Attorney David J. Stern, known as the mortgage industry’s “foreclosure king,” may soon be expelled from the legal profession in Florida for alleged mortgage fraud.
During the housing downturn, many lenders turned to Stern’s Broward-based law firm to handle foreclosures because he took houses away from homeowners quickly, the Tampa Tribune reported. The firm shut down in 2010 after employees revealed they were given cars, jewelry and even houses in exchange for falsifying and forging documents.
This week, a county court judge recommended that Stern be disbarred, saying he “created chaos on the courts of the state of Florida, prejudicing the whole system as a whole.” The case now goes to the Florida Supreme Court.
Thousands of the foreclosure cases handled by Stern are still making their way through the courts. Foreclosure defense lawyers say his disbarment would taint any document handled by his firm and could pave the way for them to win more cases.
Source: Tampa Tribune