Florida congressman Alan Grayson sent the following letter to the Florida Supreme Court today:
September 20, 2010
Chief Justice Charles T. Canady Dear Chief Justice Canady, I am disturbed by the increasing reports of predatory ‘foreclosure mills’ in Florida. The New York Times and Mother Jones have both recently reported on the rampant and widespread practices of document fraud and forgery involved in mortgage assignments. My staff has spoken with multiple foreclosure specialists and attorneys in Florida who confirm these reports. Three foreclosure mills - the Law Offices of Marshall C. Watson, Shapiro & Fishman, and the Law Offices of David J. Stern - constitute roughly 80% of all foreclosure proceedings in the state of Florida. All are under investigation by Attorney General Bill McCollum. If the reports I am hearing are true, the illegal foreclosures taking place represent the largest seizure of private property ever attempted by banks and government entities. This is lawlessness. I respectfully request that you abate all foreclosures involving these firms until the Attorney General of the state of Florida has finished his investigations of those firms for document fraud. I have included a court order, in which Chase, WAMU, and Shapiro and Fishman are excoriated by a judge for document fraud on the court. In this case, Chase attempted to foreclose on a home, when the mortgage note was actually owned by Fannie Mae. Taking someone's home should not be done lightly. And it should certainly be done in accordance with the law. Thank you for your consideration of this request. Sincerely, Alan Grayson Member of Congress
Florida Supreme Court
500 South Duval Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1900
Here are four articles by way of background. The gist of the issue is that there is in all likelihood massive document fraud involving foreclosures all over the country, though the situation seems to have a certain intensity in Florida.
GMAC Stops Foreclosures in 23 States
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2010/09/gmac-stops-foreclosures-in-23-states.html
More on GMAC and Foreclosure Fraud Mess: “The Shit is Hitting the Fan”
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2010/09/more-on-gmac-and-foreclosure-fraud-mess-the-shit-is-hitting-the-fan.html
Florida’s High-Speed Answer to a Foreclosure Mess
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/business/05house.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all
Florida Law Firms Subpoenaed Over Foreclosure Filing Practices
http://www.myfloridalegal.com/newsrel.nsf/newsreleases/2BAC1AF2A61BBA398525777B0051BB30
Jeffrey Stephan Affidavits “Withdrawn” by Florida Default Law Group
Ally’s GMAC Mortgage Halts Evictions Across 23 States
http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a7CfstbeOMEU
