New York Subpoenas 2 Foreclosure-Related Firms

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Source: The New York Times

Eric T. Schneiderman, the New York attorney general, has issued subpoenas to the state’s largest foreclosure law firm and a related company, indicating that his office has some doubts about the effort by state attorneys general to resolve questionable foreclosure practices among the nation’s top banks.

The New York investigation appears to center on two of the state’s foreclosure industry giants: the Steven J. Baum firm, headquartered in Amherst, N.Y., and Pillar Processing, a default servicing firm set up by Mr. Baum that was spun off in 2007. Representing JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and other large banks, the Baum firm has handled an estimated 40 percent of foreclosure cases in the state. Pillar Processing provides extensive services to the firm.

A spokesman for Mr. Schneiderman declined to comment. Mr. Baum said in an e-mail: “The firm will cooperate with the attorney general in this matter. We are confident that after a full review by the attorney general they will find no wrongdoing.”

Attorneys general across the country have been working on ways to rectify foreclosure improprieties by the nation’s biggest banks and have entered into negotiations in recent weeks with these institutions about a national settlement.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/09/business/09foreclose.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

[xchrom]

1. recommend

[Mnemosyne]

2. K&R for more visibility. n/t

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. "a national settlement"..no criminal charges, note. Just fines... argggh

[sabrina 1]

4. Steven Baum's firm was the firm that foreclosed on

my friend's home. She never once received a response from that firm, to six letters and numerous phone calls, until she finally got an attorney. Even then, it took several attempts by her attorney before there was even an acknowledgement that she or he existed.

Baum was working for Wells Fargo and even though she qualified for Obama's program to modify mortgages to help keep people in their homes, not a single person either from Wells Fargo or Baum's law firm, would talk to her. Not only that, but they returned her partial payments which she mailed in order not to fall too far behind.

Not to mention the paperwork. Her attorney requested the note from Wells Fargo through Baum's office, because her mortgage had been transferred four times, twice through MERS. Those requests were ignored.

There is a huge RICO class action suit in the process against Baum, which people were hoping would lead to criminal indictments.

I hope my friend can get some justice for what was an illegal foreclosure. Her husband, a marine veteran, died which caused a sudden drop in income. She wanted to modify the mortgage payments until she could get back on her feet. She received the eviction notice on Veteran's day a year and a half ago.

Her attorney told her that Baum was 'churning out foreclosures like a factory all over upstate NY.' He called them a 'law mill' and was not surprised that they refused to even talk to human beings.

I hope he and others like him, are held accountable for what they did. I wonder how many insurance policies there were on my friend's home? I hope the law suit answers some of the many questions people had about this law firm. Arrogant, coldhearted and above the law, was how they behaved, at least in her case.

[No Elephants]

5. Go, Schneiderman! (Small wonder Rethugs hate lawyers.)