Foreclosure
cases 2008 and older in Broward County are now being set for Summary Judgment, trial
but more often than not, sale of the property in thirty (30) days. It seems that Florida judges got the Memo…
move those 377,000 pending foreclosure cases, (approximately 60,000 of those
are in Broward County) before defense counsel could say ‘Objection!”
The question
that was asked over and over again by the Judge to the homeowner and/or his/her
attorney was “you’ve made no payments for the past five years?” It made no never mind to the Bench that
perhaps the banks were sitting on the file because they did not have the
required documents to prove that they are indeed the “owner and holder” of the
note; or that perhaps homeowners were working on loan modifications or the
Plaintiffs are unwilling to move the cases forward for whatever reasons “too big
to jail” entities can come up with. None
of those matter, except the age of the file.
If the file is 2008 and older then the rules of equity, evidence or civil
procedure do not apply.
The Bench
claims to be frustrated with the Plaintiffs' (banks) “sloppy, messy” practices and is so “not happy with
blank endorsements” but is unwilling to rule against them. Henry Trawick, who wrote the “bible” for
Florida law, Trawick’s Florida Practices
and Procedures, states in his letter dated February 11, 2013 that:
“The real problem faced in the
foreclosure crisis has been the unwillingness of trial courts to insist on
plaintiffs properly preparing the pleadings under existing law, enforcing
existing law on the standing of plaintiffs; the refusal of appellate courts to
properly enforce existing law on standing in foreclosures; and the
unwillingness of banks to promptly push foreclosures to judgment to avoid
paying real property taxes, condominium assessments and maintenance for the
foreclosed property.”
The Bench
states that the Banks are practicing in a “very narrow window” so it begs the
question, if it’s so narrow, why are so many defense attorneys and their
clients losing and when that property is sold at auction who or what entity
takes title?
Scott, Project Manager for a South Florida management company claims that the banks are often the highest bidder at auction because they see a revival in the housing market. However, most of the housing inventories are held by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or FHA and through their bulk sale programs are selling off properties to large hedge funds and bank entities.
Recently someone close to Judge Perlman told me that the drive to "push the cases through is coming from Above." Well Above, we all appreciate swift justice but justice is not being served when trial courts are unwilling to enforce existing laws and/or keep up with changing laws. Also, Above, there is a conflict of interest when presiding judges' retirement funds, replete with mortgage backed securities find their benefits dwindling due to the fact that those mortgages are now non performing mortgages.
