The Tampa Tribune is reporting in its Thursday edition that a former employee of the Law Offices of David J. Stern has testified to the unscrupulous business activities practiced by the notorious "foreclosure mill" in a deposition with Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum's Office. In the deposition, conducted under oath with the former employee's attorney present, the employee describes in detail the passing around of notary stamps, setting up "signing tables" where employee's would sign up to 250 documents per day per floor, stacks of blank notarized documents to be used when needed, and that "two or three employees sat around practicing the signature of Chief Financial Officer Cheryl Samons, at Samons' direction."
The former employee also describes that she heard attorney's employed by David J. Stern say they were concerned about being disbarred or breaking the law but were more concerned with losing their jobs. The former employee says in her deposition that she was dismissed from her position with the firm because she inquired as to the legality of the assignments she was given. The deposition stems from the Florida Attorney General's investigation into the practices of five Florida law firms, the Law Offices of David J. Stern, Florida Default Law Group, the Law Offices of Marshall C. Watson and Shapiro and Fishman, the so-called "foreclosure mills" which represent 80% of foreclosure proceedings in the state of Florida. Attorney's for Stern refute the allegations set forth in the deposition.
This is the just the latest in a series of bombshell dropped on the mortgage lenders, mortgage servicers and their attorney's in the last two weeks. The tide against these foreclosure giants may be rising. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit, contact a Florida Foreclosure Lawyer or a Jacksonville Foreclosure Lawyer today to review your case.
To read the entirety of the deposition click here. Thanks to Matt Weidner for the transcript.
