Attorney Cranked Out Paperwork For $2 Per Each Blindly Signed Document Filed In Florida Foreclosure Mill's Home Loan Lawsuits

In Central Florida, a recent story in The Tampa Tribune contained the following execrpt on how notorious assembly line, foreclosure mill law firm Florida Default Law Group, headed by attorney Michael Echevarria, has, in the past, put in requests for attorney fee awards in foreclosure actions:

• In 2004, The Florida Bar reprimanded Echevarria for violating certain Bar rules, one of which concerned attorney fees. According to Bar documents, Echevarria's law firm asked a Land O' Lakes attorney named Anthony Woodward to certify that Echevarria's legal fees were reasonable, given the amount of time the firm spent on each case.

• Instead of reviewing each foreclosure case fully, as he was supposed to do, Woodward was simply signing documents attesting to the fairness of Echevarria's fees. Each time Woodward signed his name to a document, he received a $2 fee, the Bar documents show. When reached for comment Friday, Woodward referred a reporter to his own Florida Bar disciplinary case file, which was not available late Friday.

• Several months ago, Woodward told a Tribune reporter that Echevarria's legal fees - about $1,000 per foreclosure case - were so low he was confident they were reasonable even without reviewing each case.

Source: State AG investigates its own.