“What you’re telling me is you pay lip service to me but yet I have not seen one single actual corrected policy procedure, you’re telling me your volume practice is going to remain because you can’t afford it,” Dunnigan said.
Judge fines major legal firm for foreclosure conduct
Lawyers to pay $49,000 for not showing up at scheduled hearings
Last Modified: Monday, August 30, 2010 at 10:46 p.m.
MANATEE COUNTY – A circuit judge singled out a Fort Lauderdale foreclosure firm on Monday, finding its business model violates legal ethics and leveling a $49,000 fine for scheduling hearings and then not showing up in court.
Circuit Judge Janette Dunnigan scolded five lawyers from the Smith, Hiatt and Diaz firm in connection with a Manatee County foreclosure case filed in 2007. The firm is one of several “foreclosure mills” filing thousands of foreclosure cases monthly.
The firm’s attorneys filed what amounted to “sham” paperwork setting seven hearings over two years, and then failed to appear in court or tell the judge or other parties when they were canceled. The case is still unresolved.
The behavior is willful, deliberate and flagrant and violates oaths of professional practice for lawyers, Dunnigan said. The firm also routinely does not comply with local court rules about how foreclosure cases should be handled, Dunnigan ruled.
“It is disrespectful and inconsiderate of the court’s time and impedes judicial administration,” Dunnigan said.
Sarasota attorney Michael Belle, who is trying to clean up the foreclosure process, said it was the first major penalty from a state judge about how the so-called “foreclosure mills” do business.
The firms handle the majority of foreclosure cases for lenders, bidding against each other to handle large numbers of cases.
The firm’s attorneys filed what amounted to “sham” paperwork setting seven hearings over two years, and then failed to appear in court or tell the judge or other parties when they were canceled. The case is still unresolved.
The behavior is willful, deliberate and flagrant and violates oaths of professional practice for lawyers, Dunnigan said. The firm also routinely does not comply with local court rules about how foreclosure cases should be handled, Dunnigan ruled.
“It is disrespectful and inconsiderate of the court’s time and impedes judicial administration,” Dunnigan said.
Continue reading…Herald Tribune
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