Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
BANKUNITED,
non-successor in interest to [lawfully seized] BANKUNITED, FSB.,
purported plaintiff(s),
FROM:
Jennifer Franklin-Prescott, “BankUnited” fraud victim
TO:
MARK MIDDLEBROOK, CCM, Senior Deputy Court Administrator
20th Judicial Circuit of Florida
Phone: 239-252-8785
Fax: 239-252-8272
E-Mail: mmiddlebrook@ca.cjis20.org
[reportedly did not come to the office on 02/21/2011]
Charles Rice, Director
Collier County Probation Dept.
Phone: 239-252-8135
E-Mail: crice@ca.cjis20.org
Karen Bailey, Administrative Assistant
[reportedly unavailable]
Debbie Mravic, “Case Manager”; “Program Coordinator”
08/12/2010 DISPOSITION
11. The wrongful foreclosure action had been disposed on 08/12/2010 for lack of standing.
Here, bankrupt “BankUnited, FSB” was seized by the F.D.I.C, and “BankUnited” had no
standing and no right to sue “Jennifer Franklin Prescott”.
WORLDWIDE PUBLICATION
22. These pleadings and/or communications have been published at www.scribd.com. See
www.Google.com; www.YouTube.com.
Respectfully,
ATTACHMENTS
• “POLL COLLIER’S NEW FORECLOSURE HEARING PROCESS FAVORS BANKS,
ATTORNEYS SAY”; Naples News
• “Naples Attorneys complain – Collier County new foreclosure hearing process only favors
banks”
Se arch
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Fe bruary 22, 2011
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2/22/2011 POLL Collier’s new foreclosure hearing…
POLL COLLIER’S NEW FORECLOSURE HEARING PROCESS FAVORS BANKS, ATTORNEYS SAY
By LAURA LAYDEN
Published Sunday, June 20, 2010
NAPLES — Foreclosure attorneys who represent homeowners say recent changes in the way hearings
are scheduled in Collier County have given banks the upper hand.
They say they’ve had trouble getting hearings and that five-minute hearings on foreclosure cases appear
to now be reserved for banks’ motions for default and summary judgment.
When a bank gets a summary judgment, it has the right to take a house. At that point, a homeowner is
unlikely to get a second chance.
Mark Middlebrook, a senior deputy court administrator in Collier County, said, “We have not changed
anything regarding the scheduling of these hearings. That’s absolutely not true.”
Foreclosure hearings are scheduled through an automated calendaring system online called JACS. Users
in Collier County are warned to read the foreclosure rules carefully “due to recent changes.”
Under the rules for booking hearings, it says “only hearings for summary judgment and default may be
scheduled for the five-minute time slots. In parenthesis, it says: “Do not schedule other hearings in these
time slots.”
Foreclosure attorneys who represent homeowners say these rules only appear to apply in Collier and
they’ve never been enforced until recently.
“Somebody is speaking without understanding how the scheduling occurs,” Middlebrook said.
He said five-minute hearings still are available outside of an online calendaring system and that changes
are planned over the coming months that will significantly increase the amount of hearing time available for
foreclosure cases.
With money from a state grant, Collier County plans to increase hearings from one day a week to three by
August. In January, there will be hearings four days a week, Middlebrook said.
Defense attorneys likely haven’t been getting hearings because there’s such a backlog of cases and time
slots fill up so quickly, not because of any rule changes, Middlebrook said. There are about 9,000
unresolved foreclosure cases in the county and that’s why changes are planned in the future, he said.
…naplesnews.com/…/colliers-new-fore… 1/4
2/22/2011 POLL Collier’s new foreclosure hearing…
“There just wasn’t enough time available to accommodate everybody,” Middlebrook said.
Mike Schneider, a Naples foreclosure attorney who represents homeowners, said the rules have changed
in favor of the banks.
He said he was taken off-guard recently when a five-minute hearing he scheduled through the online
calendar was automatically canceled by the court through an e-mail.
When he tried to schedule a 10-minute hearing _ the next shortest time slot available _ for the same client,
there were none available for months. It’s even harder to book 15-minute or 30-minute hearings, he said,
and he doesn’t need that much time.
“I guarantee many people have lost their house because of this,” Schneider said. “How are we supposed
to argue our case?”
Dwight Brock, Collier County’s clerk of courts, said he wasn’t aware of any new rules and his office had
nothing to do with them.
Schneider said he was trying to stop a foreclosure that never should have been filed. He struggled to get a
hearing.
His client signed a forbearance agreement, in which the lender agreed to temporarily modify the loan
payments and not foreclose. The lender foreclosed anyway, Schneider said.
“They are coming to his house and basically telling him to get out,” he said. “That’s just one of a million
stories.”
Marc Shapiro, one of the most active foreclosure defense attorneys in Naples, said he used to schedule
his motions for five-minute hearings online, but now he can’t.
He can argue a homeowner’s case during a hearing on a motion for summary judgment, but time is limited.
At that point it might be too late.
Judges often frown on requests for emergency hearings. So some attorneys say they generally don’t ask
for them.
In one of Shapiro’s cases, he was trying to get a court order to force a bank to produce documents it had
refused to share and he couldn’t get a hearing a few weeks ago. Meanwhile, the bank was proceeding to
foreclose.
…naplesnews.com/…/colliers-new-fore… 2/4
2/22/2011 POLL Collier’s new foreclosure hearing…
Shapiro also saw some of his five-minute hearings suddenly canceled recently. It hadn’t happened like that
before, he said.
For about a month, few hearings were available to defense attorneys on foreclosure cases.
“As of last week they started freeing up more time for us,” said Donald Schold, one of Shapiro’s legal
assistants. “The bank is still the only ones to get the five-minute hearings, which for some reason are
being set before our hearing dates.”
In Collier, foreclosure cases that are contested by homeowners are mostly handled by magistrates. To
have their arguments heard by a magistrate, foreclosure attorneys who represent homeowners must get
an order of referral from a judge.
Banks aren’t required to do the same for hearings on their motions for summary judgment, giving them
another time advantage, attorneys who represent homeowners say.
Where foreclosures might have taken a year or two in the past, now they can happen in less than six
months.
Conrad Willkomm, another foreclosure defense attorney in Naples, said he hasn’t faced any big problems
in scheduling his hearings.
“A lot of the time, I’m letting the banks schedule the hearings, and we’re working around them,” he said.
Even if a bank gets a hearing on a motion for summary judgment, a judge can continue the hearing if
there are motions pending from the defense that haven’t been heard.
“It’s not like you lose the case out from under you,” Willkomm said. “Usually we are in front of the
magistrates for a lot of these cases and the magistrates have been pretty cooperative.”
9 COMMENTS
RELATED STORIES
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Published Jun 12, 2010 16 Comments
RELATED LINKS
…naplesnews.com/…/colliers-new-fore… 3/4
2/22/2011 POLL Collier’s new foreclosure hearing…
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Published 1:52 p.m. 13 Comments
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2/22/2011 Naples Attorneys complain – Collier Co…
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010 | Posted by Amitesh Kumar
What happens when a bank gets a summary judgment? It gets the right to forfeit a house, when the
distressed homeowner is not likely to get a second chance.
The officials of the Court deny these allegations. According to Mark Middlebrook, a senior deputy
court administrator in Collier County, this is absolutely not true and they have not changed anything
regarding the scheduling of these hearings.
In the normal course, Foreclosure hearings are scheduled through an automated calendaring system
online, known as JACS. In Collier County, users are warned to read the foreclosure rules carefully
“due to recent changes”. But Middlebrook refutes that the changes have not been made yet.
The practice at Collier County is foreclosure cases that are contested by homeowners are generally
handled by magistrates. Foreclosure attorneys representing homeowners must get an order of referral
from a judge, to have their arguments heard by the concerned magistrate.
Attorneys on behalf of homeowners, handling foreclosure cases say that Banks are not required to do
the same for hearings on their motions for summary judgment, which gives them unfair time advantage.
With the result, where foreclosures might have taken a year or two in the past, the Attorneys allege
that they can happen now in less than six months.
What the rules are saying? The rules for booking foreclosure hearings say “only hearings for summary
judgment and default may be scheduled for the five-minute time slots”. In other words it says “Do not
schedule other hearings in these time slots”.
Naples foreclosure Attorneys, representing troubled homeowners, caught in the legal proceedings of
foreclosures, say that these rules only appear to apply in Collier County and they have never been
enforced until recently.
So the tussle continues and we will see more of it in the near future.
Share/Bookmark
naplesshortsaleexperts.com/…/naples-… 1/1
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE TWENTIETH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
IN AND FOR COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA
BANKUNITED,
non-successor in interest to [lawfully seized] BANKUNITED, FSB.,
purported plaintiff(s),
CERTIFIED DELIVERIES
The Honorable Daniel R. Monaco
The Hon. Hugh D. Hayes, “Disposition Judge”
Circuit Court Judges, Twentieth Judicial Circuit
Judicial Assistants Karen / Jan
Collier County Government Complex
3301 Tamiami Trail East
Naples, Florida 34112
Phone: 239.774.8118; 239.252.8119;
Fax: 239.252.8870; 239.775.5538; 239.774.9654; 239-252-8020
Email: dmonaco@ca.cjis20.org, jmetcalfe@ca.cjis20.org, hhayes@ca.cjis20.org
RE:
CANCELLATION of unlawful hearing in disposed wrongful foreclosure case 09-6016-CA
“BANKUNITED” v. FRANKLIN-PRESCOTT, JENNIFER
DISPOSED CASE NO. 09-6016-CA; DISPOSITION JUDGE HAYES, HUGH D.
UNAUTHORIZED “02/22/11 HEARING” [AMENDED TO 02/14/11 & CANCELLED]
2
2/21/2011 Foreclosure Fortune Buys Bugatti, Yac…
Search Quotes and News
Foreclosure Fortune Buys Bugatti, Yacht, Blake Griffin's All-Star Slam Dunk Over Car Win
Gets Record TV Audience
Advertisement
A screengrab taken from Google Earth Florida has the third-highest residential foreclosure rate in the
shows the home of David J. Stern in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida. The larger boat to
U.S., and Stern, 50, has made a fortune off the bust. His
the right is his yacht, "Misunderstood". foreclosure-processing business has generated hundreds of
Source: Google Earth/wbipi.com via
Bloomberg
millions of dollars in revenue preparing documents for the cases
that his law firm brings on behalf of lenders seeking to reclaim
homes from borrowers who can’t pay their mortgages.
‘His Acumen’
“David’s wealth is a reflection of his acumen and the tremendous volume of foreclosures,” Tew
said in an interview yesterday. “He had something to do with the acumen part. He had nothing
to do with the amount of foreclosures we have.”
Stern’s firm handles thousands of cases a month. It conducted a review of its files and found 21
had “issues with the affidavits,” Stern said in a Sept. 8 conference call to discuss second-quarter
results for DJSP Enterprises Inc. DJSP provides non-legal foreclosure services, such as title
searches, for his law firm, Law Offices of David J. Stern PA. Both businesses share the same
bloomberg.com/…/florida-attorney-bu… 1/5
“Only hearings for Summary and Default Judgments may be scheduled on the
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday dockets before Judge Daniel Monaco. These
timeslots will be in 5 minute increments. (DO NOT schedule any other kind of
motions on this docket.) All motions other than MSJ and DJ will be cancelled by
Court Administration. No additional motions will be heard with the
Summary/Default Judgments before Judge Monaco.”
See “OFFICE POLICIES AND PROCEDURE, Senior Judge Foreclosure, Collier County
Clerk of Court.
MANDATORY CANCELLATION FOR LACK OF SERVICE IN DISPOSED ACTION
“A party/attorney scheduling a hearing must concurrently notice the matter in
conformance with the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure and ensure timely notice is
served on all pro-se parties and counsel of record in advance of the hearing. The
original notice must be timely filed with the Clerk of Court.” Id.
11. Here accordingly, “BankUnited” was not entitled to sue nor to any hearing and did not serve
any “timely notice” of hearing on Jennifer Franklin-Prescott as also conclusively evidenced
by the Clerk’s 02/18/2011 Docket.
UNAUTHORIZED ATTORNEY “ANDREW LEE FIVECOAT”, ESQ.
12. “Andrew Lee Fivecoat” had no authority to schedule any hearing in said disposed wrongful
foreclosure action. Here, Fivecoat knew and/or fraudulently concealed that “BankUnited”
had no standing and that the exhibits on file conclusively evidenced that “BankUnited” was
not identified as “lender” and was not any note holder and/or owner.
PRIMA FACIE FRIVOLITY IN THE ABSENCE OF ANY “BANKUNITED” NOTE
13. Professor Stephen Gillers, an expert in legal ethics at New York University, believes that the
involvement of lawyers in questionable transactions could damage the overall reputation of
the legal profession, “which does not fare well in public opinion” throughout history:
“When the consequence of a lawyer plying his trade is the loss of someone’s home,
and it turns out there are documents being given to the courts that have no basis in
reality, the profession gets a very big black eye,” Gillers said.
See New York Times, “Judges Berate Bank Lawyers in Foreclosures”.
FIVECOAT CONCEALED PRIMA FACIE NULLITY OF PURPORTED NOTE
14. Here, Fivecoat knew that the complaint in this disposed action had been “incredible,
outrageous, ludicrous and disingenuous”, because no note had been properly executed and
no note and/or instrument “transferred” from bankrupt and lawfully seized “BankUnited,
FSB”, to the “F.D.I.C.”, and/or “BankUnited”. Disgraced founder of defunct “BankUnited,
FSB”, Alfred Camner, Esq., and/or Camner Lipsitz, PA, had filed the facially frivolous
complaint on 07/09/2009.
A. L. FIVECOAT, ESQ., LACKS AUTHORITY
15. Here, A. L. Fivecoat has lacked any authority to appear. Fivecoat knew/concealed that
bankrupt “BankUnited, FSB” is not any party to this disposed action.
3
MANDATORY CANCELLATION OF HEARING
4
(Fla. 1952), cert. denied, 344 U.S. 878, 73 S. Ct. 165, 97 L.Ed. 680 (1952). Here,
“BankUnited” never had any standing in the first place and cannot frivolously “re-litigate”
its prima facie lack of standing.
21. In dealing with the identities of the parties, estoppel requires that the “real parties in interest”
be identical. See Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Company v. Cox, 338 So.2d 190 (Fla. 1976).
The well-established rule in Florida has been and continues to be that estoppel may be
asserted when the identical issue has been litigated between the same parties or their privies.
See Trucking Employees of North Jersey Welfare Fund, Inc. v. Romano, 450 So.2d 843 - 45
(Fla. 1984). Here the file and evidence in this disposed action had conclusively evidenced
that “BankUnited” was not any “real party in interest”
BINDING PRECEDENT: BAC FUNDING CONSORTIUM SUPPORTED DISPOSITION
22. The Second District confronted a similar situation in BAC Funding Consortium, Inc.
ISAOA/ATIMA v. Jean-Jacques, 28 So. 3d 936 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010), when the trial court had
granted the alleged assignee U.S. Bank's motion for summary judgment. That court reversed
because, inter alia, "[t]he incomplete, unsigned, and unauthenticated assignment attached as
an exhibit to U.S. Bank's response to BAC's motion to dismiss did not constitute admissible
evidence establishing U.S. Bank's standing to foreclose the note and mortgage." Id. at 939.
Said Appellate Court in BAC Funding Consortium, properly noted that U.S. Bank was
"required to prove that it validly held the note and mortgage it sought to foreclose." Id.
RECORD LACK OF ANY ADMISSIBLE EVIDENCE:
“BANKUNITED” WAS NOT ANY OWNER AND HAD NO RIGHT TO SUE PRESCOTT
23. In the instant case, the purported note was, e.g., not properly executed, not assigned, the
falsely pretended assignment not recorded, and the endorsement in blank was unsigned and
unauthenticated, creating genuine issues of material fact as to whether “BankUnited” was
ever the lawful owner and holder of the purported note and/or mortgage. As
in BAC Funding Consortium, here there were no supporting affidavits or deposition
testimony in the record to establish that “BankUnited” validly owned and held the improperly
executed note and mortgage, no evidence of an assignment to “BankUnited”, no proof of
purchase of the debt nor any other evidence of an effective transfer to “BankUnited”.
AUTOMATICALLY DISSOLVED “LIS PENDENS”
24. Here, the improper and unauthorized lis pendens was automatically dissolved upon the
disposition of foreclosure. See Rule 1.420(f), Fla. R. Civ. P. (2010). The validity of a notice
of lis pendens is one year from filing. § 48.23(2), Fla. Stat. (2010).
25. In this disposed action, the purported “plaintiff” sought to re-establish the missing note in
“COUNT I (Reestablishment of Lost Instruments)” of the complaint (see p. 2 of 8). Franklin-
Prescott had filed her answer(s) and motions to dismiss and proven plaintiff’s lack of
standing, which was one of the ultimate affirmative defenses. Here, the record reflected
that plaintiff could not possibly re-establish the note and that no authentic note could possibly
be proven under the Evidence Code.
FRAUD ON THE COURT & RECORD EVDENCE THEREOF
26. Here however, alleged ‘plaintiff(s)’, BankUnited & BankUnited, FSB, fraudulently asserted:
“that all conditions to the institutions of this action have occurred, been performed or
excused …”
5
27. Prior to the 08/12/2010 disposition, plaintiff had failed to re-establish and could not have
possibly re-established the destroyed and/or lost note/mortgage. Here, the time and manner
of the loss/destruction had been uinknown. See UCC §§ 3-309; 3-305.
FILE & DOCKET SHOWED FRAUD EVIDENCE & DEMAND IN DISPOSED ACTION
6
FRAUD - INVESTIGATIONS BY THE FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL
31. Foreclosure mills like “Albertelli Law” have been under investigation, which evidenced so-
called “robo signing” of fraudulent documents and/or affidavits. See, e.g., Office of the
Florida Attorney General, Dept. of Legal Affairs, AG # L10-3-1145, IN RE: Investigation of
Law Offices of David J. Stern, P.A..
“ROBO-SIGNING” OF FRAUDULENT AFFIDAVITS – NO FILE REVIEW
32. In this disposed wrongful foreclosure action, Ashley Simon, Esq., Florida Bar 64472, stated
under oath that she “had not reviewed the actual file in this [disposed] case.” See prima facie
fraudulent “Affidavit as to reasonable attorneys fees”; 11/10/2010 “Notice of Filing”.
33. Employees of “foreclosure mills” in Florida [e.g. Jeffrey Stephan; Angela Nolan, Cheryl
Samon] admitted under oath that they signed hundreds of affidavits a day to process pending
foreclosures without actually having read or checked the documents. It later came to light
that said employees were not alone, and in 23 states that require a court to approve a
foreclosure, thousands of foreclosures are now potentially under question. Robo-signing and
similar practices are unlawful and egregious.
“FORECLOSURE GATE”
34. The lender, formerly known as GMAC, admitted that employees signed thousands of
foreclosure documents without reading them, a practice dubbed “robo-signing”.
35. In this disposed action, Jennifer Franklin-Prescott has been defending against, e.g., “robo
signing”, “BankUnited” fraud, and the cover-up by foreclosure mill “Albertelli Law”.
“BANKUNITED’S” FAILURE TO STATE A CAUSE OF ACTION
36. In this disposed action, “BankUnited” had failed to show they it had the contractual right to
enforce the alleged note, which had never been properly executed. Accordingly, any hearing
under these circumstances would be unlawful and unauthorized. The allegations by
“BankUnited” have been facially frivolous and unsupported. The Exhibits on file did not
identify “BankUnited” as any note holder and/or owner. Here, the alleged note was never
properly executed.
7
ILLEGALITY OF “ROCKET DOCKET”
37. Here after said 08/12/2010 disposition and in the absence of any note and standing,
“BankUnited” was not entitled to “5 minute increments” of a “rocket docket”, because
“BankUnited’s” fraud on the Court is illegal. In this disposed Case, “BankUnited” and/or
Attorney Fivecoat are playing “another round of [illegal] games of paper”.
38. Cases like this have led experts like Katherine Porter, visiting professor of law at Harvard
University, to seriously question the mortgage industry:
“The foreclosures and the whole loss of wealth are going to deepen the
disappointment and distrust in financial institutions to follow the rules of law," Porter
said, "and be fair when dealing with the little guy.”
PUBLICATIONS AS TO DISPOSED WRONGFUL FORECLOSURE ACTION
39. The communications with the Court and Officers are published at, e.g., www.scribd.com,
www.YouTube.com. See www.google.com.
Respectfully,
ATTACHMENTS
Docket et al.
CC:
Florida Bar
New York Times
June M. Clarkson, Esq., Theresa B. Edwards, Esq.
Mark R. Briesmeister, Financial Investigator
Office of the Florida Attorney General
8
2/21/2011 David J. Stern: Bandleader for a Symp…
FDL TV
Just Say Now
It’s really something that we have to get the scoop on foreclosure mill con artist David J. Stern from the AP and not
some police blotter, but that’s life in post-rule of law America. The story provides a service, however, profiling a man
who’s really a symbol for the foreclosure fraud crisis. Stern sought to corner the market in shepherding foreclosures
through Florida’s courts. He saw them as a growth opportunity and he wanted to increase profits. He did so through
cutting corners along every step of the way, becoming an expert in the kind of skills needed to keep the foreclosure
train moving – document fraud, fabrication, forgery, etc. He and his firm were very good at what they did, which was
basically commit crimes against homeowners and state courts. And it paid off with a suite of cars, yachts, fabulous
homes and all manner of luxury goods. His possessions increased in a direct relationship to the repossessions his
law firm were illegally pushing through the courts.
As Yves Smith points out, the article intimates that the foreclosure mills came up with robo-signing as a cost-cutting
measure, and that fits with how Stern ran his business. The key for him was volume, processing as many
foreclosures as possible. So he would naturally welcome the idea of having one employee sign off on all the
foreclosure documents as a dedicated job every day. This benefited the servicers as well, since they didn’t want a
whole lot of scrutiny on verification and would rather the question of whether or not they own the mortgages go
unexplored. Stern was the perfect role player for this era, because he was always basically a garden-variety crook:
Almost from the beginning, Stern faced trouble. In 1998, he was named in a class-action lawsuit
alleging that he padded fees on foreclosed homeowners. Stern settled for $2.2 million. According to
legal testimony at the time from a Fannie Mae official, Fannie was warned about troubles at the Stern
firm. But Fannie continued referring cases to Stern. Fannie Mae spokeswoman Amy Bonitatibus says,
“At all times, Fannie Mae has had a reasonable expectation that our servicers and the law firms adhere
to proper procedures and conduct under the law. In instances where we learn that servicers or law firms
are not adhering to our requirements or applicable law, we immediately engage and take appropriate
action, which may include termination.”
Soon after, Stern was sued again, this time for sexual harassment. A former paralegal alleged that
Stern created a “sexually-laden” atmosphere in which he routinely “touched and grabbed and subjected
to simulated intercourse” his employees. Stern settled that suit in 2000 for an undisclosed amount.
By this time, lawyers and homeowner activists were also warning lenders, federal regulators and the
Florida Bar about Stern. In 2002, the Florida Supreme Court reprimanded Stern for submitting
“potentially misleading” fee affidavits.
Even a built-for-speed operation like Stern’s firm could not keep up with the volume of foreclosures. As the article
explains, law firms typically get a flat fee per foreclosure, but must get the foreclosure done within a set time frame,
usually around six months, to collect. This led to the need for a solution that streamlined the process as much as
possible.
Employee depositions paint a picture of a firm under constant pressure from the banks to move faster.
The longer it took to foreclose, the more money the banks stood to lose. Like so many in the industry,
Stern had a strategy to cope with all the volume and velocity: robo-signing. One employee testified that
Stern’s chief lieutenant, a one-time file clerk named Cheryl Samons who rose to become the firm’s chief
…firedoglake.com/…/david-j-stern-ban… 1/2
2/21/2011 David J. Stern: Bandleader for a Symp…
operating officer, signed as many as 1,000 foreclosure affidavits a day without reading a single word.
The employee said Samons’ hand got so tired that she told three other employees to forge her
signature. Samons also signed numerous mortgage assignments with a notary stamp that didn’t even
exist at the time of signing. Notary stamps are only valid for four years. The only way Samons could
have signed mortgage assignments at the time they were supposedly notarized was if she had been
capable of time travel.
Stern rewarded Samons with a new BMW SUV every year, paid all her bills and took care of the
mortgage payment on her home, according to testimony from two employees. Samons did not respond
to request for comment.
The people getting foreclosed upon were an inconvenient facet of this scheme. And when Stern showed how this
model could work, the servicers undoubtedly pressured every other firm they worked with to operate in the same
fashion. This keeps fees to a minimum and benefits the servicers by giving them an out rather than modifications,
which aren’t cost-effective for them.
The servicer model never had to deal with a flood of delinquent loans before the popping of the housing bubble in 2006;
they were too new to ever need to confront such a problem. And the resultant chaos proved that they simply could not
handle the flood without cutting corners massively and maximizing profits through forms of abuse like illegal fee
increases. The foreclosure mills worked in concert with this.
This kind of profile, quite rare for the AP, exposes the clear fraud at the heart of the mortgage servicing, modification
and foreclosure system. Stern’s company is now a penny stock, he’s being investigated by the state Attorney
General and federal prosecutors, his staff has shrunk from 1,200 to 200, banks have abandoned him, and his
headquarters is in default. He hasn’t gone to jail yet but he’s a likely candidate.
However, if we are to learn anything from this episode, it’s how depressingly normal Stern’s machinations were.
…firedoglake.com/…/david-j-stern-ban… 2/2
2/18/2011 Public Inquiry
Home / Records Search / Court Records / Public Inquiry / Search Results - A LL / C ase - 112009C A0060160001XX
W e dne sday night is re gular m a inte nance tim e on our se rve rs; as a re sult brie f o utage s m ay o ccur.
W e apologize in advance for any inconve nie nce.
apps.collierclerk.com/…/Case.aspx?UC… 1/1
2/21/2011 MyFax Notification - Fax Sent Successf…
From: MyFax Free <myfaxfree@myfax.com>
To: Jennifer Franklin-Prescott <naplesnano@aol.com>
Subject: MyFax Notification - Fax Sent Successfully
Date: Sun, Feb 20, 2011 8:40 pm
Your fax to HON. DANIEL R. MONACO at +1 (239) 252-8870 has been successfully sent:
Your fax was delivered at 2/20/2011 7:40:23 AM, and contained 21 page(s).
mail.aol.com/…/PrintMessage.aspx 1/1
2/21/2011 MyFax Notification - Fax Sent Successf…
From: MyFax Free <myfaxfree@myfax.com>
To: Jennifer Franklin-Prescott <naplesnano@aol.com>
Subject: MyFax Notification - Fax Sent Successfully
Date: Mon, Feb 21, 2011 1:53 pm
Your fax to HON. HUGH D. HAYES at +1 (239) 774-9654 has been successfully sent:
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2/21/2011 David J. Stern Sale of Back-Office Ope…
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February 1, 2011
Early in 2010, the back-office processing operations of Mr. Stern’s law firm were converted into
a publicly traded company called DJSP Enterprises. Mr. Stern pocketed nearly $60 million from
that transaction, public filings show.
Behind that big-money deal was a curious cast of characters, including some with previous run-
ins with regulators. Other parties included a small Wall Street investment bank headed by a
former presidential candidate, the retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark, and a little-known private
equity firm based in New York.
Even before the DJSP windfall, Mr. Stern enjoyed a lifestyle that featured grand mansions,
flashy sports cars and a yacht called Misunderstood. But the days of easy money are over for
Mr. Stern, his law firm and DJSP investors.
As the Florida attorney general’s office continues to investigate whether Mr. Stern’s law firm
falsified documents in order to speed up foreclosures, the firm has lost its biggest clients,
including Citibank and Fannie Mae. Many of DJSP’s executives have left the company, and it
has laid off about 80 percent of its 1,200 employees.
Meanwhile, investors in DJSP are not doing any better. Shares of the company, which were
worth $14 apiece last summer, trade now for about 50 cents on the Nasdaq exchange.
DJSP faces a lawsuit from investors who claim they were misled about its financial prospects, an
accusation the company has denied. Separately, former employees of DJSP who performed
back-office work related to Mr. Stern’s law firm have sued, contending that the company failed
to follow federal regulations in laying them off; the company filed a motion to dismiss the claims.
nytimes.com/2011/02/…/02stern.html… 1/4
2/21/2011 Florida’s High-Speed Answer to a Fore…
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September 4, 2010
A judge who recently took over their foreclosure case has ordered Rodney Waters; his fiancée,
Terri Reese; and their four children to leave the home they bought in 2006.
Mr. Waters, a supervisor at a local packaging company and the family’s sole breadwinner, fell
behind on his mortgage two years ago after his property taxes jumped unexpectedly. He now
owes $264,000 on the house; a similar home down the street sold for $138,500 in February.
The predicament of the Waters-Reese family is common in Florida today. The state routinely
sets new records for foreclosures — in the second quarter, 20.13 percent of its mortgages were
delinquent or in foreclosure, a national high, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
And with housing prices still in a free fall, almost half of all borrowers in Florida owe more on
their mortgages than their properties are worth, says CoreLogic, a data firm.
While the Waters-Reese case may not be unusual in Florida, the coming auction of the home is
still notable: it will be a result of the Florida Legislature’s new effort to cut the number of
foreclosures inching their way through the state’s courts. Earlier this year, Florida earmarked
$9.6 million to set up foreclosures-only courts across the state, staffed by retired judges. The
goal of the program, which began in July, is to reduce the foreclosures backlog by 62 percent
within a year.
No one disputes that foreclosures dominate Florida’s dockets and that something needs to be
done to streamline a complex and emotionally wrenching process. But lawyers representing
troubled borrowers contend that many of the retired judges called in from the sidelines to
oversee these matters are so focused on cutting the caseload that they are unfairly favoring
financial institutions at the expense of homeowners.
Lawyers say judges are simply ignoring problematic or contradictory evidence and awarding
nytimes.com/2010/09/…/05house.htm… 1/9
2/21/2011 Big Legal Clash on Foreclosure is Taki…
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But bank officials were unperturbed. After conducting a “due and diligent search,” an assistant
vice president simply drew up an affidavit stating that the paperwork — a promissory note
committing the borrower to repay the mortgage — could not be found, according to court
documents.
The handling of that lost note in 2006 was hardly unusual. Mortgage documents of all sorts
were treated in an almost lackadaisical way during the dizzying mortgage lending spree from
2005 through 2007, according to court documents, analysts and interviews.
Now those missing and possibly fraudulent documents are at the center of a potentially seismic
legal clash that pits big lenders against homeowners and their advocates concerned that the
lenders’ rush to foreclose flouts private property rights.
That clash — expected to be played out in courtrooms across the country and scrutinized by law
enforcement officials investigating possible wrongdoing by big lenders — leaped to the forefront
of the mortgage crisis this week as big lenders began lifting their freezes on foreclosures and
insisted the worst was behind them.
In short, the legal disagreement amounts to whether banks can rely on flawed documentation to
repossess homes.
While even critics of the big lenders acknowledge that the vast majority of foreclosures involve
homeowners who have not paid their mortgages, they argue that the borrowers are entitled to
due legal process.
nytimes.com/2010/…/21standoff.html… 1/6
1/12/2011 Foreclosure Judges Berate Lawyers - …
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With judges looking ever more critically at home foreclosures, they RECOMMEND What’s Popular Now
are reaching beyond the bankers to heap some of their most TWITTER Obam a’s Prom inent
scorching criticism on the lawyers. Rem arks in Chinese Artist’s
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Stephen Gillers, an expert in legal ethics at New Y ork University, agreed with Judge 6. Weather Monitoring Com pany Turns to
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Fairgrieve that the involvement of lawyers in questionable transactions could damage the
7 . Judges Berate Bank Lawy ers in Foreclosures
overall reputation of the legal profession, “which does not fare well in public opinion”
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“When the consequence of a lawyer plying his trade is the loss of someone’s home, and it 1 0. Flex Tim e Flourishes in Accounting Industry
turns out there are documents being given to the courts that have no basis in reality, the
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profession gets a very big black eye,” Professor Gillers said.
The issue of vouching for documents will undoubtedly meet resistance by lawyers
elsewhere as it has in New Y ork.
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2/22/2011 Matt Taibbi’s Devastating Portrait of Fl…
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The latest issue of Rolling Stone is out with a devastating portrait by Matt
Taibbi of the foreclosure process in Florida. If it pierces the public
consciousness the way Taibbi’s articles on AIG and Goldman Sachs [GS 168.04
0.88 (+0.53%) ] did, it could be a game-changer.
attorney. "The only way for the caseload to get reduced is to give The Bernie Boom: Lawyers Stand to Pocket $1.3 Billion in
Fees From Madoff Case (3)
it to the plaintiff. The entire process is designed with that result in
Chinese Menu: Is Beijing 'Playing Pick One Item from Column
mind." A and One Item from Column B' with Their Data?
Ben Bernanke Goes to the Movies
Is this a fair portrait of the foreclosure process? We have no idea. But it may
well wind up changing the politics of foreclosure in a way that could make it far
costlier for a bank to foreclose on a homeowner. Depending on your point of
cnbc.com/id/40156107/…/1098/ 1/5
2/22/2011 Matt Taibbi’s Devastating Portrait of Fl…
view, that could either convince banks to be more open to loan modifications
or keep the housing market in turmoil for even longer. But poison or pure, this
Facebook
apple looks ripe for the picking.
By the way, Taibbi’s success at piercing through the public consciousness Twitter
tends to bother financial reporters. (I’ve had occasion to duke it out with him
RSS
in the past on the issue of naked short selling.) But he is a good story-teller
and a thorough reporter who obviously takes time and effort to learn about his
subjects. Importantly, he doesn’t let his stories get bogged down in technical
jargon—one of the errors that makes so much financial journalism boring.
_______________________________________________________
John Carney
Questions? Comments? Email us at NetNet@cnbc.com Runs this joint.
Facebook us @ www.facebook.com/NetNetCNBC
Ash Bennington
© 2010 CNBC.com NetNet Special Reporter
Lori Spechler
A Senior Editor at CNBC, commodity trader in a
former life.
Lessons for Munis What Will Kill a Bull Homeowner Nicole Lapin
From t he Mortgage Market ? Good News Forecloses on Wells Runs the graveyard.
Market Fargo
24 Comments Total
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there is no way around a homeowner having to give up his home if he doesnt pay the
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mortgage. They can delay, they can file suit...but eventually the contract will be found
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valid, and they will be foreclosed upon.
I hope Matt Taibbi, after tackling this sordid subject of bank abuse (with govt support),
he'll tackle the even more storied subject of pension fraud. California would be a good
cnbc.com/id/40156107/…/1098/ 2/5