Thousands of Pennsylvania Foreclosures Could Be on Shaky Ground - DailyFinance

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Thousands of Pennsylvania Foreclosures Could Be on Shaky Ground
By ABIGAIL FIELD
Posted 2:40 PM 12/02/10

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Two Pennsylvania cases, one state and one federal, have exposed new types of document problems in foreclosure cases. One of the cases has potentially transformative consequences for thousands of troubled Pennsylvania homeowners. At the center of each is the same law firm: Goldbeck McCafferty & McKeever (GMM).

A lawsuit filed by Patrick Loughren against GMM details how the firm allowed -- and perhaps still allows -- nonlawyers in its firm to file and prosecute thousands of foreclosures.

As long as a lawyer supervises foreclosure filings, and at least reads them before they're submitted to the court, that is acceptable. But Loughren is suing because all three named partners of GMM, Joseph Goldbeck, Gary McCafferty and Michael McKeever, have admitted under oath -- during depositions last September and in a separate case in December 2009 -- that no attorney ever read the filings. The partners made clear that the practice has gone on for the past several years.

Loughren declined to talk with DailyFinance (nor would he even give us the complaint, which is electronically available from the court), and as of now, GMM hasn't returned our calls either. (We learned of the case from Walter Roche's story in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.) But Loughren's complaint is so detailed, and the partners' admissions so damning, that if this case is decided on the merits, it's hard to see how Loughren could lose.

If Loughren does win, the consequences could be far-reaching: All current foreclosure actions filed by GMM could be dismissed on the grounds that lawsuits filed by nonlawyers are a "nullity," meaning they don't count. That's hundreds, potentially thousands, of cases across Pennsylvania.

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More: http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/thousands-of-pennsylvania-foreclosures-could-be-thrown-into-doub/19740497/

And...

Judge sanctions attorney, law firm in Monroeville case
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, November 30, 2010

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The chief bankruptcy judge for Western Pennsylvania sanctioned an attorney and her Philadelphia law firm for filing deceptive documents in a foreclosure proceeding and then lying about them in a case against a Monroeville woman.

The firm filed copies of three key letters created after the fact and never sent to the homeowner or her lawyer, U.S. District Judge Thomas O. Agresti ruled. Under Agresti's order last week, attorney Leslie A. Puida and the firm Goldbeck, McCafferty and McKeever must report to the Disciplinary Board of the state Supreme Court, which could impose penalties.

Puida could not be reached. The firm did not respond to a request for comment Monday. A partner in the firm told the judge it initiated practices and procedures to avoid a recurrence.

The reprimand stems from the case of Sharon D. Hill, who filed for bankruptcy as Countrywide Mortgage attempted to foreclose on her property. Puida, who represented Countrywide, filed copies of the letters saying the mortgage terms changed.

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More: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_711489.html

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