Juez de Palm Beach niega al Procurador General pedido sobre "Foreclosure Mills"

Palm Beach judge denies state's request in "foreclosure mill firm" case
Ruling says Florida Bar and courts, not state regulators, have jurisdiction

Diane C. Lade
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
1:41 PM EDT, October 14, 2010

A Palm Beach County judge will not allow the Florida Attorney General's request for
documents that would bolster its investigation of one of the state's largest foreclosure law
firms, saying The Florida Bar and the courts were responsible for regulating attorneys.
Circuit Judge Jack S. Cox on Thursday denied the state's request for a rehearing on the case involving Shapiro & Fishman, of Boca Raton, one of three South Florida foreclosure firms under state investigation since August. Two of the three have been fighting the Attorney General Bill McCollum's original subpoenas for extensive documents involving the firms employees, investments and clients over the past five years.
Gerald Richman, the attorney representing Shapiro & Fishman, had filed a motion to quash the subpoenas, arguing McCollum had no jurisdiction. Cox agreed last week, adding the request was overbroad, vague and unduly burdensome.

McCollum fired back with a rehearing request, saying the state had standing because the firm was being investigated for allegedly creating improper documents to speed foreclosure - constituting fraud, which would be handled by the Attorney General.
But the judge didn't back down from his original view Thursday, saying state investigators were using civil, not criminal, unfair trade statutes – which meant they were looking at activities regulated by the Bar and courts.
Asked for comment, Ryan Wiggins, spokeswoman for the Attorney General, said the state's attorneys were still "discussing and weighing our options" as the ruling just came out.