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

Bondi asks for court action on foreclosure cases, says consumers at “considerable risk”

December 30, 2011 By Steve Dibert Leave a Comment

Kimberly Miller, Palm Beach Post

Florida AG Pam Bondi

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is asking the Florida Supreme Court to review a lower court’s ruling that bans her from investigating foreclosure law firms under an unfair trade practices law.

The “motion for certification” filed Wednesday says 4th District Court of Appeal rulings against her office in two recent cases “have impaired a significant line of inquiry” into the problem of invalid or fraudulent assignments of mortgages that law firms allegedly created to speed up foreclosures.

The appeals court said that state subpoenas for information against both the Plantation-based Law Offices of David J. Stern and Shapiro and Fishman, in Boca Raton, were invalid because the attorney general’s office could not investigate firms under the Florida Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

“Many foreclosure proceedings have been marred by the use of invalid assignments of notes and mortgages, often by ‘robo-signing.’ Given the large number of foreclosures in Florida and the prevalence of robo-signing and other unlawful practices, there can be no question that Florida consumers are at considerable risk,” the motion states.

Florida Supreme Court Admits Failure And Ends Foreclosure Mediation Program

December 20, 2011 By Steve Dibert 1 Comment

Jeff Ostrowski, Palm Beach Post

Florida’s foreclosure crisis lives on, but a statewide mediation program for troubled borrowers is dead.

Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles T. Canady issued an order Monday ending the effort to encourage lenders and borrowers to avoid foreclosure.

The program was a flop. Only 3.6 percent of cases referred to mediation statewide yielded a written agreement between the lender and homeowner. In Palm Beach County, which began its program in July 2010, a mere 1.6 percent of the 4,632 cases sent to mediation resulted in a written agreement.

Often, lenders couldn’t even reach borrowers to propose mediation. Of 78,076 cases referred to mediation statewide, lenders managed to get in touch with just 42 percent of borrowers.

“The court has reviewed the reports on the program and determined it cannot justify continuation of the program,” Canady wrote.

Lenders and borrowers can continue to haggle over loans already in the mediation program, but it will take on no new cases, he said.

Lenders blamed economic reality for the program’s failure. Home prices have plummeted and jobless rates have soared since the real estate bubble burst, creating financial obstacles that were just too great for many to overcome, said Anthony DiMarco, executive vice president of government affairs at the Florida Bankers Association.

“It was a well-intentioned program that just didn’t work,” DiMarco said. “If someone’s lost their job, a substantial part of their income, I don’t know how they can work that out.”

But foreclosure attorney Tom Ice of Royal Palm Beach said the program failed not because of a moribund economy but because of the way it was designed.

Florida Supremes Will Rule On Foreclosure Involving Fraudulent Bank Documents

December 9, 2011 By Steve Dibert Leave a Comment

Kimberly Miller, Palm Beach Post

The Florida Supreme Court said Thursday it will rule on an already settled Palm Beach County foreclosure case because the opinion could impact the “mortgage foreclosure crisis throughout this state.”

The court was divided on the unusual decision to hear the settled case, which involves allegedly fraudulent bank documents.

But four of the seven justices said the legal question posed transcends the individual Greenacres homeowner and is one that needs to be answered for lower courts and litigants.

At issue is whether the bank can still be held accountable for fraudulent documents if it voluntarily dismisses the foreclosure case when challenged.

“This is wonderful and great news for homeowners in Florida,” said Royal Palm Beach-based attorney Tom Ice, who represented homeowner Roman Pino against the Bank of New York Mellon. “It’s all about whether a party’s right to dismiss trumps the court’s right to protect its own integrity.”

Ice said he couldn’t comment on the settlement his client reached with the bank or whether it could be affected by the Supreme Court’s decision.

The bank filed for foreclosure against Pino in 2008, saying it was the owner of the mortgage by way of an assignment from another lender.

A bank representative in New York said he didn’t have enough information about the case or the Supreme Court action on Thursday to immediately comment.

When Ice challenged the allegedly backdated assignment, the bank voluntarily dropped the case.

“We wanted to bring the court’s attention to the fact that the documents were fraudulent,” said Ice, who asked for the dismissal to be reversed.

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

Investigation clears attorney general’s office in lawyers’ firing

Bondi asks for court action on foreclosure cases, says consumers at “considerable risk”

Florida Supreme Court Admits Failure And Ends Foreclosure Mediation Program

Florida Supremes Will Rule On Foreclosure Involving Fraudulent Bank Documents

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