Housing Assistance Law Center

Florida Bar Continues Crackdown On Attorney/Mod Company Partnerships

By Diane C. Lade, South Florida Sun Sentinel

 A Coral Springs lawyer is being investigated by the Florida Bar Association for her involvement with a South Florida foreclosure rescue company, as trade regulators continue to file actions against attorneys involved in similar operations.

Bar officials confirmed they are investigating Karen Grun and her ties to Housing Assistance Law Center, of Deerfield Beach. The Florida Attorney General’s Office filed legal action against the company and three afilliates in July, claiming they illegally took payments in advance and, in some cases, guaranteed a mortgage could be modified in 30 to 60 days.

The bar has increasingly scrutinized partnerships between lawyers and foreclosure rescue firms, concerned the relationships were forged to skirt state laws barring upfront fees for loan modification work. The professional association, which monitors and disciplines lawyers, opened 195 cases regarding foreclosure rescue practices this year

“They’ve really put a lot of heat on attorneys who were doing this,” said Susan Spurgeon, a Tampa real estate lawyer who has lectured on mortgage modification.

Grun did not return phone messages the Sun Sentinel left at her home and office.

Aventura real estate lawyer Daniel Henry Fox was disbarred, following an investigation, in October after he allegedly? abandonned some of his residential loan modification clients. His office phone has been disconnected and an e-mail from the Sun Sentinel was not returned.

Grun’s name and the phrase “a private law firm” were on Housing Assistance Law Center documents, and state corporate records listed her as the center’s director/president from April through June. Housing Assistance since has been dissolved and it’s telephone number has been disconnected. (Read more)

Housing Assistance Law Center

CT & FL AG Targets 2 Mod Companies Claiming Partnership With Law Firms

Diane Lade of the  South Florida Sun-Sentinel wrote an article about how the Connecticut and Florida AG’s offices are investigating First Legal/Nationwide Home Relief.  The Florida AG is investigating both First Legal/Nationwide Home Relief and Housing Assistance Law Center. 

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/custom/consumer/sfl-sfl-foreclosure-law-082309sbaug23,0,6462732.story?page=1

The Florida Bar posted an advisory back in March advising attorneys what they can and cannot do when doing business with modification companies:

ETHICS ALERT:

PROVIDING LEGAL SERVICES TO DISTRESSED HOMEOWNERS

 The Florida Bar’s Ethics Hotline recently has received numerous calls from lawyers who have been contacted by non-lawyers seeking to set up an arrangement in which the lawyers are involved in loan modifications, short sales, and other foreclosure-related rescue services on behalf of distressed homeowners. These non-lawyers include mortgage brokers, financial management advisors, foreclosure “consultants” and others who engage in foreclosure related rescue services or other similar services. Non-lawyers have proposed a variety of agreements, even offering to hire lawyers as “in-house counsel” to provide services to the non-lawyer’s customers. The Foreclosure Rescue Act, Section 501.1377, Florida Statutes, went into effect October 1, 2008 and imposed restrictions on non-lawyer loan modifiers to protect distressed homeowners. The new statute appears to be the impetus for these inquiries.

Lawyers should be wary of these proposals, as many violate the ethics rules and may subject the lawyer to discipline. Florida Bar members:

• Cannot pay a referral fee or give anything of value to a non-lawyer for referring distressed homeowners to the lawyer. [Rule 4-7.2(c)(14)]
• Cannot be paid by a non-lawyer to provide services to distressed homeowners. [Rule 4-5.4(a)]
• Cannot directly or indirectly divide fees with a non-lawyer. [Rule 4-5.5(a)]

 Cannot assist in the unauthorized practice of law by:

• providing legal services for a distressed homeowner while employed as in-house counsel for a non-lawyer company;
• forming a company with a non-lawyer to perform foreclosure related services if any of the services are the practice of law; or
• assisting a non-lawyer individual or company in providing services that the individual or company is not authorized to provide or are otherwise illegal.

[Rule 4-5.5(a)]

• Cannot assist a non-lawyer in violating the provisions of the Foreclosure Rescue Act, Section 501.1377, Florida Statutes. [Rule 4-8.4(d)]
• Cannot directly contact distressed homeowners to offer representation (including by telephone or facsimile) and cannot allow someone else to directly contact distressed homeowners on the lawyer’s behalf. [Rules 4-7.4(a) and 4-8.4(a)]
• Cannot accept referrals from non-lawyers acting in the guise of a “lawyer referral service” (legitimate lawyer referral services must comply with a rule which requires all advertisements and contact with prospective clients to be in compliance with the attorney advertising rules, in addition to other requirements) [Rule 4-7.10]
• Must have a direct relationship with distressed homeowners who hire the lawyer for representation. [Rules 4-1.1, 4-1.2 and 4-1.4]
• Cannot allow a non-lawyer to choose a lawyer for a distressed homeowner or direct a lawyer’s representation of a distressed homeowner. [Rules 4-1.1, 4-1.2, 4-1.4, and 4-5.5(a)]

 Several ethics opinions, Opinions 92-3 and 95-1 in particular, discuss similar proposals and the ethics problems that arise when lawyers enter business arrangements with non-attorneys. These opinions can be accessed on the Florida Bar’s website by selecting “ethics opinions” then “list of Florida Ethics Opinions by number.”

 This alert does not address every potential problem or concern. Lawyers should not assume that conduct is permissible merely because it is not listed above. If you are a Florida Bar member with specific questions about your own conduct related to this type of situation, you should contact The Florida Bar Ethics Hotline at (800) 235-8619.

 This alert also does not address the issue of what conduct by non-lawyers is permissible. Questions regarding whether conduct of non-lawyers constitutes the unlicensed practice of law should be directed to The Florida Bar Unlicensed Practice of Law Department at (850) 561-584