Attorney who was subject of Herald investigation asks to have law license revoked
The Florida attorney who was the focus of a Miami Herald investigation last year into the manipulation of foreclosure proceedings has volunteered to give up his law license for five years to put an end to a Florida Bar inquiry into his practices.
In his petition for a “disciplinary revocation,” Hollywood attorney Brad Schandler said that he would forego his license, reimburse the Bar for its investigation into his practices and reimburse the Bar’s Clients’ Security Fund for any claims resulting from his conduct, among other conditions.
But the man whose complaint formed the basis of the Bar’s investigation hopes the Bar doesn’t honor Schandler’s request.
Schandler, 69, would be eligible to apply for readmission to the Bar in five years under the terms of his proposal, which he submitted last month to the Florida Supreme Court. Schandler didn’t respond to the Herald’s request for comment on his petition but previously told reporters that what he was doing was an “alternative, legal foreclosure sale method.”
The attorney is the subject of a Bar complaint brought last year by a bidder named Hernando Posse who lost out on a two-bedroom ocean-view condo in Pompano Beach in a foreclosure auction that he came to believe had been manipulated by Schandler.
The Florida Bar initially dismissed Posse’s complaint into Schandler’s practices but reopened their probe after the Herald published its “Rigged” investigation.
Posse told the Herald he came to believe he was outbid in the 2021 foreclosure auction by Schandler’s sister, who seemed to have bid using a fake name and then failed to pay what she owed. Under the rules of the auction that Schandler had persuaded a judge to approve, the property was then sold to Schandler’s client for a nominal fee rather than being auctioned again.
The Bar has until mid-July to determine whether it wants to go along with Schandler’s request or oppose it. The organization declined to comment on its plans.
Posse said he would be disappointed if the Bar accepted Schandler’s proposed plan and cut short its inquiry into the attorney’s practices.
“I don’t think the Bar should even contemplate doing that,” he said. “If they accept it, it’s an embarrassing decision.”
Andrew Berman, a Miami attorney who has represented numerous attorneys facing Bar discipline, said in an email that there are a number of circumstances in which attorneys might seek a disciplinary resignation, such as when “they are guilty and caught dead to rights … no longer value or need their license or planned to retire anyway (and don’t wish to put up a fight), or they lack funds to defend the case.”
The Herald’s reporting found nearly 30 cases in Broward and Miami-Dade counties in which Schandler and associated lawyers used a series of unconventional tactics to game the foreclosure process. Schandler’s clients successfully bought the properties — at a fraction of their value — in more than two-thirds of the cases reviewed by the Herald.
Schandler’s playbook included trying to switch foreclosure sales from standard online auctions to in-person auctions in which few bidders typically participated, the records showed.
In instances in which Schandler’s clients lacked the standing to switch a foreclosure sale to in-person, he persuaded judges to give his clients an unlimited “bidding credit,” which allowed them to bid any amount to win at an online auction but only be on the hook to pay a smaller, pre-agreed amount.
The Herald’s reporting led state Sen. Ileana Garcia, a Republican from Miami, in November to file legislation to close loopholes in state law that allow the foreclosure process to be exploited.
While the bill passed two Florida Senate committees earlier this year, it died before making it to the Senate floor for consideration.
Garcia said that special interests “quietly came out of the woodwork” to kill the bill, but she vowed to renew her quest to fix the foreclosure sale process next year.
“This issue has been overlooked for too long,” she said. “In the upcoming legislative session, I will address it with stronger policy and consequences.”
