were caught, and yes, complaints have been filed regarding the various “signatures” of “E” with multiple agencies…