If you recall just recent, there was a class action announced against both LPS and Ben-Ezra alleging fee-splitting.

Via: Palm Beach Post

The Florida attorney general’s office issued subpoenas to two South Florida foreclosure law firms regarding business done with Lender Processing Services and LPS Default Solutions’ “Strategic Partnership Group.”

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HousingWire

The alleged splitting of attorney fees between foreclosure law firms and third-party mortgage servicing providers is the subject of another lawsuit, bringing the number of cases filed on this issue to five within the past seven months, said Nick Wooten, an Alabama-based plaintiff’s attorney involved in all of the cases.

By mid-May, Wooten said he expects to file 10 to 12 additional cases, making similar allegations about what he claims are illegal, split-attorney fee arrangements between mortgage servicing outsourcers and law firms. The cases are concentrated in the Northern District of Mississippi, the Southern District of Alabama and the Northern District of Florida-Pensacola division.

Via: NakedCapitalism

The latest filing is in bankruptcy court in the Northern District of Florida, In re Harris, and involves both LPS (the parent company and its subsidiary LPS Default Solutions) and major Florida foreclosure mill Ben-Ezra & Katz. The bankruptcy clients of Ben Ezra are the group that the litigation seeks to have certified as a class. Note that the usual remedy for the sharing of impermissible legal fees is disgorgment. In addition, the suit lists ten causes of actions, of which the fee sharing is only one.

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Excellent  job from Palm Beach Post Christine Stapleton and Kimberly Miller:

Angry and exasperated by faulty foreclosure documents, judges throughout Florida are hitting back by increasingly dismissing cases and boldly accusing lawyers of “fraud upon the court.”

A Palm Beach Post review of cases in state and appellate courts found judges are routinely dismissing cases for questionable paperwork. Although in most cases the bank is allowed to refile the case with the appropriate documents, in a growing number of cases judges are awarding homeowners their homes free and clear after finding fraud upon the court.

Still, critics say judges are not doing enough.

“The judges are the gatekeepers to jurisprudence, to the Florida Constitution, to access to the courts and to due process,” said attorney Chip Parker, a Jacksonville foreclosure defense attorney who was recently investigated by the Florida Bar for his critical comments about so-called “rocket dockets” during an interview with CNN. “It’s discouraging when it appears as if there is an exception being made for foreclosure cases.”

According to Housing Wire [link]

JPMorgan Chase must pay a $4 million surety bond to expedite the transfer of foreclosure cases still under the umbrella of foreclosure law firm Ben-Ezra & Katz.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida made that ruling after JPMorgan Chase Bank sued Ben-Ezra, alleging the firm is delaying the return of foreclosure documents that represent $400 million in financial transactions. JPMorgan requested the documents after terminating an agreement with Ben-Ezra to handle its foreclosures.

© 2010-19 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.

March 28 (Bloomberg) — JPMorgan Chase & Co. sued the Florida law firm of Ben-Ezra & Katz to force it to return files of foreclosure cases in which the firm represented the bank.

JPMorgan said in a complaint filed March 25 in federal court in Miami that the files include thousands of original promissory notes, mortgages and other documents that “evidence and secure” loans worth more than $400 million. The New York- based bank seeks a court order forcing Ben-Ezra to return the files and unspecified damages.

BY CARRICK MOLLENKAMP AND NICK TIMIRAOS

Fannie Mae was warned in a 2006 internal report of abuses in the way lenders and their law firms handled foreclosures, long before regulators launched investigations into the mortgage industry’s practices.

The report said foreclosure attorneys in Florida had “routinely made” false statements in court in an effort to more quickly process foreclosures and raised questions about whether some mortgage servicers or another entity had the legal standing to foreclose.

Via: PB Post‘s Kim Miller

Excerpt:

THE COURT: No, not now. The Court
19 has already dismissed it. It is gone.
20 And the Court is finding you in
21 contempt and you, sir, Mr. Cornell, for
22 filing this in this manner when these
23 documents are so questionable. You are
24 to pay opposing counsel’s fees and
25 costs.

1 And the mortgage is dismissed with
2 prejudice. And based on the 1099 the
3 note is canceled and dismissed with
4 prejudice as it looks like the note has
5 been satisfied. And if they want to go
6 for some other sort of judgment, I
7 suppose they can do that.

8 And the Court will draft an order
9 finding you in contempt, finding you
10 grossly negligent, both of you and I’m
11 sending this to the Bar. This is just
12 enough.

13 It’s time that somebody looked at
14 this stuff and reacted instead of
15 waiting until you come in front of a
16 judge, having a judge dress you down,
17 which I’m very sorry to have to do and
18 then say, “Wait a minute. We can fix
19 this.”

continue below… Courtesy of PBPost

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The case file cited below relates to a civil — not a criminal — investigation. The existence of an investigation does not constitute proof of any violation of law.

Now this is not cool. Last time there was a lot of hate going around from employees of the first  Mill that Fannie let go. These employees should not be at all surprised as they saw this coming. Not only are these employers jeopardizing their business but the jobs of their staff.

By Diane C. Lade, Sun Sentinel

A Hollywood law firm that processes thousands of foreclosures for major lenders laid off almost half of its 568 employees Monday, days after the government-owned mortgage giant Fannie Mae pulled its files from the practice.

Ben-Ezra & Katz, in a memo released by a company spokesman, said the firm was “forced to take this action after Fannie Mae surprisingly terminated its relationship with the firm.” In a notice sent five days ago, Fannie Mae officials said all exisiting foreclosures, mediations and bankruptcies needed to be transferred to other loan servicers by Tuesday, citing “document execution” issues.

Ben-Ezra officials issued a statement last week, saying the question was whether correct original documents were attached to each foreclosure filing. The law firm said it already had notified Fannie of the “technical paperwork issues” and had created a plan to mediate them, but the mortgage backer suddenly decided to cut ties.

It’s unknown how many foreclosures are involved. Statewide, Ben-Ezra & Katz has handled at least 18,000 cases, according to Legalprise, a West Palm Beach data analysis firm.

Just yesterday I was lamenting the absence of any sanction against Ben-Ezra & Katz for its ongoing and systemic fraud on the courts, per Fannie Mae, which fired the foreclosure mill.  Today, I got some insight into the fraud, and it’s not pretty.  To illustrate, read this Order to Show Cause.  I promise – it’s a whopper.

Apparently, Ben-Ezra filed a foreclosure suit with a lost note count, then filed an “original” note signed by an entirely different defendant on an entirely different property, along with a fraudulent assignment of mortgage.  The Court entered summary judgment, then, upon realizing the fraud, directed Ben-Ezra & Katz to show cause why they should not be held in contempt of court.

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By Kimberly Miller Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Updated: 7:18 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011
Posted: 7:07 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011

Federal mortgage giant Fannie Mae has cut ties with a second South Florida law firm handling its foreclosure cases, requiring an immediate transfer of those files to other attorneys and likely causing more turmoil in the state’s foreclosure courts.

The termination of its relationship with the Fort Lauderdale firm of Ben-Ezra & Katz, P.A. was announced today in a notice to loan servicers. The notice says payments to the firm should be stopped immediately and gives servicers a Feb. 15 deadline to find new firms to handle the Ben-Ezra & Katz files.

“Fannie Mae has become aware of certain document execution issues at the Ben-Ezra law firm regarding its processing of foreclosure cases on our behalf,” said Fannie Mae spokeswoman Amy Bonitatibus.

“It is our expectation that law firms will handle matters in strict compliance with proper procedures, ethical codes of conduct and legal requirements.”

Ben-Ezra & Katz has represented banks in 508 Palm Beach County foreclosure cases in the past two years where the homes were ordered to auction.

Here is a sample…

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Link to his site: Christian Meister

Just want to make it clear that no one from his office/party sent this to me.

Winner in my book!

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ASSIGNMENT OF MORTGAGE , “Assignor”

Hmmmm

“Assignment of Mortgage”It is signed by Lisa Wickser who is identified as the Assistant Secretary of

“Assignment of Mortgage”

though the notary says she notarized the signature of Rose C. Lara who is also identified as an Assistant Secretary of that same company,

“Assignment of Mortgage.”

Hat tip to the person who added the markings…now it’s up against a Monet art piece!

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Keep sending these in…

940 18 U.S.C. Section 1341—Elements of Mail Fraud

© 2010-19 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.