Yesterday the law firm of Steven J. Baum P.C.,
which has offices in Amherst, NY and Westbury NY, filed
documents indicating that they would layoff much of their
staff. It is widely believed that the law firm will be
closing down. If so, a total of nearly 100 people will
lose their jobs.
If you have had a foreclosure action filed against you in the
past few years, you are probably familiar with the law firm of
Steven J. Baum P.C. due to the fact that it is very likely they
represented your lender. In recent times, the law firm of
Steven J. Baum P.C. has been the largest foreclosure law firm in
New York.
The fact that the law firm of Steven J. Baum P.C. is closing
down should come to no surprise to anyone that follows foreclosure
matters in New York. There have been numerous news
reports over the last couple of years concerning the practices of
the law firm. The law firm has been called a "foreclosure
mill."
Home owners that have had foreclosure actions brought against
them by lenders represented by the law firm of Steven J. Baum P.C.
and fought back in court have had some success against the shoddy
practices of the law firm. Judges throughout the state have
criticized the practices of the law firm of Steven J. Baum
P.C. In 2010 a Brooklyn judge stated that the foreclosure
filing of the law firm of Steven J. Baum P.C. was
"incredible, outrageous, ludicrous and
disingenuous." Also during 2010, in another
foreclosure matter, a Nassau County judge ordered the law firm to
pay fines and costs of nearly $20,000 due to papers that contained
numerous "falsities."
The law firm of Steven J. Baum P.C. has been accused of
"robo-sigining" of documents. That is- documents were merely
signed by individuals without being read or verification of the
truth of the documents that were being sworn to. The United
States attorney's office in Manhattan had been investigating the
practices of the law firm of Steven J. Baum P.C. Last month
the law firm entered into an
agreement in which the law firm agreed to pay a two million
dollar penalty and promised to make changes to the way they handle
foreclosure matters.
In addition, it has been reported that the New York Attorney
General's Office has been also investigating the foreclosure
practices of the Steven J. Baum P.C. law firm.
Earlier this month,
The New York Times reported on a Steven J. Baum P.C. Halloween
party in which photos of employees were taken showing employees
wearing costumes mocking people who had lost their homes.
With the exit of the law firm of Steven J. Baum P.C. from the
foreclosure business, this will no doubt cause further delays to
the thousands foreclosures currently being handled by the law
firm.
It is likely that another law firm will appear to become the new
major player in representing lenders in foreclosures.
Hopefully that law firm and all other law firms handling
foreclosures will learn a lesson from Steven J. Baum, P.C. and not
repeat their mistakes.