For a brief period of time in the history of courts in Florida, lawyers engaged in a widespread and pervasive practice of submitting blatantly false evidence in courts. This period of time began roughly when the foreclosure crisis moved from the mortgage and lending industries and into Florida courts.
Now that judges and courts have become aware of just how pervasive this practice was, individual efforts on the part of judges and systemic rule changes implemented by the Florida Supreme Court should signal the end of this era. An article that appeared in the Sarasota Tribune and can be viewed here quotes a local judge, Robert Bennett from Sarasota who recently had one of his opinions reversed by the Second District Court of Appeals. (Verizzo v. Bank of New York) Found here
In the article, the good judge admits that his initial ruling…in favor of the bank was incorrect. The decision was a reflection of a judicial system that was totally overwhelmed by problems caused by the mortgage and lending institutions….they caused the problems then dumped their problems in the laps of absurdly understaffed courts and judges then said, “Here, you fix the mess we’ve created!”
It’s taken a while to identify the issues and to grasp the scope of the problem, but now that judges and court systems are aware that they were taken advantage of, the tide has shifted. New rules and new cases, both from appellate courts and from sister courts, have made judges all over aware of the issues such that they are no longer willing to look the other way and sign off granting sale….when asked how he thinks Plaintiff’s attorneys will comply, Chief Judge Lee Hayworth (long a critic of sloppy Plaintiff practice) had this to say:
“I’m looking forward to see how they do comply,” Haworth said. “Their license could be on the line.”
Liberty and Justice Prevail When Good Judges Sit Firmly on The Bench!
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There needs to be tough penalties enforced when a bank or alledged lender commits fraud upon the court by falsely stating they have legal documents and standing when they DON’T. Right is right, and lies are lies!
Yep,
And more than due process and the fundamental notion of fair play and equal treatment under the law is at stake.
Our real estate titles have been clouded by void or voidable judgments. I suspect this hinders rather than helps America’s economic recovery. If these judgments are not set aside and cured immediately it will take at least 7 years to clean title by way of adverse possession if the defendant was put out of occupancy.
JEDTI
G.
Judges To Attorneys From Foreclosure Mills: Your License is on the Line! « Dinsfla Mortgage Foreclosure Fraud Blog // Mar 11, 2010 at 9:39 AM
[...] Source: Matthew Weidner Blog [...]
I have a horribly screwed up docket in my case! Called the Clerk’s office and was told that because Plaintiff stated parties named in the transaction I could not alter them. What happens when a case is ruled and the Defendant listed in the claim does not match the name(s) of the Defendant as appearing on the Clerk’s docket?
I had to go and visit Palm Beach County to see what happens in a foreclosure hearing, at least there you can get in and have a seat and observe.
On January 22nd of this year I sat in Judge French’s Courtroom and at approximately 3:00pm he says “These foreclosure files are pitiful.”
I’m not making this stuff up, he said it. Plaintiff’s attorney had some odd cases however. One situation of notification of Deceased parties and verification of service. I believe Judge French did the right thing by not allowing that case to proceed.
Plaintiff’s Attorney turned to my friend and I and said “oh are you waiting for a hearing” – we replied “no, we’re just here to observe.”
Her response; “today is not such a good day for observing.”
INCREDIBLE!
I think most judges are concerned about the “pitiful” nature of the foreclosure files surging across their benches. I cannot understand why the judges feel compelled to grant summary judgment knowing the pitiful nature of the files. The proper response is to sample files from a firm, and dismiss all the files until they get them right as a sanction and to inspire compliance for future files.
The end result of this rush to judgment will be title problems and increased instability of the courts and property systems.
This is scarry! Thanks Matt, Lisa & Greg..
Greg, your point re: Quieting Title due to invalid judgments, assignments, etc., is well taken. In fact, my pro se cmplt to quiet title due to a forged assigment of mortgage is pending in the 17th Circuit (Broward County).
The same “foreclosure mill” (Law Office of Marshall Watson) conducted very similar actions in my case as they did in the Verizzo case cited above by Matt.
Its hard to blame the Law firms for their short cuts, trickery, forgery, fraud, etc… – given that only about 8% (estimating) of all foreclosure complaints are “CONTESTED”
Drew
drewt5@att.net
Contested or not attorneys have an obligation to be truthful to the court. Our system of justice is based on disclosure and being candid with the judge. The fundamental, systemic breakdown in this obligation is the most troubling part of this problem.
For me this is the most vexing problem of all: Judges who don’t understand that a defective real estate foreclosure judgment isn’t something that the lapse of 30 days to appeal can cure – or to ’season’ a year to avoid set aside under rule 1.540. Instead these judges are embellishing our public record title registry with clouds and defects that remain for at least 20 years under MARTA unless cured by a successful adverse possession lawsuit (after a minimum of 7 years) – and that assumes that the CT, based on a defective judgment could qualify as as one of the several required elements “under color of title” to the action.
And during those seven years?: The defaulted defendant, as the true owner, may hold a claim for rents and profits and right to possession until the foreclosure is done the right way.
JEDTI
G.
Any reputable title/closing company would (at the very least) call for verification of trust, letters of authority, etc. if they were to conduct a closing whereby one of the parties was a trust entity.
Our courts need to do exactly the same!