Sterns Follies!
Kim Miller from the Palm Beach Post reports on the continued implosion of the Law Offices of David Stern. Apparently Sterns office is transferring thousands of files without doing the necessary reporting and notifications…shocker! As a result, houses that are supposed to go to foreclosure aren’t.
Fannie and Freddie are no longer utilizing his services. I wonder if Stern will sell his $20M Yacht to keep the electric on! If anyone hears that any of his multi million dollar houses are sliding into foreclosure, have him give me a call….I may be able to help him out!
Sterns Follies!
WEST PALM BEACH — The transfer of thousands of files from the deposed David J. Stern law firm caused not just a foul-up in recent Palm Beach County foreclosure auctions, but is shutting down cases to the point that one defense attorney called the lack of action “malpractice.”
Between Nov. 29 and Friday, there were 110 foreclosure sales in Palm Beach County in which the bank made no bid for the home, according to the Palm Beach County Clerk’s office.
Unwitting investors put in winning offers as low as $200 for homes they’ll probably never get because the auctions were not properly advertised, likely lost in the shuffle from Stern’s office to other firms.
Foreclosure defense attorneys said hearings are being canceled, they don’t know who is representing the banks in their cases, and that motions for Stern to withdraw from cases aren’t being filed, leaving the firm as attorney of record.
The problems led Broward County Chief Judge Victor Tobin to issue a temporary administrative order outlining how Stern cases should be handled and requiring legal evidence be shown that the firm was terminated and new counsel hired.
“It appears that Stern has not made arrangements for the orderly transfer of cases from him or his firm to new counsel for pending cases,” Tobin wrote.
And Palm Beach County Clerk of Court Sharon Bock said the transfers are “just adding to the misery that is already happening” in the foreclosure courts.
“As you try to solve one problem, you get another problem,” Bock said.
Attorney Jeff Tew, who is representing Stern and his firm, declined to comment Friday.
Stern’s Plantation-based company, once one of the largest in the state to handle foreclosure cases, was dramatically downsized this fall as allegations emerged of forged signatures, improperly notarized affidavits and fraudulently filed documents. Last month, mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both cut ties with the firm, which has laid off at least 50 percent of its staff since October.
Boca Raton foreclosure defense attorney Loretta Bangor said the decrease in staff is likely contributing to the confusion.
In order to change counsel or cancel a sale, a motion must be filed with the court.
“Who is there to actually send these things out?” asked Bangor, who has about 30 cases formerly handled by Stern. “Nothing is happening, nothing is being published, and if that’s the case, malpractice is being committed.”
Tom Ice, of the Royal Palm Beach-based foreclosure defense firm Ice Legal, said when he calls Stern’s office to ask about a case, he’s told that the file is no longer there.
“We hate to be jerks about it, but we can’t put our cases on hold indefinitely,” Ice said.
The most public manifestation of the problem was probably in the foreclosure auctions.
The 110 cases where sales occurred with no bid from the banks will likely have to go back to a judge to either have the sale canceled or verified.
Bock said Friday there are only 15 auctions scheduled in the next two weeks for cases handled by Stern. Because of the low number, she and the court administration decided against canceling all Stern sales.
“We’re expecting the new firms will have an opportunity to go through the records and make a judgment on what to do,” Bock said.