On Friday, the law firm of Steven J. Baum threw a Halloween party. The firm, which is located near Buffalo, is what is commonly referred to as a “foreclosure mill” firm, meaning it represents banks and mortgage servicers as they attempt to foreclose on homeowners and evict them from their homes. Steven J. Baum is, in fact, the largest such firm in New York; it represents virtually all the giant mortgage lenders, including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo.

The party is the firm’s big annual bash. Employees wear Halloween costumes to the office, where they party until around noon, and then return to work, still in costume. I can’t tell you how people dressed for this year’s party, but I can tell you about last year’s.

That’s because a former employee of Steven J. Baum recently sent me snapshots of last year’s party. In an e-mail, she said that she wanted me to see them because they showed an appalling lack of compassion toward the homeowners — invariably poor and down on their luck — that the Baum firm had brought foreclosure proceedings against.

b_b: I find this article very insightful. I have always wondered about the foreclosure market, and asked myself, what in it for the banks? It seems that modification is the far better option in most cases for both parties, since reselling a home in foreclosure will often result in a much bigger loss for the creditor. However, maybe the real answer is that nothing is in it for the banks, and that sleazy law firms are what's hindering the modification process. If most of this work is being outsourced by Citi, and WellsFargo, etc. to firms that only care about billable hours, then the picture all of a sudden becomes in much sharper focus. Throwing parties where owners who have defaulted are the butt of the jokes doubtlessly helps to dehumanize the those who are being litigated against, making it easier to stomach ruthless gain of profit. I won't pretend to know how to fix the foreclosure crisis, but after reading about his, it would seam that changing the way law firms interact with mortgagees is probably a good place to start. Banks and individuals have an investment in each mortgage, so working together to ensure that defaults don't occur seems to be in everyone's best interest. It’s like what Lenin said…you look for the person who will benefit, and, uh, uh… I am the walrus.

posted 4556 days ago