Fight Club: Pawtucket Foreclosure Lawyer, George Babcock, Will Appeal $10,000 Fine Levied by Judge

Foreclosure warrior and law dog Attorney George Babcock was sanctioned $10,000 earlier this week by Judge McConnell of the Federal District Court for the District of Rhode Island at the recommendation of Special Master Merrill Sherman.

The sanctions were based solely on the recommendations of the Special Master, and the Special Master alone. At a hearing, where no evidence was presented and no testimony was given, a ruling was simply made to sanction a man who has stood up and fought for the victims of home foreclosure.

Christine Dunn specifies the details of the sanctions in an article she wrote in the Providence Journal,

“A Pawtucket lawyer who is representing homeowners challenging their foreclosures in 705 of the 831 cases in Rhode Island’s federal court has been fined $10,000 by U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr.”

The article continues to point out

“Attorney George Babcock was ordered to pay four $2,500 fines for signing and submitting to the court papers that contain false factual contentions,” according to the order, which was signed by McConnell on Tuesday.”

“Babcock said the mediation program has been a ‘failure’ and he is being used as a ‘scapegoat’.”

Click here to read the article in full.

Babcock was surprised by the sanctions, and feels he was targeted by Special Master Sherman because he has been openly critical of her and her inability to manage and oversee the Federal Mediation program as the program was conceived. Further making it clear that he and his office “have bent over backward to satisfy every demand of the Special Master and the Federal District Court,”

According to Babcock, the Special Master failed to carry out the program in the way it was designed as specified in a clear-cut order from Judge McConnell. (The appointment of Sherman took place in January of 2012 shortly after the program was created with the intention of bringing homeowners and lenders together to negotiate settlements and keep people in their homes.)

A variety of media outlets have reported on the goals of the program, its operation, and its failings over the course its existence as well.

Fight Club: Pawtucket Foreclosure Lawyer, George Babcock, Will Appeal $10,000 Fine Levied by Judge