Monday, October 11, 2010

Unwanted Attention Continues To Target South Florida Foreclosure Mill

The Palm Beach Post reports:
  • A former paralegal for Florida foreclosure giant David J. Stern describes an office where signatures on notarized documents were regularly forged, legal papers were prepared en masse in Guam and the Philippines, and closed-door screaming matches erupted when files weren't moved fast enough.

  • The accusations were made in a sworn statement taken Sept. 22 by the Florida Attorney General's Office for its investigation of the Plantation-based law firm, and appear to support nationwide concerns about behind-the-scenes practices used to take people's homes.

  • Paralegal Tammie Lou Kapusta, who said she was fired by the firm in July 2009 after refusing to falsify documents, recalls Stern's business growing from 200 employees to 1,100 in a little more than a year's time as foreclosures skyrocketed and staff struggled to keep up. Notary stamps, Kapusta said, were readily available in the office and employees, including herself, who were not notaries, routinely stamped documents.

For more, see Ex-employee says foreclosure firm forged signatures.

Go here to read the entire Deposition of Tammie Lou Kapusta taken by the Florida AG's office.

Go here for a graphic included in the story entitled How MERS Blurred The Ownership Of Homes (if graphic appears too small to read, click on it to enlarge).