Posted by MikeC/NY on 2/6/11 4:21pm
Msg #371747

An interesting article on "the foreclosure king"

Don't bother reading the comments that follow it - this appeared on Yahoo, and the users who comment on any articles there tend to be stupid, racist, or both...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110206/ap_on_bi_ge/us_the_foreclosure_king

Reply by 101livescan on 2/6/11 4:42pm
Msg #371749

Couldn't have happened to a more deserving individual.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 2/6/11 4:45pm
Msg #371750

I was told by a realtor not so long ago

that all of her REO listings that he did were on hold, even if already under contract...

I still see his name on some of the legal listings on occasion but not as often as it used to be.

Reply by Margaret Paddock on 2/6/11 4:56pm
Msg #371754

Good article.
It does make one wonder though why no one is working on changing
some of the laws that would prevent this instead of having to investigate
later and waste more money on court cases, etc. while homeowners suffer.

Reply by Cari on 2/7/11 6:24am
Msg #371774

Actually, the Republicans did TRY to change the laws to favor folks such as Stern and the rest of the scum, luckily it didn't pass.

<<<Stern's employees churned out bogus mortgage assignments, faked signatures, falsified notarizations and foreclosed on people without verifying their identities, the amounts they owed or who owned their loans, according to employee testimony...>>>

Gotta wonder how many truly innocent employees were just doing their jobs. It says in the article that there was no organization in his office, and that some of the files were just thrown out...ridiculous!

Reply by Moneyman/TX on 2/6/11 11:21pm
Msg #371770

** Stern then gave Fannie officials the white-glove treatment, with catered meals and chauffeuring. The incomplete files stayed hidden until the auditors left town. ** Considering the amount of money involved, I'll bet he did give them the "white-glove treatment".

** Fannie Mae's Bonitatibus says that, "To our knowledge, no one at Fannie Mae has had their expenses paid by the Stern Law firm." **

Does Fannie Mae have the expense reports from their people that shows that these people paid for their own lunches and taxi's or rental cars? If they do, did the "officials" pad their expense accounts and/or commit some sort of fraud or did they provide accurate invoices? If it can be proven that Stern did actually provide lunches and chauffeuring (which personally I could see him doing) I wonder if the people that accepted those things will be charged with anything (like maybe accepting bribes or something else)?

This also caught my attention:
** At the end of July, Florida attorney Kenneth Trent, who had blocked Stern from foreclosing on a homeowner who was current on his mortgage, filed a federal lawsuit against Stern's firm under a statute normally reserved for gangsters, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act--or RICO. Days later, the Florida attorney general launched an investigation against Stern's firm and three other foreclosure mills. The AG's arguments were similar to those brought in Kent's class action. **

He was sued under RICO and being investigated by the FL AG in July but Fannie waited until late October to fire him? ** Fannie fired Stern on Oct. 22. **

And what about these judges?
** Recently, even the most infamous "rocket docket," in Lee County, where judges were reported to have signed off on a foreclosure every 30 seconds, ground to a virtual standstill..."

Wow! Every 30 seconds! And these were/are judges doing that? Between them, Fannie, and people like Stern it's no wonder the whole thing is a mess.

Does anyone know if anything has happened to these judges, like maybe criminal charges or removal from the bench? Thought maybe someone in FL might know off hand.


Interesting article. Thanks for the post, Mike!

Reply by Jayhawk/KS on 2/7/11 9:22am
Msg #371789

My parents used to have a condo in Lee County. I have an aunt that is 84 that still lives there. I can't even imagine some homes there going for what they did at the "sheriff's sale" as we call them around here. Of course, there are a wide variety of home there, as there are everywhere. It's a nice area, but you drive all over to get around. All developed out of swamp, they just dug canals everywhere to create places to build. I hope they get this scum bag and his cohorts.

Reply by FlaNotary2 on 2/7/11 12:30pm
Msg #371804

Not the judge's fault at all

If the defendant doesn't defend the action, this gives the bank a fast-track to foreclose. If the defendant doesn't show up at the final hearing (which the defendant is always notified of), then the judge HAS to sign off on the foreclosure, per Florida Court Rules. The defendant has to file an answer to the complaint within 20 days. If they don't do so, the court rules require that the court grant the plaintiff everything they ask for.

Best advice I can give is to get a foreclosure attorney. They might not be able to make it go away completely, but at the very least they can stall it while you get your life together so you can move on. With an attorney, your foreclosure could be prolonged for 2 years. If you never file anything and never show up in court, you are talking 3 months.

Reply by Moneyman/TX on 2/7/11 1:28pm
Msg #371811

They are allowed to use common sense aren't they?

You would think that the judges might "think" it was odd that so many people "chose not to respond" at some point. They are allowed to use common sense aren't they?

Under "normal" circumstances I can understand that the judges would just sign off, however, these haven't been "normal" circumstances for years.

Also, "which the defendant is always notified of" --- not according to the article. Not only that but one of the employees even admitted that some of the files/paperwork was thrown away.

What the foreclosure for the bank is supposed to do and what some of these people actually did appear to be different.

Reply by FlaNotary2 on 2/7/11 1:48pm
Msg #371815

Re: They are allowed to use common sense aren't they?

>>>You would think that the judges might "think" it was odd that so many people "chose not to respond" at some point.<<<

Yes, it is odd. But it is also fact. The majority of homeowners realize that they haven't paid their mortgage, realize that their house is going to be foreclosed on, and they go ahead and move out without bothering to fight the foreclosure case.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 2/7/11 5:21pm
Msg #371841

Re: They are allowed to use common sense aren't they?

If a borrower is having trouble paying their mortgage in the first place, how in the world are they going to be able to afford an attorney? I imagine people who are facing foreclosure are an emotional wreck and feel like they're sinking into a hole. I remember doing a short sale for a couple and the husband was a basket case. I almost wanted to call off the signing, but that would only have added to his state, plus he wasn't actually incompetent, just extremely frazzled. He asked questions about nearly every page and hesitated before signing nearly every document. He was practically paralyzed by the fact that they were, in effect, losing their home.

I can understand how people wouldn't be able to find the emotional, economical and in some cases physical wherewithal to fight a foreclosure - especially if it came about because of health issues, which is often the case. It's all too easy to be cavalier about this kind of situation when one thinks of it as a "case" vs. real people who are dealing with a crisis in their lives, especially when the numbers of people involved is so overwhelming. It's also too easy to just dismiss them all as irresponsible folks who made bad decisions. I'm sure that factors in to a varying extent with some, but I think that's an oversimplification.

There's lots of shared blame to go around, so it seems to me that the price many people are paying these days is disproportionate to the mistakes or poor decisions they may have made. Many have been heavily impacted by circumstances beyond their control, like illness, layoffs, property values practically in a relative free-fall, etc.

All this to say that, yeah, I think this is a valid point:

>>>You would think that the judges might "think" it was odd that so many people "chose not to respond" at some point.<<<

Reply by Cari on 2/8/11 4:59am
Msg #371875

Re: Not the judge's fault at all

<<<(which the defendant is always notified of)>>>seriously...you REALLY believe this in this situation?

Not so, according to the article, as most of the pleadings in Sterns case files were fabricated docs, probably including any and all necessary subpoena's, petitions, and other similar notices normally served on defendants in foreclosure cases.

Defendants in these cases had no idea they were in foreclosure, because they didn't receive ANY of the legal paperwork allegedly filed against them.

There's no easy fix here, but each foreclosure case should be thoroughly reviewed IMO.

Reply by Susan Fischer on 2/7/11 10:25pm
Msg #371864

Here's one reason - even when you ~do~ show up:

http://4closurefraud.org/2010/08/21/outrageous-foreclosure-rocket-docket-judge-entering-final-judgments-against-homeowners-before-hearings/

There are tons more like this. Foreclosure mills are not Justice. There is no Due Process.

Take the proposed Sports Arena in LA. The taxpayers on on the hook for the remaining $110m debt on the old one, and yet included in the deal to construct a new one, to attract a Big Football Team, I mean, Franchise - the taxpayers will be on the hook to "lease" prime central LA acreage for - get this - $1.00 per year. A buck. Ten thin dimes.

Meanwhile, Super Bowl Sports Arena - a $b 'venture,' couldn't pass local fire-safety muster for 1200 seats that were "sold" to fans who paid over $200 a pop, of which, 400 wound up in the parking lot in folding chairs. Sure, they were "compensated." But what if the ticket YOU bought as a ~gift to your kid~ ended up on a folding clair in the parking lot?

Anyway, my question is, what if LA taxpayers can't pay for the one it has - what will ~that~ "foreclosure" look like? (Not to mention, assuming such a ludicrous new $b debt as bait for a new "Team.")

The "judicial" mills are a crushing blow, one after the other, upon the Middle Class, the oil pump of the engine that drives American Prosperity.

I'm furious.