Foreclosure king: "When people say, 'my God, the economy is bad,' I'm like, 'Oh my God, it's great"

[Better Believe It]

Is This Foreclosure Supervillain David J. Stern's Yacht, Misunderstood?
By Max Abelson
October 14, 2010

As if the ongoing foreclosure fiasco wasn't already scary enough, the top Wall Street Journal item right now is the news that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are reviewing the work of the enormous Florida law firm run by David J. Stern, which they both have sent work to for years. It's the first time the mortgage giants have been directly drawn into the ongoing crisis, because though they don't actually service loans, they do use the foreclosure mills that are turning out to be rife with fraud.

Mr. Stern, wealthy and secretive, is turning into one of the foreclosure tragedy's main characters, although not much about his life and work are known—and the only public photos of him are grainy. His firm was put in the spotlight with the recent release of a deposition by one of his former paralegals, who described a kind of Coen brothers-tier shadiness: When Fannie would came in to look at processing, for example, employees would dress up nicely and begin "typing in what they want to see."

But even before that deposition, Mother Jones did a piece about Mr. Stern that described sexual harassment charges, a class-action racketeering case, and his 16,000-square-foot mansion, plus a neighbor's place he bought last year for $8 million, for tennis court space. "When people say, 'Oh my God, the economy is bad,' I'm like, 'Oh my God, it's great,'" he is said to have told a crowd at a conference this year, where the band Social Distortion played a private show.

The Jones article also said that besides four Ferraris, four Porsches, two Mercedes-Benzes, and a Bugatti, Mr. Stern has a jet-propelled, 130-foot, $20 million-plus yacht called "Misunderstood," which replaced his 108-foot boat called "Lady J." A search of photos passing through Port Everglades, the Florida boating hub, shows one yacht called "Misunderstood." It is sleek, white, and a dead ringer for something a Bond baddie would drive.



David J. Stern





Read the full article at:

http://www.observer.com/2010/politics/foreclosure-supervillain-david-j-sterns-yacht-misunderstood#


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David J. Stern, the Florida Foreclosure King, Is Under Investigation — and Doing Layoffs
By Morning Dockette
October 12, 2010

Back in September, we wrote about David J. Stern, “Florida’s Foreclosure King,” who earned our Lawyer of the Day title for his ascendancy from the fourth tier to the lap of luxury. At the time, we sang Stern’s praises. Stern, a graduate of South Texas Law, employs 900 people, made $17.8 million in 2008, owns $60 million in real estate, and collects yachts.

Thanks to the New York Times, we knew back then that Stern may have been a shady character. But we kind of brushed off those pesky little questions about his “ethics” and “questionable practice methods.” I mean, come on, how many lawyers can say that they drive a Bugatti?

Well, maybe we shouldn’t have overlooked these issues so quickly…

In September, Bill McCollum, Florida’s attorney general, disclosed that his office was in the process of investigating three of the busiest foreclosure practices in Florida, comparing them to puppy mills. McCollum believed that the firms “submit false documents, fabricate the documents, or the documents don’t exist.”

Stern’s firm was one of the three being investigated — after all, his firm did file 70,283 foreclosure cases last year. Stern, however, claimed total innocence in his interview with the New York Times:

"I can’t speak for the other firms, but I can assure you there has not been submission of fraudulent documents. We feel a lot of it is politically motivated. We have done nothing wrong and are going to cooperate fully."

Apparently “doing nothing wrong” has a different meaning in the world of foreclosure law. One of Stern’s former paralegals, Tammy Lou Kapusta, recently claimed to attorneys for the Florida AG’s office that Stern’s firm “signed paperwork without reading it, misdated records, and skirted rules protecting homeowners in the military.”

Read the full article at:

http://abovethelaw.com/2010/10/david-j-stern-the-florida-foreclosure-king-is-under-investigation-and-doing-layoffs/


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Florida Officials Told by Ex-Worker of Foreclosure Firm Lapses
By Phil Milford and Denise Pellegrini
October 9, 2010

Oct. 9 (Bloomberg) -- A former paralegal told Florida investigators that workers at a law firm that processed foreclosures signed paperwork without reading it, misdated records and skirted rules protecting homeowners in the military.

Tammie Lou Kapusta, who said she spent more than a year at the Law Offices of David J. Stern PA, made the accusations in a Sept. 22 interview with lawyers for Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum.

Kapusta, who spoke under oath, said the Stern firm ballooned from 225 employees when she started in March 2008, to more than 1,100 when she was fired in July 2009. She described a disorganized workplace where documents got lost and mortgages were misfiled. The training process was “stupid and ridiculous,” she said.

“There were a lot of young kids working up there who really didn’t pay attention to what they were doing,” she said, according to a transcript. “We had a lot of people that were hired in the firm that were just hired as warm bodies.”

Kapusta, who said her team was responsible for 12,000 files, said the firm outsourced paperwork to services in Guam and the Philippines, let process servers bill for unnecessary work, improperly notarized documents and let employees sign a supervisor’s name on affidavits.

Dates were changed to appear consistent, even if a document was handled by different parties months apart, she said. Employees were pressured to meet quotas and screamed at if they questioned procedures.

“Everything was about getting the judgment entered because we have to report to the banks,” she said. “We had to do chronological things that were sent to them that were also obviously changed and fudged because the banks, some of them, are very unaware of what the process is, believe it or not.”

Stern’s firm would knowingly use the wrong Social Security number to search military records for people who couldn’t be located or identified, Kapusta said. Under federal law, a lender must show that a service member’s ability to repay a debt wasn’t affected by military obligations, according to the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department.

Read the full article at:

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-10-09/florida-officials-told-by-ex-worker-of-foreclosure-firm-lapses.html


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Florida judge denies Law Office of David J. Stern motion to quash
by SARAH MUELLER
October 14, 2010


A Florida judge denied a motion by the Law Office of David J. Stern that sought to quash a subpoena from Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum in connection with the AG's investigation into several of the state's foreclosure firms.

The subpoena was sent to the law firm as part of a civil investigation by the AG, alleging the firm fabricated and manufactured documents to speed up foreclosures. A sworn statement from a former paralegal at the firm was publicly released last week. In it, the former employee alleged other employees at the law firm changed dates, forged signatures on documents, claimed homeowners were served with foreclosure lawsuits when they weren't, and overcharged for services.

In a one-page ruling, Palm Beach County Judge Eileen O'Connor denied the motion to quash without giving a reason for the denial.

The subpoena seeks the names of all current, former and contract employees, names of notaries who signed affidavits, and the names and addresses of all lending institutions the firm has represented, among other things. The subpoena also asks for documentation on several specific foreclosure cases.

http://www.housingwire.com/2010/10/14/florida-judge-denies-law-office-of-david-j-stern-motion-to-quash

[Better Believe It]

1. There's a lot more on this major a-hole. Later.

[Tatiana]

2. K&R Thank you for this very important compilation of information. n/t

[Starry Messenger]

3. k&r

[pnorman]

4. K & R for careeful study later.

n/t

[Better Believe It]

5. NASDAQ listing DJSP is the Foreclosure Mill Law office of David J. Stern Plantation, Florida.

So how does the ‘foreclosure mill” of the David J. Stern law office net $49 miilion in 2009 when they bid on and obtain “bundles” of foreclosures from Wells Fargo Bank or Deutsche Bank and process??s each foreclosure for a flat fee of $1,400 which covers the cost of an associate attorney, processing, service of complaint, office help etc.? I know for a fact that the cost of processing a Foreclosure Complaint has increased since 12th Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Lee Haworth stopped Attorneys “calling in” on Foreclosure Complaints in Feb. 2009 and forced Stern Associates to actually drive from Plantation Fl to Bradenton or Sarasota to appear in person.

NASDAQ listing DJSP is the Foreclosure Mill Law office of David J. Stern Plantation, Florida.

DJSP Enterprises, Inc. “DJSP” (David J. Stern Processing)…their revenues increased from approximately $116 million in 2007 to an estimated $259 million in 2009; EBITDA adjusted on a pro forma basis increased from approximately $44 million in 2007 to an estimated $68 million in 2009; Net Income adjusted on a pro forma basis increased from approximately $28 million in 2007 to an estimated $43 million in 2009.

For the six months ended June 30, 2009, the company, DJSP Enterprises, generated revenue of approximately $117 million, EBITDA adjusted on a pro forma basis of approximately $35 million and net income adjusted on a pro forma basis of approximately $22 million.

http://pibillwarner.wordpress.com/2010/03/30/david-j-stern-law-office-is-djsp-enterprises-on-nasdaq-major-shareholders-david-j-stern-and-kerry-s-propper-the-subject-of-department-of-justice-investigation-and-sba-law-suit/

[Odin2005]

6. Fuck that sociopathic ASSHOLE!

[Better Believe It]

7. Kick

[arbusto_baboso]

8. Now, I'm not CONDONING anyone placing a limpet mine on this asshole's yacht....

I'm just saying I wouldn't shed any tears if it were blown to Davy Jones' Locker.

[truedelphi]

9. Thank you, Better Believe It for all your work on this issue.

And for carrying on despite the "unrec" trolls

[Better Believe It]

10. You're welcome. Progressives need and are not afraid of the truth.