Remember the oh-so-charming American law firm
that was caught out making fun of homeless people on Halloween?
Well, it's gone bust.
The New
York Times reports that Steven J. Baum, a New York State-based law firm
which acted for mortgage lenders against homeowners, is closing down.
The firm, which has 89 employees, courted
controversy after photos of staff members dressing up as homeless people were
leaked by a disgruntled employee and ended up all over the internet. The photos
depicted staff, dressed as hobos, making a mockery of the excuses of desperate
homeowners.
Now that the firm is in hot water, stories
are beginning to emerge of serious bullying tactics used by the firm against
vulnerable homeowners (now there's a surprise, given the firm's obviously high
levels of emotional intelligence).
The New
York Times reveals that the New York Attorney-General has also been
investigating Baum for "questionable foreclosure practices", and that the firm
recently had to pay $2 million to settle a Department of Justice investigation into
"misleading pleadings".
Despite this, the firm has refused to come
clean, blaming the failure of the business on unfavourable reports in the New York Times.
Baum apparently sent an email to the newspaper
saying, "You have destroyed everything and everyone related to Steven J. Baum
PC. It took 40 years to build the firm and three weeks to tear it down".
