TAMPA - Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has launched civil investigations into two of Florida's major foreclosure process-serving companies.
The attorney general's office is looking into questionable affidavits, concerns about service of complaints, and allegations of overbilling and back-dating documents.
The companies under investigation are Tampa-based ProVest Inc. and Gissen & Zawyer Process of Service Inc. in Miami.
Both companies were routinely used by the law offices of David J. Stern to notify homeowners when a foreclosure lawsuit is filed against them.
The Stern office is also under investigation by the attorney general. Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pulled all foreclosure work from the firm.
Two former employees of Stern's office recently said in sworn statements to the attorney general's office that the law firm inflates bills by creating summonses for unknown spouses, unknown tenants and others.
These summonses are then passed along to process serving companies, such as G&Z and ProVest, to be delivered to homeowners, according to their statements.
Foreclosure defense attorneys, legal scholars, consumer advocates and some judges have criticized the practice as a means of racking up fees, which are ultimately passed along to the consumer.
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