David Ramba: Class Act II

Attorney David Ramba was a supporter of David Rivera's 2010 campaign. Ramba published Rivera's Democratic opponent Joe Garcia's phone number in a campaign mailer. It was a pathetic political hit job.

Ramba is in the news again. Ramba is cold calling and sending direct mailers to troubled homeowners. The callers promise that Ramba's office can get loan modifications or mortgage settlements. Homeowners must pay $5,000 in advance for Ramba's legal services. Desperate homeowners have signed up.

"They told me they only had two more spaces," Davin Spring told the St. Petersburg Times. "They got me hook, line and sinker." Spring said he received a mailer from Ramba's office. Furthermore the Florida Bar bans cold calling. Mailers have to be approved by the Florida Bar which Ramba's office has not done.

Likewise, any direct-mail piece sent by a lawyer must be reviewed by the Florida Bar. Though Ramba said his mailer conforms with the group's advertising guidelines, a spokeswoman for the Bar said she does not have any record that he submitted it for review.

On Friday, Ramba said in an e-mail that no mailers have yet been sent by the Pinellas Park office. "The office manager down in your area informed me that they HAD NOT sent anything out with my information on it," he said.

He did not respond to an e-mail asking how Spring and Sandland would have known to call that office if they had not received mailers with the phone number on it.

Ramba attempted the make Times reporter Kris Hundley belived that the Florida Bar signed off on the mailers. Ramba claimed that he wasn't sending out mailers from his office. However, Ramba refused to answer questions about how Spring and Sandland got the mailers. The Florida Bar needs to investigate Ramba.

One thing Ramba is unapologetic about is his $5,000 up front fee.

"The legal system is available to folks, but it's not free," he said in a recent phone interview. "By coming together, homeowners will receive the same benefit someone with a lot of means could do on their own."

My question is how long is Ramba going to be allowed to practice law. The story has made Wall Street Journal Law Blog. This story has legs.