Real Estate & Property Law

Fla. Appeals Court OKs Class Action Against Stern Law Firm Over Foreclosure Fees

A Florida appeals court has given the green light to a class action against an embattled foreclosure king and his Plantation law firm alleging that it charged at least 2,000 homeowners excessive reinstatement fees. The 4th District Court of Appeal agreed with a state circuit court judge that the homeowners’…

Dec 30, 2010 12:11 PM CST

Suit Claims Bank Took Cremated Remains in Wrongful Foreclosure

A widow has sued Bank of America for throwing out the ashes of her late husband along with her other belongings when it cleaned out her California mountain chalet in what she says was a wrongful foreclosure. Mimi Ash says she was behind on her loan but the bank had…

Dec 22, 2010 2:07 PM CST

Is Plastic Santa’s Ho-Ho-Ho (and Singing) Too Loud? N.J. Judge Must Decide

Jill Patella clearly enjoys Christmas. A video of her New Jersey home shows decorations in every window and a plethora of holiday lights. She even has her toilet decorated with a special seat cover and commode rug. But a neighbor says the ho-hos and singing of a life-size plastic Santa…

Dec 22, 2010 12:43 AM CST

Citizen Prevails in Toilet Planter Clash: It’s Not Trash, Judge Rules, Nixing $25 Ticket

A suburban Chicago judge has sided with a Lakemoor homeowner given a $25 ticket for decorating her yard with two toilet planters and a bathroom sink. While they may not be to everyone’s taste, these items weren’t an appropriate basis for a citation under a public nuisance ordinance intended to…

Dec 17, 2010 12:44 AM CST

Next ‘Huge Issue’ in Foreclosures: Faked Lawyer Signatures

A new problem has emerged in three recent court cases challenging foreclosures: faked attorney signatures. Several lawsuits have already uncovered so-called robo-signers, bank employees who signed foreclosure affidavits without reviewing the documents. Now new suits claim clerical staffers have signed papers for lawyers who sometimes failed to review the work,…

Dec 14, 2010 1:41 PM CST

Deposition Disclosure Fights Involve Robo-Signers and Sheriff Joe Arpaio

May depositions be posted on the Internet or otherwise released to the public? A Florida lawyer who posted robo-signer testimony and an Arizona sheriff targeted in a racial profiling lawsuit are taking opposite stands in court battles over the issue. Sarasota, Fla., lawyer Christopher Forrest is challenging a temporary injunction…

Dec 10, 2010 1:47 PM CST

Legal Aid Lawyers Hit N.Y. Study that Denies Aid to Control Group of Nearly Homeless

Legal aid lawyers are criticizing a New York study that denies aid to a control group of people seeking help from a program to prevent homelessness. The study monitors 400 households in danger of eviction, the New York Times reports. Half obtained aid from the city’s Homebase program of job…

Dec 9, 2010 1:16 PM CST

Fla. Woman’s 25-Year Mortgage Foreclosure Battle a Cautionary Tale for Lenders

During the 25 years that Patsy Campbell has been fighting a mortgage foreclosure case on her Florida home she has outlasted six lenders and seen seven great-grandchildren born. She last made a mortgage payment on her Okeechobee County home in 1985, reports the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.). Attorney Robert…

Dec 8, 2010 11:39 PM CST

Real Estate Lawyer Earns Perhaps $30K, Gets 57 Months for Closing Fraudulent Loans

Attorney John Chaffo Jr. probably made no more than $18,000 to $30,000 from closing some 60 fraudulent real estate loan transactions for a fee of between $300 and $500. But because lenders lost between $1 million and $2.5 million as a result, a federal judge yesterday sentenced the 50-year-old Chaffo…

Dec 8, 2010 5:57 PM CST

Law Prof’s Book Helps Underwater Homeowners Decide When to Walk Away

A University of Arizona law professor offers advice to underwater homeowners in a new book that echoes his earlier views that walking away from a mortgage may be the best alternative. The professor, Brent White, says homeowners need to evaluate financial and practical concerns before making a decision, according to…

Dec 8, 2010 11:30 AM CST

Oops. Bank Sells 1 Foreclosed House to 2 Different Buyers; Law Firm Blamed for Mistake

In a mistake that was unusual but, experts say, not unique, a bank reportedly sold the same foreclosed South Florida home twice. A law firm to which the matter was transferred blamed its predecessor firm, operated by embattled foreclosure king David Stern, for the error, the Sun-Sentinel reports. Shapiro and…

Dec 7, 2010 12:20 AM CST

Law Firm Accused of UPL, After Admittedly Filing Foreclosures Without Attorney Review

A Pennsylvania law firm has joined Florida colleagues on the hot seat over questioned practices in high-volume mortgage foreclosure cases. Goldbeck McCafferty & McKeever has been accused of unauthorized practice of law because—as two of its name partners admitted in deposition—nonlawyers, at least in the past, routinely prepared and filed…

Dec 4, 2010 12:00 AM CST

Lawyers Testify About Ethics Qualms in Hearing on Mortgage Modification Law Firm

Lawyers who worked for a now-shuttered New Hampshire law firm that got into the mortgage modification business told of their ethical qualms in a hearing Thursday into alleged legal violations. Assistant attorney general Karen Gorham is alleging that lawyer Dan Dargon ran “a loan modification mill,” the Concord Monitor reports.…

Dec 3, 2010 2:42 PM CST

Appeals Court Nixes $292K Debt Cancellation, Despite Mortgage Lender’s ‘Repulsive’ Acts

Reversing a decision by a trial judge in a closely watched case that had seemed to shift the balance of power in problematic mortgage foreclosures, a New York appeals court has held that Justice Jeffrey Spinner exceeded his discretion by canceling a couple’s $292,500 home mortgage due to the lender’s…

Nov 23, 2010 3:54 PM CST

With Foreclosure Co. Layoff Tally at 900, Lawyer David Stern Doffs CEO Hat, Returns to Law Firm

The layoff tally has now reached 900 at a mortgage foreclosure processing company hard-hit by an onslaught of client departures after questions were raised about the validity of its paperwork. Meanwhile, the South Florida attorney formerly at its helm, David Stern, has stepped down as of Friday from his former…

Nov 22, 2010 9:36 PM CST