There is a massive, full court press starting in this state to strip away the Constitutional Rights of every man woman and child in this state. Newspapers report that the “leadership” in this state wants to remove foreclosures from the judicial system, to cut judges out of the system and turn Florida into a non judicial foreclosure state.
The corrupt “leadership” has already begun a well organized campaign of misinformation where they will try to pit neighbors against neighbors and argue that quick foreclosures are good for the economy. The news reporting on the push against the rights of consumers to take their disputes to court has already begun.
They playbook is simple. Find someone who will argue for a pre-determined point of view, grant him credibility and set this figure up as the expert who supports the mis-informed position and convince the public that the ill-conceived public policy legislation makes sense because the “expert” supports it.
The “expert” the press has hooked their wagon to is Sean Smith, an economist at the University of Central Florida. Sean has been quoted in a few stories that address the whole non-judicial foreclosure debate recently, as follows:
“When I see it taking more than 650 days for a foreclosure to go through, I think I am in favor of non-judicial foreclosures,” said Sean Snaith, director of the University of Central Florida‘s Institute for Economic Competitiveness. “Think of everyone not going through a foreclosure and what’s happening to them as they see their home values erode. It wears away confidence and wealth.” Sun Sentinel Newspaper
“Right now you’re prolonging the agony. Do you want to take the Band-Aid off your arm slowly so you can feel each hair being pulled out by the root, or do you want to do it quickly and get it over with?” said Sean Snaith, an economist at the University of Central Florida. “For the state’s economy as a whole, it’s a positive development.” St. Petersburg Times
And watch the following video:
Sean Snaith Says Foreclosure Moritorium Not the Answer
According to the website from the University of Central Florida:
Snaith is a national expert in economics, forecasting, market sizing and economic analysis who authors quarterly reports about the state of the economy. Bloomberg News named Snaith as one of the country’s most accurate forecasters for his predictions about the Federal Reserve’s benchmark interest rate, the Federal Funds rate. Profile on Sean Snaith
I called Snaith today. I hoped to have a substantive discussion on the issues raised in the newspaper articles. I wanted to hear his opinion and I was anxious to hear the facts he was relying on to support his opinions. We chatted for a few moments, then he hung up on me. I figured maybe it was a technical difficulty….maybe he it a tunnel or a bad cell or something. So I called back. Three times. But no return phone call. I posted on the Facebook page, but no response.
I’m dying to hear from this “expert” that is apparently convinced there is some economic benefit to faster foreclosures…..ignore for a moment the whole ethical and legal discussion about how the flawed foreclosures and corrupted legal process have profoundly negative societal problems….just explain to me the fundamentals of your economic analysis. But he was apparently not willing to engage in this discussion with me.
So I’ll make open offer….come on Sean, call me. Email me. Reach out to me. If you really believe what you’re saying. If you’re going to be the expert voice that will be quoted to justify stripping away the Constitutional rights of Floridians to have their day in court….let’s have a chat. You and me. Or you and a team of “experts” and me. You and all your books and graphs and formulas and paradigms and me. Anytime, anywhere.
Convince me that your analysis is supported by any version of reality.
I’ll sit and wait for the call.
Non-judicial foreclosure is NOT the answer – for Florida or any other state. As a resident of non-judicial New Hampshire, I say this with 10 years of personal experience and observance.
The problem is NOT that foreclosed properties aren’t being liquidated quickly enough. The problem is that many of these properties being FC’d simply lack clear chain of title. Whether they are FC’d judicially or non-judicially, they are still going to end up in a judicial system somewhere eventually, if for no other reason than for clouded titles and a lender and/or purchaser’s inability to obtain title insurance as a result.
If there is no clear title AFTER the foreclosure, there certainly was no clear title BEFORE the foreclosure, which means that the foreclosing entity most likely had no standing to do so to begin with.
So yes, let’s rip the Band-Aid off in one swell foop. Address chain of title, legal standing, title and interest BEFORE a borrower is possibly fraudulently foreclosed upon. Address the issue during the foreclosure and you potentially kill two birds with one stone. The foreclosure is deemed legitimate or fraudulent and chain of title is cleared.
Switching to a non-judicial foreclosure system will only make the LARGER problem WORSE – not better.