Florida AG Directs Attention To One Of Its Own Employees In Ongoing Foreclosure Mill Probe Into Possible Manufacturing, Filing Of Bogus Court Docs

In Tampa, Florida, The Tampa Tribune reports:

• The Florida Attorney General's Office said Friday that it is investigating the involvement one of its attorneys had with one of the state's largest foreclosure firms. This comes a day after the office said it is investigating the firm, Tampa-based Florida Default Law Group, for what "appears to be fabricating and/or presenting false and misleading documents in foreclosure cases." The investigation is a civil action, rather than a criminal probe.

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• Erin Cullaro, a former employee of the foreclosure firm, now works as an assistant attorney general in Tampa for the Economic Crimes Division of the attorney general's office. While working for the attorney general's office, Cullaro was approved to work as a notary for the foreclosure firm, the state law enforcement agency said. Her conduct in that role is now being questioned in connection with an ongoing foreclosure lawsuit that alleges her role was a conflict of interest and that her notarized signatures were inconsistent. Court documents assert that she signed off on documents while out of town on business with the attorney general's office.

• "Any suggestion that one of our attorneys might have been involved in improper activities while engaged as a notary outside of her scope of employment with this office is troubling," said Ryan Wiggins, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office. "The attorney general has asked his inspector general to thoroughly investigate this matter."

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• Meanwhile, the lawyer who raised the questions about Cullaro said he is pleased the matter is being taken seriously. "This is shocking that one of the attorney general's own attorneys was helping to execute documents on behalf of the very company it is now investigating," said Tom Ice of Ice Legal in West Palm Beach.

• Ice detailed his questions in court documents filed in the 7th Judicial Circuit in Volusia County.(2) Ice said Cullaro worked as a lawyer with Florida Default Group before she worked for the attorney general's office. When she left the firm, she continued to serve as an expert witness for the firm, signing affidavits to establish that the firm's fees were reasonable. Her sister-in-law, Lisa Cullaro, notarized the affidavits, according to court documents. When Erin started work for the attorney general's office, the Cullaros changed roles: Lisa Cullaro served as the expert witness, and Erin Cullaro notarized the documents.
  Ice said both Lisa and Erin Cullaro's signatures varied in appearance, and he wants to question the two about it. The Cullaros, through lawyers, protested, but a Volusia County judge agreed in early April to allow Ice to ask the two limited questions. This has not yet happened.(3)

For more, see State AG investigates its own.

(1) According to the story, Florida Default Law Group represents lenders and mortgage servicing companies in foreclosure lawsuits and other real estate matters. Such firms, which frequently process hundreds or thousands of foreclosure cases a month, are sometimes referred to as "foreclosure mills" in the legal field.

(2) Go here for Ice's court documents, and here for a transcript of a related court hearing.

(3) Go here for more on the Cullaro women.