Roy Diaz, a partner at the law firm, didn't return a call seeking comment.
Under Investigation
Also under investigation by McCollum is Lender Processing Services Inc. The Jacksonville-based company has produced documents known as mortgage assignments with signatures of the same person that vary "wildly" from document to document, according to the attorney general. The documents are necessary for banks and mortgage servicers to show they have the legal right, or "standing," to pursue foreclosure lawsuits. McCollum is investigating whether the documents have been forged.
Michelle Kersch, a spokeswoman for Lender Processing, said the company hadn't been contacted by the attorney general and would cooperate with any inquiries.
McGrady, the chief judge in Florida's sixth circuit, said his courts have seen "'some very sloppy practice" by lawyers for mortgage lenders.
"I'm disappointed that perhaps they've taken advantage of a system that was set up to allow them to obtain their foreclosures in a reasonably fair and expeditious process, and they may have abused that," he said.
Nine Million Mortgages
As many as 9 million U.S. mortgages that have been or are being foreclosed may face challenges over the validity of legal documents, according to a report yesterday by Morgan Stanley.
About 2.5 million homes have been repossessed since 2005 and another 6.5 million mortgages are in foreclosure or may be soon, the New York-based firm wrote in a note.
At the George E. Edgecomb courthouse in Tampa, about a half-hour drive from McGrady's court, two senior judges hold hearings four days a week on approving foreclosures. Last week, one judge, Sandra Taylor, had 51 cases on her docket in one day.