Thursday, November 18, 2010

Florida Bar Puts Out Call To Judges Around State To Blow The Whistle On Rule-Breaking Foreclosure Mill Attorneys

The Florida Times Union reports:
  • Out of the more than 200 lawyers the Bar suspended or stripped of licenses this year, none was punished for lying in a foreclosure trial or making fake documents for one, behavior that a cottage industry of critics works to document. But that could change quickly.

  • This month, the Bar was investigating 43 reports of some type of foreclosure fraud involving 32 lawyers. One involves a Jacksonville judge’s ruling this year that lawyers from a South Florida firm committed “fraud on the court.” A new category solely for foreclosure fraud was added recently to the Bar’s system for tracking complaints.

  • To find new cases, the head of the Bar is asking judges around the state to report lawyers who break the rules — and pointing specifically to news coverage of claims about foreclosure suits.

For more, see Foreclosure firms facing action from the Florida Bar (Lenders’ lawyers have already been taking some knocks in court).