August 10, 2010

The Economic Crimes Division of the office of the Florida Attorney General has announced today the launching of a criminal investigation of the Law Offices of David J. Stern, P.A., the Law Offices of Marshall Watson, P.A., and Shapiro & Fishman, P.A. regarding improper documentation created and filed in Florida foreclosure cases by these Firms to speed up the foreclosure process, oftentimes without knowledge of the homeowner. Interested readers may follow up on www.myfloridalegal.com/picture.html.

As those of you who follow this website already know, the Law Offices of David J. Stern has already been found by a Pasco County, Florida Court to have manuafactured false documentation and perpetrated a fraud upon the court in a written opinion in a foreclosure case where the borrower’s attorneys’ fees were assessed against Stern’s client. Our experience with the Stern and Shapiro & Fishman Firms has also demonstrated that these Firms consistently violate due process and the ethics rules in their relentless pursuit of pushing foreclosures through the courts with arrogance and contempt not only for the law but for opposing counsel as well, with an attitude of “how dare you defend these cases!”

What should happen, and what FDN attorneys and associates have already discussed more than once, is that the Florida courts should appoint a special commission to examine each and every foreclosure action filed by these Firms (and Florida Default Law Group as well, who we also know, from personal experience and reported court proceedings, also routinely engages in misconduct in “prosecuting” foreclosure cases) from their first foreclosure filing in their history, and for any case which appears to have any indication of improper procedure, that each such case be reopened and the borrower be permitted to defend it. We were recently retained on a case filed by the Stern Firm in 2003 which has indications of improper procedure and false allegations.

Jeff Barnes, Esq., www.ForeclosureDefenseNationwide.com