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Fraudulent Foreclosure Actions Under Scrutiny in Florida

On Behalf of | Jan 12, 2011 | Foreclosures

With the recent scandals involving improperly processed foreclosure paperwork, foreclosure judges are taking a hard look at the foreclosure actions that have been filed by attorneys on behalf of lenders. Foreclosure documents must be examined and notarized. When those documents contain errors, people can be wrongly evicted from their homes. That is why foreclosure judges in many states, including Florida, have begun to hold the banks’ lawyers accountable for the errors they are finding in foreclosure filings.

Recently, a Florida bank foreclosure lawyer is currently under investigation by the Florida Attorney General’s office. The Florida lawyer performed approximately 20 percent of the bank foreclosure actions in the state of Florida. The firm is accused of filing careless and even fraudulent mortgage documents. The firm has since been fired by many of the major banks.

Judges are putting pressure on bank foreclosure lawyers in an effort to uphold the integrity of the court process. Judges would like to hold bank foreclosure lawyers accountable if they misrepresent the facts or otherwise provide fraudulent information.

As a result, judges hope to require bank foreclosure lawyers to affirm that documents filed in connection with a Florida foreclosure action have been reviewed with the bank client. Furthermore, judges hope to require bank foreclosure lawyers to confirm the accuracy of the facts contained in such documents. Such requirements could subject bank foreclosure lawyers to disciplinary action and the possibility of losing their license to practice law if foreclosure documents are found to have errors.

The bottom line is that the judicial system wants to ensure that the thousands of pending foreclosures are genuine. The many homeowners in danger of losing their homes should not face the foreclosure process alone. Foreclosure defense lawyers are instrumental in preventing homeowners from losing their homes based on misrepresentations or fraudulent documents.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, “Judge Berates Bank Lawyers in Foreclosures,” John Schwartz, 10 Jan 2011

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