Fannie closes doors on foreclosure law firms

Foreclosure law firm lays off nearly half of its staff, after losing Fannie Mae

A Hollywood [Florida] law firm that processes thousands of foreclosures for major lenders laid off almost half of its 568 employees Monday, days after the government-owned mortgage giant Fannie Mae pulled its files from the practice.

Monday's layoffs echoed the massive job cuts that the law office of David J. Stern and public-traded affiliate DJSP Enterprises instituted after Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the other federal mortgage guarantor, dumped them. Fannie and Freddie comprised the bulk of Stern's business. About 700 Stern employees lost their jobs, according to regulatory filings.

Lawyer held in contempt over 'fraud' in foreclosure filing

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Maxine Cohen Lando expressed her displeasure Friday in a case that involved a property in Homestead with a $265,134 foreclosure judgment issued in July.

Lando said the so-called original note and original mortgage were filed months after the bank said those documents were lost.

"That in itself is a fraud upon the court," Lando wrote in an order to show cause as to why she should not hold Ben-Ezra & Katz attorneys in contempt.

But, she added, the action "pales in comparison" to the fact that the mortgage and note are to a different property in Lehigh Acres, and that the documents are improperly signed and notarized. Lando said her verbal contempt finding on Friday would be followed by a written order.

The judge dismissed the foreclosure case and banned the lender from refiling it.

See, The Ball and Chain of Title