These are hard times, not just for our industry, but for the whole country. Everyday, we see evidence of lives and dreams shattered, and we're called on to help mediate the damage as best we can, providing assistance, guidance and relief. It can take a toll on our spirit and outlook, but we do the best we can, and take comfort from the fact that we're a positive force, on the side of good, working for what's right.
We sometimes are confronted with the dark side. Usually the bad guys are just lazy, incompetent, thoughtless, maybe unethical or greedy. But sometimes we run across something so egregious, so awful that we're struck dumb. That's where this story took me initially, but it's been replaced over the last several hours with a sense of extreme outrage.
It seems that the law firm of Steven J. Baum, a very large New York foreclosure mill of extremely bad reputation, likes to celebrate Halloween by having it's employees dress up in costume to mock the homeless and the homeowners they typically foreclose upon. The whole story, complete with photos of last year's event, appeared yesterday in the New York Times.
I can't begin to describe the disgusting behavior and mindset at work here.You have to see it for yourselves - here's the link: What The Costumes Reveal.
This foreclosure mill, whose client's include Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, has appeared in the AR blog roll before - in fact, two weeks ago, David Saks, an AR member from Memphis, TN wrote a post entitled Foreclosure Rescue Company Forced To Overhaul Its Practices.
Sometimes I despair at what I see out there. I don't really know what more to say or do about this one, except to come away with a renewed determination to try harder.
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Mary & Dick Greenberg |
Data Source: IRES MLS