This Is All Kinds Of Wrong of the Day: An op-ed by Joe Nocera in today’s New York Times reveals that Steven J. Baum, New York’s largest “foreclosure mill” firm — defined by Word Spy as “a law firm that processes foreclosures perfunctorily and without due process” — held a Halloween party last year that featured a particularly nauseating theme: Homelessness.
Damning photos sent in to Nocera by a former employee show Steven J. Baum personnel covered in soot and dressed in rags, holding signs that say “I was never served” — reportedly meant to mock the “typical excuse” of homeowners attempting to avoid being foreclosed upon.
“When we spoke later,” Nocera writes, “[the former employee] added that the snapshots are an accurate representation of the firm’s mind-set.” ”There is this really cavalier attitude,” she told him. “It doesn’t matter that people are going to lose their homes.”
The firm, which represents Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, among other mortgage lending behemoths, is currently being investigated by New York’s attorney general, Eric Schneiderman.
Furthermore, it recently resolved a Department of Justice investigation into the filing of “misleading pleadings, affidavits, and mortgage assignments” by agreeing to pay $2 million. A class-action lawsuit on behalf of homeowners is currently pending.
A spokesman for Steven J. Baum denied the “suggestion” that employees dressed “in attire that mocks or attempts to belittle the plight of those who have lost their homes,” claiming that this op-ed is simply “another attempt by The New York Times to attack our firm and our work.”
The photos, however, suggest otherwise.
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