Attorney Brad Schandler, right, prepares to preside over a foreclosure auction at Oakland Grove Village Condominium in Oakland Park, Fla., Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. Bidders in the auction include Schandler’s sister, Nadine August , seen at center, and Mauricio J. Riquer , at left, they are joined by court reporter Gary Siffort.
adiaz@miamiherald.com
The Florida Bar has opened an investigation into possible wrongdoing by a Florida attorney whose manipulation of the foreclosure auction process was exposed in the Miami Herald.
The Bar’s complaint originally came from a man who hoped to buy a two-bedroom, ocean-view condo at the Emerald Tower in Pompano Beach. He was outbid by a woman he later believed to be the auctioneer’s sister, bidding under a false name. In his complaint, he accuses auctioneer and attorney Brad Schandler of rigging foreclosure auctions and “illegally enriching himself by cheating the system and hurting many honest people who are actually looking for a home.”
The Law Society had previously closed the complaint, but subsequently reopened it Herald reports on Schandler’s unconventional tactics.
The Herald’s revelations also prompted Broward’s chief justice to act, and a Miami state senator vowed to legislate.
The Herald reported that Schandler found a weakness in foreclosure law and the court system that allows him to enter foreclosure cases at a relatively low cost, take over, ask a judge to modify the auction conditions to his advantage, then organize auctions that he practically does not need. chance of losing. Time and time again, he and his associates come away victorious. In at least five cases reviewed by the Herald, he or his associates won condo auctions for $100.
According to the Herald’s analysis, Schandler finds cases of condominium foreclosures without a clear heir, or in which the heirs or owners are in another country. Typically, the homeowner has died and the mortgage is paid off, but an assessment or fee is outstanding.
“We commend the Herald for its recent article regarding irregularities in foreclosure proceedings,” Broward Chief Judge Jack Tuter said. “It has brought attention to something that is much more common than the public realizes. We sent the article to all of our judges and asked them to be more vigilant if they see any suspicious activity going on in these foreclosure cases.
Miami-Dade Chief Justice Nushin Sayfie said his powers were limited.
“We recognize the public interest in these cases, but the authority of a chief justice is administrative in nature and, as a matter of law, we are not authorized to make legal reviews of the decisions of another judge. This is the role of the courts of appeal. … Furthermore, the code of judicial ethics prohibits judges from commenting on specific cases.”
Florida Sen. Ileana Garcia, Republican of Miami, said the report “raised a lot of eyebrows” and that she would pursue legislation to combat “abuse and brazen behavior.”
Schandler gets the judges to agree that foreclosure auctions can be held in person and run by him, instead of the usual online auctions run by the court clerk. Some lawyers accused Schandler of failing to clearly signal to the judges his intention to change the auction procedures.
Involvement of outside bidders can be difficult. Some bidders found it difficult to participate due to vague instructions in legal notices. Some bidders said Schandler changed the location of the auction from the property itself to the lobby of the building, without prior warning, and that bidders had to access buildings that might be closed to non-residents.
The rules Schandler had the judges approve make it difficult even if a bidder finds the bid. In a traditional procedure, the property would be re-auctioned if the high bidder fails to pay the balance owed. According to Schandler’s rules, property reverts to its client in this scenario. This is significant because the bidders accused Schandler of employing fake bidders, including his sister, who were the highest bidders at the auction, but did not pay what was owed, delivering the property to Schandler’s client for minimal cost.
“Foreclosure auction processes should not be an invitation to abuse,” said Senator Garcia. “There should be clear parameters to avoid conflicts of interest between auctioneers and bidders, full transparency of the payment process and appropriate public notification and access to scheduled auctions.”
Following the Herald’s report, Florida Bar spokeswoman Jennifer Krell Davis said “an investigation has been opened” into Schandler.
Krell Davis said the Bar initially declined to investigate because the information provided did not meet the threshold of a “legally sufficient complaint.” The Bar received additional information on March 27 and opened the investigation on April 2. the day the Herald published its article.
Krell Davis said she could not comment on the details of the complaints about Schandler.
Records show the investigation stems, at least in part, from a complaint against Schandler filed by Hernando Posse, a bidder at a 2021 Pompano Beach auction presided over by Schandler.
Posse’s complaint detailed his experience at the 2021 auction, which was held in the condominium lobby after Schandler convinced Broward Circuit Judge Nicholas Lopane to hold one in-person auction rather than a standard online auction. The Herald obtained a version of the complaint through a public records request after the Law Society initially declined to act on it.
Posse was outbid at the auction by a woman who said her name was Kitty Lefkowitz. She agreed to pay $185,000 for the two-bedroom unit on State Road A1A, but failed to pay the day after the auction. Under auction rules proposed by Schandler and approved by Lopane, his default meant the property went to Schandler’s client for $100.
The Herald found no record of a woman named Kitty Lefkowitz in Florida. Reporters showed Posse a photo of Schandler’s sister, Nadine August, and he recognized her as the woman who had bid against him under the name Lefkowitz.
The Herald also discovered that August submitted the winning bid, giving his real name, at another of his brother’s auctions in February 2024.
Schandler and August did not respond to questions from the Herald about whether August was indeed Lefkowitz.
Schandler, 68, a University of Miami Law School graduate, lives in Hollywood.
Through his lawyer, David Karp, Schandler declined to comment, but told the Herald in a previous interview that he did not invent these methods, but simply borrowed them from other lawyers .
This story was originally published April 23, 2024, 5:00 a.m.
Brittany Wallman joined the Miami Herald in 2023 as an investigative reporter. She has been a journalist in South Florida for 25 years and won the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for her coverage of the Parkland school shooting. She grew up in Iowa and Oklahoma. Brittany graduated from the University of Florida.
Ben Wieder is an investigative reporter in McClatchy’s Washington bureau and for the Miami Herald. He previously worked at the Center for Public Integrity and Stateline. His work has been honored by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, the National Press Foundation, the Online News Association and the Association of Health Care Journalists.
