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Steven J. Baum, P.C., was a law firm headquartered in Amherst, New York, United States. It was founded as Marvin R. Baum, P.C. in 1972, and remained under that name until Marvin Baum's death in 1999, after which his son Steven inherited the business and renamed it after himself. Its practice was primarily in real estate law, particularly in representing lenders and servicers in residential foreclosure actions in its later years. In the wake of the subprime mortgage crisis in the late 2000s (decade), Baum handled 40% of all foreclosures in the state, the most of any law firm in New York. Many of the foreclosures it initiated were products of the robo-signing scandal, and it came under state and federal scrutiny. Homeowner activists singled out the firm for its aggressive tactics that ruled out mortgage modifications, and brought class action suits against it. After state courts instituted a rule designed to curtail fraudulent foreclosure filings, a rule the firm had fought in court, new filings by Baum's clients dropped considerably. The firm came to national attention in 2011 when ''New York Times'' columnist Joseph Nocera published photos from the firm's Halloween party the previous year, leaked to him by an employee. They depicted costumes and decoration that mocked homeowners and critics of the firm. Shortly afterwards, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac barred lenders and servicers from using the firm for foreclosures. State and federal investigations are continuing. Within a week Baum announced it was closing the firm, citing the negative publicity and lost business. ==History== Marvin R. Baum founded the firm in 1972. In addition to practicing law in the foreclosure area, he wrote and lectured on the topic and real estate law in general. He chaired the Real Property Law Section of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA).〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.mbaum.com/SJB/about.jsp )〕 His son Steven J. Baum joined the firm in 1986. He chaired the Foreclosure and Workout Committee of the NYSBA. In 1999, when his father died, the firm assumed his name.〔 Shortly afterwards, an associated firm, Pillar Processing LLC, was created to handle document processing. It was later spun off to private equity investors, but was dependent on Baum for almost all its business.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Steven J. Baum P.C.」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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