State of Florida Settles Foreclosure Investigation of South Florida Law Firm for $2 million
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Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a statement on March 25 that her office had settled its investigation into the handling of foreclosure cases by the Law Offices of Marshall C. Watson, P.A. for $2 million. Half of the settlement will go toward a Florida legal-aid program that helps low-income homeowners facing foreclosure. The remainder will go to the Attorney General’s Office to cover the costs of its investigation.
Pam Bondi’s statement was quickly followed by one issued by Marshall C. Watson, the firm’s President, stating that he was pleased the investigation was resolved “without any findings.”
The Law Offices of Marshall C. Watson, P.A. was placed under investigation last year for what the Attorney General’s office described as “fabricating and/or presenting false and misleading documents in foreclosure cases.”
The Attorney General’s Office said it was continuing its investigation into a number of other such offices, particularly the Law Offices of David J. Stern PA, Shapiro & Fishman LLP, Florida Default Law Group and Ben-Ezra & Katz PA. Bondi stated that investigations into these law firms were ongoing and that her office is “aggressively investigating [them] in order to protect the interests of everyone involved in foreclosure proceedings.”
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