Labor & Employment Law

Foreclosures: Cash For Keys Program and the Banks

Posted on March 28, 2011
The five biggest US mortgage servicers are considering a cash for keys program that would pay delinquent borrowers money to leave their home. Is this a new play to lure people from their owns and steal the property with a carrot? Last week, the number tossed around was $21,000 to delinquent homeowners...

American Apparel Chief faces Sexual Harassment Charges from former employee

Posted on March 26, 2011
The newest sexual harassment suit against American Apparel Chief, Dov Charney, comes from a former young American Apparel sales associate. The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday, alleges that CEO Dov Charney, sexually harassed her in a meeting that was conducted in home...

Florida Governor approves court funding for Florida Foreclosures

Posted on March 25, 2011
Florida courts received a sigh of relief today when Governor Rick Scott approved millions of dollars in emergency funding to help clear some of the hundreds of thousand of Florida foreclosure cases. The Florida Supreme Court warned the governor that the $14 million was desperately needed to clear the massive foreclosure case backlog throughout Palm Beach County, Broward County, Dade County and other counties throughout Florida...

FTC brings suit against fraudulent Florida based loan modification firms

Posted on March 23, 2011
The Federal Trade Commission is cracking down on scam artists that blatantly prey upon distressed homeowners facing foreclosure or in need of a loan modification. Recently, the FTC charged a national group of companies based in Palm Beach County, with marketing illegal loan modification services...

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LaBovick Law Group Announces New Firm Name

Posted on March 17, 2011
"New Name to Reflect the full scope of the Legal Team and Strength of Brand" We are pleased to announce that LaBovick & LaBovick, P.A. has changed its name to LaBovick Law Group. This will enable the LaBovick Law Group to present a clear and strong brand in the Florida legal community...

Lehman Probe stalls in $50 Billion real estate accounting maneuver

Posted on March 16, 2011
A legal gray area may derail an attempt by Securities and Exchange Commission officials to seek a civil or criminal suit against executives of the now defunct Lehman Brothers Holding Inc. For months now, SEC officials have been hoping to charge former Lehman Brothers executives with duping their investors with an accounting strategy that is commonly known as Repo 105...

Military Service Member foreclosures under attack by DOJ

Posted on March 14, 2011
After serving our country, soldiers and veterans come home to find that lending institutions are fraudulently foreclosing on their homes. Recently, it has come to light that a Morgan Stanley subsidiary, Saxon Mortgage Services Unit, may have fraudulently foreclosed upon nearly two dozen military families from 2006 - 2008...

Bank of America linked to alleged Force-Paced Insurance Scam

Posted on March 14, 2011
Bank of America makes the news again for yet another scandal relating to mortgage foreclosures. This most recent scandal involves a soon to be former subsidiary, Balboa Insurance company. A series of alleged documents and deleted Bank of America emails were leaked anonymously by a former Balboa employee...

Former Treasurer of Mortgage Company guilty in $1.9 billion fraud scam involving Colonial Bank

Posted on March 11, 2011
Desiree E. Brown, who was once the treasurer of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. recently pleaded guilty to a host of charges relating to fraud. The charges were leveled against Brown by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which alleges that Brown attempted to run a scam against the U...

U.S. Supreme Court ruling extends federal job discrimination laws

Posted on March 11, 2011
The term ?employment at-will? can be somewhat deceptive. Under this heading, it is understood that either the employee or the employer may terminate their relationship at any time and for any reason. However, state and federal laws place limits on the seemingly free-wheeling nature of at-will employment, most of which benefit employees...

J.P. Morgan Facing Up to $4.5 Billion in Fines over Botched Foreclosures

Posted on March 02, 2011
Every year, lending giant JPMorgan Chase & Co. files an annual securities report. This year's report, which was filed on February 28, included some very eye-opening information. The bank disclosed that it is currently the defendant in more than 10,000 legal proceedings around the United States...

The proposed Mortgage-Loan Plan is not favored by the Banking Community

Posted on February 27, 2011
The Obama administration has been working hard to reduce the number of foreclosures and help consumers remain in their homes. The Banks and their Analysts are bristling about the prospect of mandatory requirements for lenders to offer a mortgage modification to every borrower...

Let's Get Back to Work Campaign - Takes Money From Florida's Education Budget

Posted on February 09, 2011
It didn't take long for the Rick "Let's get back to work" Scott to show his real colors. Yesterday he rolled out his budget which calls for the slashing of monies earmarked for education, justice and the department of corrections. Along the way, he plans on firing nearly nine thousand employees, many of whom are teachers...

Banks are NOT Following the Law with the Foreclosure Process

Posted on February 09, 2011
Since our firm helps people who are facing foreclosures we have a unique perspective on the "foreclosure crisis." We see cases from start to finish. Sometimes folks come to us too late in the process. They want us to try and "unwind" the case. These poor people simply want to know their options, such as modification and/or mediation...

Couple Wins Foreclosure Reprieve for failure of proper service

Posted on February 01, 2011
A Palm Beach Couple is breathing a sigh of relief due to a foreclosure reprieve. This was largely due to the courtroom success of foreclosure defense attorney Audra Simovitch, in convincing a judge that the couple was entitled to this because of improper service...

Personal Bankruptcies on the Rise in South Florida

Posted on January 07, 2011
2010 was a disheartening year for many people. According to the Bankruptcy Court in Miami, the number of personal bankruptcies in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties rose by 40%. Bankruptcies Florida totaled 24,681 in the state's southern region in 2009; they rose to 34,579 in 2010...

Foreclosure Fiasco escalates with Bank Break-Ins

Posted on December 23, 2010
Issues regarding the mishandling of mortgages and foreclosures around the United States have been in the news a lot lately. Recently, an even more disturbing trend has been appearing on the radar: home break-ins and ransackings by banks. Thanks to a common clause that is found in many mortgages, banks technically have the right to enter and secure a house that has been abandoned...

Estate Planning is Essential As The Estate Tax Comes Back in 2011

Posted on December 23, 2010
The time that many wealthy individuals have been dreading is almost here: the estate tax is coming back. Due to the unique laws and specifications of the new estate tax, only a fraction of a percentage of those who pass away in 2011 will be subjected to it...

$6 Million Verizon FMLA Settlement - Violating FMLA can be costly mistake

Posted on December 20, 2010
Recently, Verizon Communications Inc. agreed to settle a class-action employment lawsuit involving the Family Medical Leave Act that could cost them over $6 million in FMLA damages. The employment lawsuit revolved around Verizon's violations of various leave acts, especially the federal Family Medical Leave Act and and the California Family Rights Act, or CFRA...

EEOC Issues Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act Final Regulations

Posted on November 10, 2010
The Genetic Information Non Discrimination Act Prohibits Using Genetic Information to Make Employment Decisions The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission published its final rule implementing the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. Under GINA, it is illegal to discriminate against employees or applicants because of genetic information...

Options For Florida Homewoners Amidst the Foreclosure Crisis

Posted on November 08, 2010
If you do not know about the foreclosure crisis in South Florida, you must have been living under a rock, or living in the wilderness without any communication to the outside world. Several National Banks and Florida Law Firms have been in the news for committing fraud upon the courts and homeowners by filing false affidavits to establish assignments of the loans...

Bullying On The Job Can Cost Employers

Posted on November 05, 2010
Bullying amongst teens has been in the news of late. However, Bullying on the job, can cost companies good workers. Business Writer Marcia Pounds takes a look at bullying in the workplace in a recent article on the workplace. Although some may think that bullying can be a good management strategy, it is hardly motivatioinal...

Scott Haft, Esq. interviewed in the Palm Beach Post re: Chase Bank Foreclosure Reversal

Posted on November 03, 2010
Florida Foreclosure Defense Attorney Scott Haft was interviewed in the Palm Beach Post regarding South Florida man gets his property back after judge reverses Chase foreclosure. Mr. Haft discussed how his South Florida client had his foreclosure reversed today ay based on a motion arguing the bank was wrong to take the property back at auction while at the same time negotiating a loan modification on the home...

Homeowner keeps home after Bank Agrees to Vacate Summary Judgment

Posted on November 02, 2010
Today I was in Miami-Dade County for a hearing on a homeowner?s Motion to Vacate Summary Judgment based on Fraud, Misconduct and Misrepresentation during the course of the foreclosure case. In English, this means that my client lost his home when the Chase Bank misrepresented the facts and took his home without due process...

SEC Whistleblower Fund Totals $450 Million to combat fraud

Posted on November 01, 2010
The Securities and Exchange Commission says it has set aside about $450 million for payments to outside whistleblowers whose information results in successful cases and penalties collected from companies or individuals. The SEC set up the program in accordance with the financial overhaul law enacted in July...

Notre Dame employee killed in lift accident on the job

Posted on November 01, 2010
The University of Notre Dame may have violated safety rules when a student worker was killed while videotaping a football practice according to Indiana State regulators. The student worker was on top of a tall hydraulic lift that toppled in high winds, when he fell to his death...

Are Banks trying to "Cover Up" Mortgage Foreclosure Fraud?

Posted on November 01, 2010
In two letters recently released by, Attorney General Richard Cordray criticized a number of banks and loan-servicing companies, including Wells Fargo & Co.; Ally Financial Inc.'s GMAC Mortgage; Bank of America Corp.; and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Mr. Cordray accused the banks of trying to paper over fraud committed in foreclosures with temporary fixes that don't address underlying problems in the banks' practices...

Constitution Day

Posted on September 17, 2010
What an honor it is to live in the United States. I am so proud and privileged to have the right to live here. Today is Constitution Day. A day when we honor the living document which is the final arbiter of the law of the land here in our United States of America...

Palm Beach Jury awards $8.1 million to fired cancer victim

Posted on September 15, 2010
As an employment law attorney, daily I fight for the rights of employees and against companies that violate Federal Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Laws. It is unfortunate that most employees do not understand their rights. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces federal laws that prohibit job discrimination...

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Posted on September 03, 2010

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