Law firms from Atlanta, North Carolina, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Philadelphia are heading south to take over files from the Law Offices of David J. Stern and Ben-Ezra & Katz, previously two of Florida’s largest foreclosure firms. David J. Stern and Ben-Ezra Katz’s law offices abandoned business after being investigated for possible foreclosure fraud, leaving tens of thousands of cases in need of representation. The new law firms are being handed between 3,500 and 5,000 transfer files at $1,200 to $1,400 per file, according to a legal headhunter. Many of these foreclosure firms are placing their South Florida central offices in the Fort Lauderdale area. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s plan is to spread out the cases among more firms, instead of a few large ones, preventing any streamlining.
Since being under the congressional spotlight, Fannie Mae is being proactive to ensure firms maintain proper procedures and are even sitting in on lawyer interviews at firms. Fannie Mae is using new criteria when choosing new firms to contract with. This new criteria requires firms to be in good standing with the Florida Bar and local bar associations, demonstrate experience in handling foreclosures, provide quality and cost-efficient work, posses diversity and overall capacity to handle the foreclosure volume, among other considerations. Despite new legislation to monitor foreclosure firms, without some sort of program in place to teach young lawyers how to conduct themselves properly– the same problems will exist.
To read more on this story visit:
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202517889234&Law_Firms_Descend_on_Florida_to_Take_Over_Foreclosure_Business&slreturn=1
Choosing the right attorney can make the difference between whether or not you can keep your home. A well qualified attorney will not only help you keep your home, but they will be able to negotiate a loan that has payments you can afford. Foreclosure defense attorney, Timothy Kingcade has helped many facing foreclosure alleviate their stress by letting them stay in their homes for at least another year, allowing them to re-organize their lives. If you have any questions on the topic of foreclosure please feel free to contact me at (305) 285-9100. You can also find useful consumer information on the Kingcade & Garcia, P.A. website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.