Bar Boot Urged For California Attorney Who Peddled Law License To Loan Modification, Forensic Audit Racket For $250/Month Per Client

In San Francisco, California, the San Francisco Chronicle reports:

• A State Bar judge has recommended disbarment for a Marin County lawyer who made $177,000 while representing homeowners who were falsely told they could prevent foreclosure by withholding their mortgage payments and suing their lenders.
  
  Greenbrae attorney Sharon Lapin insists she was unaware of the wrongdoing by US Legal Services, which contacted thousands of distressed homeowners and promised to protect them from foreclosure. She was a contract attorney with the company from August 2009 to November 2010 and represented 130 of its clients.
  
  But Lapin "caused significant harm to vulnerable, desperate clients, the public and the administration of justice," Judge Lucy Armendariz of the State Bar Court said in a ruling made public Friday.
  
  The bar immediately suspended Lapin, 57, who has practiced law since 1993. She can seek review from a panel of the court or appeal directly to the state Supreme Court, which must approve all disbarments.
  
  Meanwhile, the state attorney general's office has shut down US Legal and is suing the company, its owners and Lapin for damages.
  
  Armendariz said US Legal told owners they could save their homes by suing lenders for predatory practices. Owners were persuaded to pay thousands of dollars for worthless loan "audits" and were often told to stop paying their mortgage and send half of their usual payment to US Legal to underwrite the meritless lawsuits, the judge said.
  
  The company assigned clients to Lapin and paid her $250 a month per client. But she allowed US Legal to handle the lawsuits, took no action to prevent dismissal of the suits and did not return clients' phone calls, Armendariz said.
  
  Attorney Richard Lubetzky, who represents Lapin in the disciplinary proceedings, said she filed legitimate suits, did not mislead clients and was unaware that US Legal was advising them to withhold mortgage payments. "She got caught up and became a victim," Lubetzky said.

Source: Disbarment urged for Greenbrae lawyer.