Law Firm of Fla. 'Foreclosure King' to Close; It and Affiliated Company Once Had 1,200 Workers
A Florida law firm and an affiliated processing company that were grossing $260 million annually and employing some 1,200 workers as recently as 2009 may both be on their last legs.
The Law Offices of David J. Stern will close at the end of the month and the future of DJSP Enterprises is in doubt, reports the Orlando Sentinel.
Stern’s law office is the affiliate’s only customer for the back office foreclosure-processing work which is the core of DJSP’s business, according to a spokesman for the publicly traded company and a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
As detailed in earlier ABAJournal.com posts, the law firm suddenly went into a precipitous decline last year after questions were raised about the manner in which it processed foreclosure cases and Fannie Mae pulled its files. An investigation by the Florida attorney’s office of Stern’s firm and other so-called foreclosure mills is ongoing.
The 50-year-old Stern, who was known as a “foreclosure king,” not only in Florida but nationally, resigned as DJSP’s chairman and chief executive in 2010. He has put more than $40 million worth of assets up for sale recently, including two oceanfront properties and, the newspaper says, “what is believed to be his $18 million Italian-made yacht.”
DJSP stock, which hit a high of $14 per share last spring, is trading today at about 16 cents per share and may be delisted.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Judge Axes Foreclosure, Bans Do-Over, Holds Lawyer in Contempt; Fannie Mae Pulls Files from Firm”
ABAJournal.com: ‘Affiliate of Once-Mighty Foreclosure Firm Lays Off 96 More Workers, May Close Within 60 Days”
