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08/11/10 4:45 PM

#326 RE: bUrRpPPP! #280

Florida Attorney General Launches Investigation into Foreclosure Mills Fraud

Posted on 10 August 2010. Tags: assignment of mortgage, assignment of mortgage fraud, bill mccollum, Cheryl Samons, djsp enterprises, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, law offices of david J. stern plantation florida 33324, law offices of marshall c. watson, MERS, MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS INC., Shapiro and Fishman

On Tuesday the Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum’s office announced an investigation of Three South Florida law firms.

The firms are identified as The Law Offices of Marshall C. Watson in Fort Lauderdale; Shapiro & Fishman, which has offices in Boca Raton and Tampa; and the Law Offices of David J. Stern, P.A. in Plantation.

It is alleged that the firms, which were hired by loan servicers to begin foreclosure proceedings when homeowners were behind on their mortgages, may have fabricated mortgage assignments in order to speed up the foreclosure process.

“Thousands of final judgments of foreclosure against Florida homeowners may have been the result of the allegedly improper actions of the law firms under investigation,” said McCollum, who is running for governor.

McCollum said his office also is looking into whether the firms created affiliated companies outside of the U.S., where the allegedly false documents are prepared.

“We are seeing a paperwork trail where law firms, through a mill, prepared paperwork with signatures from lenders who had assigned the mortgage,” he said.
All they have to do is look into several blogs and attorney sites to see the evidence of fraud including this one.
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Here is Stern’s subpoena below…
Excerpts:
YOU ARE HEREBY COMMANDED to produce at said time and place all documents, as defined above, relating to the following subjects:
1. A list of all employees, independent contractors and/or subcontractors of the Law Offices of David J. Stern (DJS) for the past 5 years (former and current employees, independent contractors and/or subcontractors) including their job title(s), their duties and responsibilities and the length of their employment with DJS, including any contracts DJS has or had with them.
2. For the past five years, the names and addresses of any and all lawyers and/or law firms that DJS hires/uses throughout the State to represent their clients in foreclosure cases and in what capacity said lawyers/law firms serve DJS, including any contracts between DJS and the lawyer(s) and/or law firm(s).
3. The names and addresses of the lending institutions that DJS has represented in foreclosure cases over the past 5 years, including any contracts between DJS and said institutions.
4. The names and addresses of any and all companies used by DJS to draft and/or execute Assignments of Mortgage or Affidavits for the past 5 years, including any contracts between the lending institutions and DJS allowing for the use of the companies to draft and/or execute said Assignments of Mortgage.
5. The names and addresses of any and all persons and/or companies hired and/or used by DJS to perfect service of process on foreclosure defendants for the past 5 years, including their relationship to DJS and/or David J. Stern, individually including any and all contracts between the person or persons and/or company and DJS.
6. The names and addresses of any and all servicing companies DJS represents or represented for the past 5 years.
7. For the past 5 years, the names and addresses of any corporations, companies, partnerships or associations that David J. Stern and/or DJS has any interest in, including any foreign corporations, and detail what the business does and what type of interest is held by Stern and/or DJS.
9. List all notaries for the past 5 years that worked or works for DJS who notarized Affidavits as to fee and Assignments of Mortgage, include their names and addresses.
10. Copies of all non-disclosure agreements that DJS has or had over the past 5 years with any and all of its employees, subcontractor or independent contractors.
11. Copies of all checks and/or evidence of any other form of payment(s) from the plaintiffs that DJS represents in court in foreclosure cases to DJS and/or any of DJS’s affiliates and/or subsidiaries for services rendered in foreclosure cases.
12. Documents, including emails, that evidence what the pay scales, pay grades and/or bonuses paid by DJS to employees, subcontractors or independent contractors for completion of foreclosure cases within a certain time period.
13. Documents, including emails, that evidence what the pay scales, pay grades and/or bonuses paid by lenders to DJS or its employees, subcontractors or independent contractors for completion of foreclosure cases within a certain time period



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08/24/10 4:44 PM

#339 RE: bUrRpPPP! #280

Friday, August 20, 2010
Florida Bar previously disciplined Stern

South Florida Business Journal – by Paul Brinkmann

David J. Stern, an attorney who is the target of a state civil investigation for mortgage fraud complaints, was previously disciplined by the Florida Bar for deceiving the courts and clients about his web of businesses that do legal support work.

The Bar also confirmed Aug. 16 that it is also investigating Stern for numerous allegations of violating attorney regulations, including whether his running of DJSP Enterprises, a publicly traded company, is in compliance.

Stern represents banks that are attempting to foreclose on residential mortgages. Stern, his law firm and DJSP Enterprises are exemplary of the wave of attorneys who have benefitted from the flood of foreclosures that gripped the nation over the last three years.

Stern received a public reprimand in 2002 for billing practices that made it appear he was paying other companies for work on title insurance, when he was actually using in-house staff.

Stern settled the 2002 Bar complaint by consenting to the reprimand before the Bar’s board of governors. In the reprimand, Bar President Tod Aronovitz said Stern’s practices were “misleading” to the courts and foreclosure defendants.

This summer, Stern is facing allegations that he has been similarly misleading to the courts. On Aug. 10, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum said he was investigating Stern and two other law firms for allegations of unfair and deceptive actions in their handling of foreclosure cases.
Fabrications in the name of speed

It is alleged that the firms, in representing lenders, may have fabricated mortgage assignments in order to speed up the foreclosure process.

Stern’s attorney, Jeffrey Tew, has brushed off McCollum’s announcement by saying that Stern handled 100,000 cases in the last few years, and a few mistakes were inevitable.

Tew said this week that resolving the 2002 Bar complaint also involved Stern agreeing to have all staff who perform title insurance work to be on the payroll of a separate title company.

Tew, of Miami-based Tew Cardenas LLP, said any alleged deception from the 2002 complaint “was inadvertent on David’s part,” and “there hasn’t been any Bar discipline since 2002.”

Tew said Stern employs 1,200 paralegals in Plantation, and may have turned to using staff in Manila, Philippines, partly due to a lack of space.

“The Bar has approved the use of paralegals in other countries,” Tew said. “DJSP has a group of paralegals in Manila. He doesn’t necessarily have room for more here, and it may be partly related to pay scales also
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10/20/10 7:41 PM

#378 RE: bUrRpPPP! #280

Connecticut Residents Charge EMC & Law Offices Of David J. Stern With Fraud
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12/22/10 10:06 PM

#403 RE: bUrRpPPP! #280

On November 26, 2010, the Company received a letter from NASDAQ notifying it that for the prior 30 consecutive business days, the Company’s listed securities failed to maintain a minimum market value of $50 million, consequently, a deficiency exists with regard to this requirement for continued listing pursuant to NASDAQ Listing Rule 5450(b)(2)(A) (the “MVLS Rule”). NASDAQ further stated that in accordance with NASDAQ Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(C), the Company will be provided 180 calendar days, or until May 25, 2011, to regain compliance with the MVLS Rule. NASDAQ will deem the Company to have regained compliance if at any time before May 25, 2011 the market value of the Company’s listed securities closes at $15,000,000 or more for a minimum of ten consecutive business days .

These notifications do not impact the listing and trading of the Company’s securities at this time. However, the NASDAQ letters also state that, if the Company does not regain compliance with the MVPHS Rule by May 23, 2011 or the MVLS Rule by May 25, 2011, the Company will receive written notification from NASDAQ that the Company’s securities are subject to delisting. The Company is reviewing its options for regaining compliance with the MVLS Rule and MVPHS Rule and for remedying other future potential non-compliances with Nasdaq continued listing requirements, including the requirement to maintain a minimum bid price of at least $1.00 per share. There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to regain compliance with the MVLS Rule, MVPHS Rule or other Nasdaq continued listing requirements in a timely fashion, in which case its securities would be delisted from Nasdaq.
© 2010 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved. www.StopForeclosureFraud.com
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12/29/10 10:21 PM

#406 RE: bUrRpPPP! #280

Judge OK’s class-action status for homeowner lawsuit against Florida law firm
Judge OK’s class-action status for homeowner lawsuit against Florida law firm

By Christine Stapleton Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Updated: 9:17 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2010
Posted: 6:06 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2010

As many as 2,000 homeowners suing the law firm of self-proclaimed foreclosure king David J. Stern over excessive attorney fees and costs won a major victory today when an appeals court blessed the group’s class-action status.

“We are very excited,” said Louis M. Silber, the West Palm Beach attorney who filed the case in January 2007 — the first class-action lawsuit filed against Stern and his Plantation-based law firm stemming from foreclosure fraud accusations.

In a four-page opinion, the 4th District Court of Appeal upheld the findings of Circuit Judge Thomas H. Barkdull,, who decided the complaints and circumstances of the homeowners were so similar that they would best be handled in a class-action lawsuit.

Members of the class are homeowners who received letters from Stern’s firm between Jan. 18, 2003 and Feb. 19 2009 offering to reinstate their loans with Wells Fargo by paying reinstatement charges.