Harmon Law Office featured in Globe story

Anyone who frequents registries of deeds these days is familiar with Harmon Law Office, the firm that handles the majority of foreclosure work in this district, at least. From a recording office perspective, documents presented by the Harmon office typically appear properly prepared and present no recurring problems. But a story on the front page of yesterday's Globe raised questions about Harmon's method of doing business. As well as being a law firm, it also has subsidiary corporations that handle title examinations, auctions, and other aspects of the foreclosure process (including several senior people being "vice presidents" of MERS). The story suggests that this consolidation of functions under one roof removes some of the checks and balances inherent in a more distributed arrangement. I suppose Harmon would argue that by providing all necessary services under the umbrella of a single corporate entity, the economy of scale provides cost benefits to everyone involved. While reasonable people can take either side of that argument, the Harmon Office might have more pressing problems: another Globe story earlier in the week reported that the state Attorney General's office was investigating the firm for “unfair and deceptive acts’’ related to the firm’s foreclosure and eviction work.