If Nevada AG Says It’s Doc Fraud Why Doesn’t Florida Barbie?

January 15, 2012 By Steve Dibert Leave a Comment

Is signing foreclosure documents for others forgery?

Kimberly Miller, Palm Beach Post

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi

The Nevada attorney general calls signing another person’s name on documents used to repossess a home “forgery” and a “scheme.”

Michigan’s attorney general launched a criminal investigation that includes whether “falsified signatures” were used in foreclosure cases.

But Theresa Edwards and June Clarkson were forced to resign their jobs as foreclosure fraud investigators for the Florida Attorney General’s Office, in part, for referring to so-called “surrogate signing” as forgery.

According to a Florida Inspector General report that cleared Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office of wrongdoing in the firings, the duo repeatedly used the word “forgery” in a 2010 presentation that included documents from the Jacksonville-based Lender Processing Services. The company complained and drew the attention of economic crimes boss Richard Lawson.

Lawson says in the inspector general’s Jan. 6 report that surrogate signing as it relates to Lender Processing Services, also called LPS, is not forgery, which requires an intent to defraud. The practice was authorized by the company, more evidence, Lawson said, that no forgery occurred.

Homeowner advocates who support Edwards and Clarkson are now questioning portions of the 83-page report. They point to the LPS signature issue as an example of what they say is Florida’s resistance to go after foreclosure fraud.

Big paperwork processor

“Theresa Edwards and June Clarkson were fired for aggressively investigating these practices,” said Palm Beach County homeowner Lynn Szymoniak, who is in foreclosure. ” Are these practices really OK in the opinion of the chief financial officer and the attorney general?”

Inspector General Clears Florida Barbie’s Office In Lawyers’ Firing

January 7, 2012 By Steve Dibert 4 Comments

Investigation clears attorney general’s office in lawyers’ firing

Kimberly Miller, Palm Beach Beach

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office has been cleared of wrongdoing in the May ouster of two employees widely lauded for their foreclosure fraud investigations.

The state inspector general released an 84-page report Friday detailing its findings during a five-month review of the forced resignations of former Assistant Attorneys General Theresa Edwards and June Clarkson.

The report concludes that no laws or policies were violated in terminating Edwards and Clarkson, and that they were dismissed because of their “poor judgment and lack of independent investigation on high-profile foreclosure mill cases.”

The duo was responsible for a $2 million settlement reached last year with the foreclosure law firm of Marshall C. Watson in Fort Lauderdale and received high marks in evaluations from their direct supervisor.

But others in the attorney general’s office, including Deputy Attorney General and Chief of Staff Carlos Muniz, and Director of Economic Crimes Richard Lawson felt differently. Both were hired last year when Bondi took office and said Edwards and Clarkson were given the option to resign or be fired because of a “failure to improve after multiple warnings.”

The uproar that followed the dismissals, which included concerns that they were politically motivated, pushed Bondi in August to request the independent query by the inspector general of the Florida Department of Financial Services.

At least 10 people were interviewed and dozens of others named in the report, including Palm Beach County homeowner advocates Lisa Epstein and Lynn Szymoniak. Szymoniak was featured last year in a 60 Minutes report on foreclosure fraud.

In a Friday press release, Bondi emphasized other areas of the report that raised concerns about “disorganization,” “non-responsiveness” to public records requests, “factual errors” in public presentations, “incorrect legal theories” and “sloppy” work.

“The report confirms the terminations had nothing to do with politics or outside influence,” Bondi said. “Rather, it was about doing the right thing in defense of the people of Florida.”

Edwards said Friday she was not surprised by the report’s conclusion and questioned how impartial it could be when conducted by the inspector general of the Republican-led Department of Financial Services. The department is headed by Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater.

Filed Under: Florida, Mortgage News Tagged With: Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, Florida attorneys, Florida Bankers Association, Florida Bar, Florida Barbie, Florida Foreclosure, florida foreclosure backlog, florida foreclosure fraud, florida foreclosure lawsuits, Florida foreclosure mills, Florida Foreclosure Process, florida foreclosures, Florida Supreme Court, foreclosure, foreclosure crisis, foreclosure defense, foreclosure help, foreclosure help florida, foreclosure rescue, foreclosures, help for florida homeowners, Housing Crisis, illegal florida foreclosures, illegal foreclosures, lender processing services, mfi-miami, Mortgage Crisis, mortgage fraud, mortgage help, mortgage servicers, mortgage servicing fraud, mortgage servicing investigation, mortgage servicing practices, mortgages, Pam Bondi, Progress Florida, Tea Party

Why Paragraph 22 Of Your Mortgage Matters

December 6, 2011 By Steve Dibert Leave a Comment

Steve Dibert, MFI-Miami

This is an interesting decision by the 2nd District Court of Appeals in Florida. In this case, the homeowner, Bryson argued that BB&T had violated the terms of the mortgage contract by not providing a notice to cure as required by paragraph 22 of the mortgage.

At a hearing held on the summary judgment motion, Bryson argued that BB&T had not refuted the affirmative defenses related to paragraph 22 of the mortgage and that the two default notice letters were not authenticated and could not be considered for summary judgment purposes. BB&T responded that the letters were”self-authenticating” because they were created by the bank. The court granted summary judgment to BB&T. The 2nd DCA disagreed and reversed and remanded the case back to the Circuit Court.

Bryson-v-BBT 2nd FL DCA Ruling

Filed Under: Florida, Mortgage News Tagged With: 2nd District Court of Appeals, Bryson v. BB&T, florida foreclosure fraud, Florida Foreclosure Process, florida foreclosures, florida mortgage fraud, foreclosure, foreclosure crisis, foreclosure defense, foreclosure help, foreclosure rescue, foreclosures, help for florida homeowners, Housing Crisis, illegal florida foreclosures, illegal foreclosures, mortgage backed securities, Mortgage Crisis, mortgage fraud, mortgage help, mortgages, Paragraph 22

Lawmakers Want To Move Foreclosure Notices To The Web

December 4, 2011 By Steve Dibert Leave a Comment

Some state legislators want to move legal notices of foreclosures from newspapers to the Internet. The move has sparked a debate over access to information and charges of favoritism.

Steve Bousquet, Herald/Times via Miami herald

In the midst of Florida’s housing crisis, some state lawmakers want to move legal notices of foreclosures from newspapers to the Internet, sparking a debate over access to information and charges of favoritism.

Newspapers publish hundreds of thousands of small-type legal notices a year, which are required before a lender can foreclose on a home. The revenue is lucrative for business publications that depend heavily on legal ads.

Supporters say the change is long overdue, as newspaper readership declines and more and more commerce is transacted electronically.

Critics, largely newspapers, say Web-only notices would hurt the poor and elderly, who aren’t computer-savvy.

They also claim the legislation is tailored to enrich a single entity, Albertelli Law in Tampa, which is lobbying for the bill and operates PREO.com, a foreclosure website that calls itself “the complete default marketplace.”

The same firm is under investigation by Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office following 16 consumer complaints alleging shoddy legal practices such as the use of fraudulent signatures, a practice known as “robo-signing.”

PREO’s Tallahassee lobbyist, Sandra Mortham, calls it “absolutely fallacious” that the bill favors her client. She said that while the idea was inspired by the client, attorney and PREO founder James Albertelli, “this is not about him doing it exclusively.”

“Newspapers have had a monopoly on this for 60 years. I understand why they would want to keep it,” says Mortham, a former Pinellas lawmaker and secretary of state. “People might as well get used to this. It’s going to come.”

Albertelli says PREO once got several hundred thousand “hits” or views each month, but that has declined to about 100,000 a month. As for the investigation, he said: “None of the complaints are meritorious.”

Sen. Steve Wise, R-Jacksonville, and Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, are sponsoring the bills, which specify that to qualify, a publicly accessible website must attract at least 100,000 hits a month from unique visitors.

If Nevada AG Says It’s Doc Fraud Why Doesn’t Florida Barbie?

Is signing foreclosure documents for others forgery?

Inspector General Clears Florida Barbie’s Office In Lawyers’ Firing

Investigation clears attorney general’s office in lawyers’ firing

Why Paragraph 22 Of Your Mortgage Matters

Lawmakers Want To Move Foreclosure Notices To The Web

Translation

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