'Foreclosure Mill' Law Firms Under Pressure from Lawmakers
As JPMorgan Chase and Ally Financial’s GMAC Mortgage have acknowledged possible document irregularities concerning thousands of mortgage foreclosure cases and imposed temporary freezes on the litigation, some federal lawmakers have been trying to put the brakes on law firms that reportedly are responsible for filing many cases that may be problematic.
In Florida, U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson urged the state’s supreme court earlier this month to prevent three law firms he calls “foreclosure mills” from proceeding with their cases until a state attorney general’s office investigation of their practices is complete.
However, the supreme court yesterday declined to intervene, explaining that it had no authority to do so before the matter is adjudicated and suggesting that Grayson take his concerns to the Florida Bar, reports the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Meanwhile, federal lawmakers, including Grayson, also are pushing a government-owned mortgage goliath to reconsider its use of such Florida law firms, the Money blog of the Palm Beach Post reports.
At this point, Ally/GMAC is no longer sending new foreclosure cases to at least one of the identified Florida “foreclosure mill” law firms, which has now expanded to include a fourth legal partnership.
In a lengthy article today headlined “Lost in the System That Took the House,” the Washington Post tells the story of how one struggling Florida homeowner attempted without success to fight his case in court.
Later ABAJournal.com coverage:
Shapiro & Fishman Squares Off with Fla. AG, Calls Law Firm Foreclosure Probe an Abuse of Gov’t Power
