Florida's foreclosure king attorney faces possible bar discipline

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A former foreclosure attorney known for living a luxury lifestyle while engaged in one of Florida's largest foreclosure robo-signing scandals is now facing possible disciplinary action from the Florida Bar Association, according to documents from the organization.

David J. Stern was known in Florida as much for his luxury lifestyle of yachts and courtside seats at basketball games as he was for the trail of legal issues that surrounded [3] the foreclosure law firm he manned until facing the loss of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's business and allegations from Florida's then attorney general of sloppy foreclosure practices.

Seventeen complaints were filed against Stern with the Florida Bar Association. The organization found probable cause to pursue potential disciplinary actions against Stern based on investigations into those complaints.

Stern's attorney Jeffrey Tew of Miami-based Tew Cardenas said, "We think the findings of probable cause are in error."

He added that his client will fight the probable cause findings when the issue is eventually placed before the state's Supreme Court.

The other Florida area law firms under fire at the time included Shapiro & Fishman, Florida Default Law Group and the Law Offices of Marshall C. Watson.

But David J. Stern became one of the most well-known names in the wake of the robo-signing, foreclosure document mishandling scandal. Numerous lawsuits were filed after Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and top servicers dumped the law firm in the wake of the AG's investigation.

Documentation issues tied to the firm's work continued to plague [4] individual foreclosure cases last year, well after David J. Stern had already exited from the practice of handling foreclosures.

It's not specific how the Florida Bar's rulings will impact Stern. However, under the rules he is accused of violating, the list of potential disciplinary actions includes everything from probation to suspension and disbarment.

As of Feb. 5, the Florida Bar Association had Stern listed as in good standing on its website, but that could easily change with the findings of probable cause for discipline released in just the past few days.

kpanchuk@housingwire.com [5]