Saturday, April 23, 2011

IF LENDER PROCESSING SERVICES IS INVOLVED, ALWAYS LOOK DEEPER

Lawyer intensifies fee-splitting battle against mortgage servicing providers
by KERRI PANCHUK
Friday, April 22nd, 2011, 3:06 pm

The alleged splitting of attorney fees between foreclosure law firms and third-party mortgage servicing providers is the subject of another lawsuit, bringing the number of cases filed on this issue to five within the past seven months, said Nick Wooten, an Alabama-based plaintiff's attorney involved in all of the cases.

By mid-May, Wooten said he expects to file 10 to 12 additional cases, making similar allegations about what he claims are illegal, split-attorney fee arrangements between mortgage servicing outsourcers and law firms. The cases are concentrated in the Northern District of Mississippi, the Southern District of Alabama and the Northern District of Florida-Pensacola division.

The latest case involves plaintiff, Susan Marie Harris of Florida, against Lender Processing Services (LPS: 28.41+0.11%), its subsidiary LPS Default Solutions Inc., and the Ben-Ezra & Katz law firm.

Harris, who is seeking class-action status of her lawsuit, claims the defendants violated bankruptcy code by creating contractual agreements that allowed them to "illegally split attorney's fees" with law firms that signed up to join LPS Default Solutions' attorney network.

Harris alleges the defendants set up a contractual arrangement in which attorneys in the LPS network compensated LPS Default Solutions by splitting attorney's fees with the outsourcer. Because of this compensation model, the plaintiff contends LPS was able to offer its clients — namely large mortgage servicers –  some services free of charge, expanding its competitive positioning in the default servicing marketplace.

Harris filed her complaint in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Florida — Pensacola division.
A spokesperson for LPS said Friday the company does not comment on specific ongoing litigation matters, but "has been successful in disposing of similar allegations in the past and is confident it will do so in the future."

Ben-Ezra also is named as a defendant in the case as the law firm under contract by LPS in this case. A spokesperson for the Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based firm was not immediately available for comment.

When asked if every in-network law firm working with LPS Default could face litigation, Wooten said "at some level, it is likely that each of those law firms will have to address their relationship with LPS." He estimates that more than 200 firms have contracts with the mortgage servicing outsourcer.

Harris contends in her suit that "LPS Default and the network (law) firms attempt to disguise what are in fact attorneys’ fee sharing and referral agreements by characterizing the fees paid by the attorneys to LPS Default as administrative fees." Harris alleges that when a bankruptcy court is wrapping up one of the cases handled by LPS and one of its in-network law firms, the law firm applies for attorney's fees and does "not disclose to the courts that a substantial portion of the fees requested will be paid to LPS Default."

The result, Harris claims, is a situation where LPS Default and its network law firms "fraudulently mislead the bankruptcy courts, the bankruptcies and their attorneys as well as the bankruptcy trustee as to the actual amount of attorneys' fees incurred by the creditors," the complaint states. The complaint accuses LPS, LPS Default and Ben-Ezra with abuse of the bankruptcy process, fraud on the court, contempt of bankruptcy code, contempt of federal rules of bankruptcy procedure, breach of the uniform mortgage covenant, unauthorized practice of law and civil conspiracy.

The Harris case filed in Florida this week resembles existing cases filed by Nick Wooten, where large mortgage servicing outsourcers are facing the same claims.

The issue of fee-splitting isn't new. It arose in a 2008 Houston bankruptcy case involving Ernest and Mattie Harris. The couple said its loan servicer, Saxon Mortgage Services, never told the court it had hired Fidelity National Information Services as its agent. (LPS was spun off from Fidelity in 2008.) The borrowers claimed that Fidelity's involvement resulted in higher legal fees. Fidelity steadfastly denied wrongdoing in that case, arguing that its business model created efficiencies that lowered costs for all. HousingWire Magazine wrote about the case in its inaugural issue, in September 2008.

Wooten's first bankruptcy-related case, filed last year in the Northern District of Mississippi, makes similar allegationsagainst Prommis Solutions Holding Corp., its majority owner Great Hill Partners, and the law firm of Johnson & Freedman. The suit also names Lender Processing Services, and its subsidiary, LPS Default Services, as defendants.

Another case filed in the Bourbon Circuit Court in Kentucky involves a homeowner who counter sued Wells Fargo(WFC: 28.54 -1.01%) last year in a foreclosure action. The plaintiff alleged the company did not own his mortgage by assignment. In addition, the plaintiff accused the Manley, Deas, Kochalski law firm, LPS and LPS Default Solutions of illegally splitting attorney's fees as part of their contractual arrangement.

Wooten filed two other cases this month. In the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Alabama, a plaintiff named Katrinn Bowden Meeker accused LPS, LPS Default Solutions and the firm of Sirote & Permutt of reaching "an arrangement to illegally split attorney's fees."
In yet another case, plaintiffs in the Northern District of Mississippi made similar allegations against LPS, LPS Default and the firm of Morris and Associates.

Write to Kerri Panchuk.

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Lawyer intensifies fee-splitting battle against mortgage servicing providers
by KERRI PANCHUK
Friday, April 22nd, 2011, 3:06 pm

The alleged splitting of attorney fees between foreclosure law firms and third-party mortgage servicing providers is the subject of another lawsuit, bringing the number of cases filed on this issue to five within the past seven months, said Nick Wooten, an Alabama-based plaintiff's attorney involved in all of the cases.

By mid-May, Wooten said he expects to file 10 to 12 additional cases, making similar allegations about what he claims are illegal, split-attorney fee arrangements between mortgage servicing outsourcers and law firms. The cases are concentrated in the Northern District of Mississippi, the Southern District of Alabama and the Northern District of Florida-Pensacola division.

The latest case involves plaintiff, Susan Marie Harris of Florida, against Lender Processing Services (LPS: 28.41+0.11%), its subsidiary LPS Default Solutions Inc., and the Ben-Ezra & Katz law firm.

Harris, who is seeking class-action status of her lawsuit, claims the defendants violated bankruptcy code by creating contractual agreements that allowed them to "illegally split attorney's fees" with law firms that signed up to join LPS Default Solutions' attorney network.

Harris alleges the defendants set up a contractual arrangement in which attorneys in the LPS network compensated LPS Default Solutions by splitting attorney's fees with the outsourcer. Because of this compensation model, the plaintiff contends LPS was able to offer its clients — namely large mortgage servicers –  some services free of charge, expanding its competitive positioning in the default servicing marketplace.

Harris filed her complaint in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Florida — Pensacola division.
A spokesperson for LPS said Friday the company does not comment on specific ongoing litigation matters, but "has been successful in disposing of similar allegations in the past and is confident it will do so in the future."

Ben-Ezra also is named as a defendant in the case as the law firm under contract by LPS in this case. A spokesperson for the Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based firm was not immediately available for comment.

When asked if every in-network law firm working with LPS Default could face litigation, Wooten said "at some level, it is likely that each of those law firms will have to address their relationship with LPS." He estimates that more than 200 firms have contracts with the mortgage servicing outsourcer.

Harris contends in her suit that "LPS Default and the network (law) firms attempt to disguise what are in fact attorneys’ fee sharing and referral agreements by characterizing the fees paid by the attorneys to LPS Default as administrative fees." Harris alleges that when a bankruptcy court is wrapping up one of the cases handled by LPS and one of its in-network law firms, the law firm applies for attorney's fees and does "not disclose to the courts that a substantial portion of the fees requested will be paid to LPS Default."

The result, Harris claims, is a situation where LPS Default and its network law firms "fraudulently mislead the bankruptcy courts, the bankruptcies and their attorneys as well as the bankruptcy trustee as to the actual amount of attorneys' fees incurred by the creditors," the complaint states. The complaint accuses LPS, LPS Default and Ben-Ezra with abuse of the bankruptcy process, fraud on the court, contempt of bankruptcy code, contempt of federal rules of bankruptcy procedure, breach of the uniform mortgage covenant, unauthorized practice of law and civil conspiracy.

The Harris case filed in Florida this week resembles existing cases filed by Nick Wooten, where large mortgage servicing outsourcers are facing the same claims.

The issue of fee-splitting isn't new. It arose in a 2008 Houston bankruptcy case involving Ernest and Mattie Harris. The couple said its loan servicer, Saxon Mortgage Services, never told the court it had hired Fidelity National Information Services as its agent. (LPS was spun off from Fidelity in 2008.) The borrowers claimed that Fidelity's involvement resulted in higher legal fees. Fidelity steadfastly denied wrongdoing in that case, arguing that its business model created efficiencies that lowered costs for all. HousingWire Magazine wrote about the case in its inaugural issue, in September 2008.

Wooten's first bankruptcy-related case, filed last year in the Northern District of Mississippi, makes similar allegationsagainst Prommis Solutions Holding Corp., its majority owner Great Hill Partners, and the law firm of Johnson & Freedman. The suit also names Lender Processing Services, and its subsidiary, LPS Default Services, as defendants.

Another case filed in the Bourbon Circuit Court in Kentucky involves a homeowner who counter sued Wells Fargo(WFC: 28.54 -1.01%) last year in a foreclosure action. The plaintiff alleged the company did not own his mortgage by assignment. In addition, the plaintiff accused the Manley, Deas, Kochalski law firm, LPS and LPS Default Solutions of illegally splitting attorney's fees as part of their contractual arrangement.

Wooten filed two other cases this month. In the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Alabama, a plaintiff named Katrinn Bowden Meeker accused LPS, LPS Default Solutions and the firm of Sirote & Permutt of reaching "an arrangement to illegally split attorney's fees."
In yet another case, plaintiffs in the Northern District of Mississippi made similar allegations against LPS, LPS Default and the firm of Morris and Associates.

Write to Kerri Panchuk.

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Thursday, April 21, 2011

JURISDICTIONARY SHOWS YOU HOW TO WIN YOUR CASE WITH, OR WITHOUT, A LAWYER!




Video   |   Learn More   |   American Justice Foundation
How to Prove Your Winning Case!
Since 1997, when Jurisdictionary began showing people"How to Win in Court", we've received tens of thousands of emails requesting help ... and most of them from people who would have lost but for our help.
Scales
The problem is "assuming" what it takes to win just gets folks into courtroom trouble!
It's certainly reasonable to assume, if the facts and law are on your side, that you should win in court!
The reality is, however: That's "Just Not True!
Facts and Law are not enough to win!
You must PROVE your winning case!
People have a hard time with this concept.
It does seem reasonable, if one knows the facts and knows the law that the court should rule in your favor.
But! That's not how our courts work!
In an "adversarial system" like ours, both sides compete to see which can pile the most "admissible evidence" into the court's official record. The one with the greater weight of "admissible evidence" wins.
Notice "admissible evidence" is not "FACTS".
A fact may be a fact, a certain, undeniable fact, and yet not be admissible evidence!
To be admissible, a fact must be:
  • relevant,
  • reliable,
  • competent,
  • not privileged, and
  • in compliance with other rules, etc.
To imagine one can march into court with "facts" and get justice, demanding, "The law is on my side," is to imagine something that simply is not true!
The PROOF is in the PROVING!
And, proving can only be done by "admissible evidence".
Too many good people lose simply because they do not yet know what is "admissible" and what is not!
The Federal Rules of Evidence that control every federal case (civil and criminal) throughout the land, are printed in the Thomson-West edition of the Rules of Court on only 13 pages! Believe it or not.
That's 13 pages between you and success or defeat!
It isn't difficult, but you must know HOW TO USE THE RULES and what the rules mean by relevant, reliable, competent, privileged, etc.
People have been using Jurisdictionary for years to win in court. They learn the fundamentals and how to apply them wisely and effectively, and you can, too!
Click HERE or on the flowchart image below to see theLawsuit Process at-a-glance.Win-Lose Flowchart
Yes!
It really IS this simple!
What good are "rights", if you don't know how to use the rules correctly toenforce your rights?
Why remain in legal darkness?
It really IS this simple!
There's a lot to learn, but you can learn it in 24 hours, and none of it is too difficult for the average 8th grader.
The Rules are fair.
The judge may not be fair.
The lawyer on the other side probably won't be fair!
But, the Rules are fair!
YOU can learn how to use the rules to win!
It is NOT DIFFICULT!
Click HERE or click on the flowchart above to see the fundamentals at-a-glance.
Help Your Friends!
Forward this email and this link to the
Lawsuit Flowchart
so your friends can see how easy it is to win.
It's sad that so many today fear and hate the very system of Law & Order that is the only power that is able to protect them from villainy at the hands of their fellow man and the tyranny of despotic political power.
This chart shows how fundamentally easy it is!
Please be careful who you trust to teach you about the law and how our courts work! There are all kinds of folks who hold themselves out as "legal gurus" you. There is a "movement" in our nation that's lost faith in America. The leaders of this "movement" see only evil and none of the good. You can detect them by their anger and the "nifty tricks" they say you can use to win in court to get around the rules.
The fact is, learning the Rules is very, very easy!
Believe me: After a quarter-century of practicing law in state and federal courts you may be assured that the rules RULE AND ARE VERY FAIR TO BOTH SIDES.
The Rules of Court are what guarantee your rights! If you cannot enforce your rights, you might as well not have any ... because a "right" you cannot enforce is not worth much!
Even the Constitution itself is a set of "rules".
The Rules of Court go hand-in-hand and are your powerto secure Justice and enforce your rights!
Nothing else works!
Try writing letters to the governor. Doesn't work.
Write letters to the Bar. Doesn't work.
Write letters to your congressman. Doesn't work.
Carry signs in the street. Doesn't work.
Send emails to all your friends. Doesn't work.
Most of you have taken a sacred oath before Almighty God to uphold the Constitution of the United States.
Yet, very, very few of you have any idea how to enforcethe rights our Constitution promises or any of the rights promised to you by your state constitutions, statutes, or common law?
Why?
Because my profession doesn't want you to know!
Make you angry?
I hope so!
Let's tell everyone: Now is the time to learn!
Are you facing one of these battles?
  • Foreclosure
  • Custody
  • Child Support
  • Taxation Issues
  • Property Rights
  • Criminal Charges
  • Contract Disputes
  • Slander
  • Landlord-Tenant Problems
  • Etcetera .......
Short of grabbing your squirrel gun and a box of ammo, the only way you can get your "redress of grievances" is through using our court system wisely.
But! Notice the word, "wisely".
You must understand what this week's FREE flowchart explains clearly.
So, click HERE and study the flowchart now.
And, be certain to visit Jurisdictionary to learn more about the official 24-hour, step-by-step lawsuit self-help course that everyone is talking about these days!
Help Your Friends!
Forward this email and this link to the
Lawsuit Flowchart
so your friends can see how easy it is to win.
I faithfully attended 3 years of classes in law school and read every page of a stack of lawbooks 20-feet high, but in all those years the very simple common-sense secrets of the simple process that lets any person of average intelligence Win in Court was never explained.
Jurisdictionary reveals the secrets lawyers don't want you to know!
The process is simple, and YOU can do it!
If you have a lawyer, he may be unwilling to do it. He may be afraid to do it.
But, if you want to win, someone must do it!
I realize these Tips & Tactics newsletters urge you to order the self-help course. If you already have the official Jurisdictionary course, perhaps these newsletters will encourage you to learn more.
The things you don't yet know are the very things your opponent will use to destroy your case!
Lawsuits are an axe fight.
Jurisdictionary is your axe!
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I've helped tens of thousands of good people get justice in the courts since 1997 when I first put Jurisdictionary on the internet. It wasn't much back then, but I've been doing all I can to make it better each year and will do the best I can to continue in the months and years to come.
Learning is up to you!
There was a bumper sticker many years ago that said, "If you want Peace, work for Justice!"
Being angry won't help you or anyone else!
Believing internet legal myths is just plain stupid.
The only thing that can help is for each and every one of us to learn and teach others how to use the official rules of due process that make Justice possible, rules that control the courts, rules that stop corruption, rules that require judges to grant justice, rules that were paid for by far too much innocent blood already.
Help Jurisdictionary help others, uplifting the hopes and encouraging the determination of the American People and even people in other nations around the world where justice is for sale to the highest bidder and good people are sacrificed on the altar of money!
Someone once said, "The truth will set you free!"
If YOU believe that - if you really believe it - please do all you can to promote the Public Legal Education mission of Jurisdictionary to empower people who are all too often destroyed in court simply because they don't know the rules!
There's never been but two ways to win any contest!
Either you cheat or use the rules to your advantage.
Cheaters don't win all that often.
Food for thought?
Forward this email to your friends!
- - - - - - - -
Winning is EASY once you know the rules and how to use them effectively!
Help Your Friends!
Forward this email end this link to the
Lawsuit Flowchart
so your friends can see how easy it is to win.
Don't let anyone intimidate you into thinking lawsuits are too complicated for mere mortals to grasp or deceive you into thinking all lawyers are smarter than the rest of the human race ... 'cause it isn't so!
Anyone can learn the rules required to win!
Anyone!
You simply need to start with a clear view of the field of play, the object of the game, and the rules that control all the players ... including judges and lawyers!
It IS simple ... as many thousands have learned!
Since launching Jurisdictionary in 1997, I've found the most debilitating factor infecting people with hopelessness is the fear that breeds in lack of knowing how the game of litigation is played to win!
Not knowing creates fear.
Knowledge displaces fear with the confidence!
Take any apparently complicated thing apart to examine its component parts and you quickly see how they all fit together. When you first begin, it seems impossible.
But!
If someone shows you how each separate part works with each of the other parts, even the most complicated things are suddenly easy-to-understand. The mystery my profession has woven disappears!
Every one of you has great legal power!
Sadly, many good people never discover the power that is theirs ... so people who know how to use the rules of court and the law of the case take advantage of them!
Jurisdictionary wants to turn the tables on crooked lawyers and biased judges and protect the "little guys and gals" that are being taken advantage of simply because no one has ever come out with a course like this. No one has ever cared enough to tell you the truth. No one has ever made it this easy-to-understand!
It is easy-to-understand how to win in court once you see things the way I teach them!
The full details you need to know are in my affordable step-by-step Jurisdictionary course.
To learn more, go to: www.Jurisdictionary.com
============================
My affordable 24-hour step-by-step lawsuit self-help course includes:
  • 5-hour video CD simplifies process of litigation
  • 2 audio CDs present tactics and procedures
  • 15 tutorials on a 4th CD go beyond the basics
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Still Only $249 (plus $7.50 for Priority Mail S&H)
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Force judges to enforce the rules, instead of allowing the lawyer on the other side twist the law against you!
You cannot win if you don't know how to control the judge and all the lawyers (including your own lawyer, if you can afford to pay one to go to court for you)!
You've heard the horror stories from others.
Don't let it happen to you!
Know the rules and how to force everyone to obey!
Know how to draft proper pleadings, how to get your own evidence in the court's record, how to keep the other side from getting their evidence in, how to move the court to enter orders favorable to your cause, and how to use your Jurisdictionary legal know-how and case-winning strategies to control the judge and win your case!
My self-help course is presented in such an easy format people tell us an 8th grader can learn it in just 24 hours!
Know what you must know to win!
Stop courtroom corruption!
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Control judges and lawyers - or lose!
My "Tips & Tactics" newsletters are only introductions to the complete course you need to win. If you don't already have my 24-hour step-by-step self-help course, go to my website and order now!
Read the testimonials in the right column ⇒
As Woody Guthrie used to sing, "This Land is our Land," and that includes every courtroom and every courthouse from San Diego to Bangor, Maine. Why let lawyers control our lives with trickery? Why let judges destroy our lives by letting lawyers get away with their trickery?
YOU CAN WIN!
Forward this newsletter to ALL YOUR FRIENDS!
If you aren't involved in a lawsuit or threatened with one today, learn what my course teaches and help others who will be destroyed by all-too-common courtroom corruption if YOU don't help them learn what it takes to win!
There are more than 150 lawsuits filed every minute in the United States - nearly 100 million each year. Try to imagine how many thousands of good, honest people will be destroyed in the next 7 days just because they have no idea how to protect themselves and have nobody they can trust (or afford) to help them win!
Urge everyone to get my affordable 24-hour course!
Do it for your nation ... and for your children!
Dr. Frederick David Graves, JD
================================

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