Matt Weidner – Fighting For The American People

Archive for August, 2010

Come on people…please do not disappoint me.

Please take a moment to reach out and make a difference.

I made a personal appeal in the blog post below and that personal appeal was responded to by only TWO PEOPLE.

READ THE POST BELOW AND TAKE THE ACTION REQUESTED.

I am collecting good information to post that all of you will benefit from, but first…read the post below and

PLEASE TAKE THE REQUESTED ACTION!

This site averages several thousand unique hits every single day.  I constantly review the site stats and the geographic reach of those who are following the page in order to monitor the reach and impact.

My sole purpose in creating this blog is to spread the word, assist consumers and protect our courts from the unprecedented attacks that the foreclosure crisis represents.  I appreciate all of the positive feedback I receive from each of you and know that the pleadings, Orders and other detailed and technical information has proven very valuable to each of you.  Now I want each one of you to give something back.

I IMPLORE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THE THOUSANDS OF YOU TO VISIT DAN GELBER’S CAMPAIGN FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL PAGE BY CLICKING THE LINK BELOW

Dan Gelber for Attorney General

Please spend time on his page and pay particular attention to the “Issues” tab.  You will note that Gelber already indicates issues relating to mortgages are some of his key concerns.  Please also note Gelber’s strong focus on rooting out public corruption.  I believe we have a real opportunity to make an impact in this election, so I want each and every one of you to log onto his site and register as a supporter.  Also, go onto Facebook and become a supporter there.

PLEASE DO THIS TODAY, RIGHT NOW, IMMEDIATELY

Gelber’s Facebook fan page lists only 1,539 members.  If only a small portion of those of you that follow this blog will log on and become a fan of his campaign, this number can increase dramatically.  I want each of you to log onto his page and send his campaign a message about foreclosure fraud and abuse.  Share your stories on his wall.  Ask that he continue to make this a high priority in his campaign.  Ask that he take a keen interest in the failures that are occurring in our circuit courtrooms.  Ask him why these Fat Cat Wall Street bankers are being allowed to run roughshod over our state.

I’m going to monitor Dan Gelber’s Facebook page carefully.  I would consider it a personal favor if each of you would respond to this request and make a post on his wall.

LOG ONTO DAN GELBER’S FACEBOOK PAGE BY CLICKING HERE

OR SEARCH FACEBOOK UNDER “DAN GELBER FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL”

If the pleadings and information shared on this page have provided any assistance with your case and for you attorneys out there, if the information has been valuable to you, please click on and importantly

DONATE TO THE CAMPAIGN!

The Sarasota Tribune has always done an excellent job of covering the foreclosure catastrophe that has infected our courtrooms.  I attended yesterday’s 2 hour long hearing when Judge Dunnigan handed down the $49,000 penalty and will publish the transcript and Order as soon as they are completed.

More than anything, it’s good to see a judge finally taking notice of the abusive conduct of these foreclosure mills…the abuse effects us all, judges, attorneys, staff…but most importantly taxpayers as a whole.  This lack of respect for the courts is causing a great rot in our court system and it’s costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.  The foreclosure mills have abused our courts, our judges and their staff for so long and so dramatically….the most amazing thing is that judges have put up with it for so long.

Judge Dunnigan’s order and the transcript detailed all the conduct that she was fed up with…scheduling hearings then canceling or not showing up, failing to show respect and consideration for other attorneys and defendants, wasting the court’s time and resources.  The Order and the transcript will detail all the abuses.

I felt some sympathy for Roy Diaz as he stood up to take his public flogging, but this newspaper article reminds me that the tone of his testimony was all about excuses and that he failed to recognize the costs his firm had visited upon the court and all the associated players.  Then, one of his young attorneys got snippy afterward, excusing the conduct away with an arrogant, “We have 20,0000 cases” dismissal.  I particularly wanted to have sympathy for the young attorneys whose careers will forever be slighted by the very serious penalty of a finding of contempt.  The fact of the matter is the elder attorneys are walking these young attorneys into trouble and Diaz’ only explaination was that he had to run a volume practice in order to be successful.  The judge left open the possibility of holding the attorneys liable for criminal contempt…this may not be the end of this case.

It really isn’t fair to pick out just Smith Hiatt & Diaz for this kind of public sanction…the reality is every single firm should be subject to similar hearings in every circuit.  Our courts have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of our taxpayer dollars due to the improper conduct of all the mills.  It’s high time taxpayers demanded that our judges seek to recoup some of these funds by taking the kind of judicial action that this judge has  If every judge took similar action just once, the foreclosure courts would unclog, their attorneys would be far more responsive and some sanity might begin to prevail in the foreclosure courtroom.

The Full Article Can Be Found Here.

I will write much more on this later, for now based on what happened today, I’m busy going through my files to make sure they’re all in order and reviewing my office and court procedures from top to bottom.  Attached here is the Motion for Contempt that started all of this:

SMITHHYATTCONTEMPT

Later, I will post the judge’s actual order and a transcript of the proceedings.  Importantly, the judge in this case has acknowledged what a tremendous drain on taxpayer resources the current foreclosure mill operations represent.  She reserved jurisdiction on this case to pursue in direct criminal contempt charges and held open an Order imposing fines of $7,000 per day against the firm for failing to take immediate corrective action.

Perhaps the most important point to take from all of this is that judges are not obliged to simply enter Summary Judgment in every case.  There are additional options.  Our judges and our courts have powers and steps they can take to insure cases either proceed or are dismissed by the court.

I’m going back to reviewing my files….much more on this later!

Attached is a lawsuit that I filed last week, along with police reports that detail the facts of thugs breaking into my client’s home and terrorizing two tourists who were visiting our country from Canada.

Pay particular attention to the findings of fact contained within the police report and the facts the Sheriff’s office uncovers during their investigation.  What is most troubling about this phenomena is the fact that the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office has declined to do anything about this case.  What is even more troubling than that is the fact that my calls to the Sheriff’s Office have gone completely ignored.  I’ve made my way up the chain of command but have received no action on this issue at all.

In addition to being a serious breach of our fundamental rights, someone is going to get seriously hurt or killed here and no one in power seems concerned enough to do anything about this.

complaintfiledtotal

This police report is truly very, very disturbing because it details how the lenders broke in and changed the locks on three different properties….

READ THE REPORT CAREFULLY, BECAUSE IT NOTES THAT THE BREAK IN OCCURRED BEFORE A FORECLOSURE WAS EVEN FILED!

policereport

INCIDENT NUMBER THREE- TERRORIZED IN HER OWN HOME AND EXAMPLE OF LENDER/SERVICER INSURANCE FRAUD?

The reports below are also very disturbing because again, we get law enforcement making findings of fact but declining to do anything at all about the obvious abuses that are being committed by these lenders on this homeowner.  This homeowner is terrified of returning to her own home, afraid that these thugs will have rooted through her home again.

Look at the pictures in the report….just think of how violated you would feel if someone came into your home and took pictures at will, throwing your possessions about about and stealing whatever they thought they wanted.

Most disturbing, what if law enforcement denied your requests to do anything about it and told you they would do nothing to protect you?

policereport

police report 2nd_00001

diciente

The fact that lenders are breaking down doors and changing locks and law enforcement is not even doing anything really is very, very disturbing.  I can only hope that our press will begin to pick up on this as an issue.

The upcoming election will be important for us all, but for those of us in the foreclosure fight, the most important race to watch will be for Florida’s Attorney General.  The Attorney General of Florida is this state’s top law enforcement officer.  The office is currently investigating a whole range of improper and probably illegal conduct that is being conducted on a wide ranging basis by the foreclosure mills.  These investigations will continue regardless of who wins the race for attorney general, but  how hard these investigations are pressed can be influenced by YOU!

The abusive conduct that is being engaged in by a whole host of players is being ignored by judges, the Florida Bar and just about anyone else in a position of power who could be standing up to fight for Floridians, but at least Florida’s Attorney General is showing some concern about this incredible abuse of the legal system. After last week’s primary races, there are two candidates for Attorney General and one of these candidates will be elected come November.  The two candidates are:

Pam Bondi

and

Dan Gelber

I want each of you to visit the websites above and carefully review each candidate’s profile and position statements.  In reviewing the websites, I am most encouraged by Gelber’s attention to the mortgage crisis because it at least shows this is on his radar screen.

Here is what I want all of you to do…..write to each of the candidates and express your concern about the foreclosure process.  Tell your personal stories and ask the candidate to express strong positions on the abuses of the foreclosure mills.  We need to get them locked into positions now so that they cannot be influenced by the foreclosure mills and their cash later down the road.

JOIN EACH ONE OF THE CANDIDATE’S FACEBOOK PAGES AND AGGRESSIVELY REACH OUT TO THEM.  IF YOU HAVE CASH TO SPARE, PLEASE CONSIDER MAKING A SMALL CONTRIBUTION TO THE CAMPAIGN.

SPEND A FEW MOMENTS OUT OF YOUR TIME TO GET ON THE RADAR SCREEN OF THESE CANDIDATES.

GETTING INVOLVED IN THESE RACES IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING WE CAN DO TO INFLUENCE THE FORECLOSURE PROCESS.  PLEASE POINT TO THIS THIS WEBSITE  AS GENERATING INTEREST IN THIS CAMPAIGN AND BE PREPARED TO GET AGGRESSIVELY INVOLVED!