One of the most important concepts in our entire system of justice, whether criminal or civil is the defendant has an absolute right to know he’s being sued….right? That’s why in civil litigation we require that process servers or sheriffs file with the court an Affidavit of Service of Process swearing that they delivered a copy of the lawsuit on the defendant.
Well, we know that in Fraudclosure World, that bizarre, alternate world where the banks and their law firms don’t feel obliged to follow the rules, they are cutting corners and avoiding completing real service. They also engaged in a widespread pattern and practice of inflating service of process charges on foreclosures by producing summonses for unknown tenants and other parties then charging the defendants for not serving those unknown tenants.
But anyway, I digress. No one cares about any of this anyway despite the fact that all of this is a direct affront to our legal system and a direct attack on all of our rights. No one cares that millions of dollars in inflated service of process charges have been incorporated into Final Judgments of Foreclosure all across this state. No one cares that these charges have almost certainly been passed along to the lenders and to the federal government….after all, what’s a few million dollars between friends, right? Now Florida’s Attorney General, and presumably federal agencies, have all the information about this, but my guess is that this multi-million dollar crime spree will just be ignored. Take that you dopey taxpayer. Too bad consumer. Turn your back lady justice, keep that blindfold on and focus on your silly scales….this ain’t your court system anymore, we sold it to the banks.
But wait, I didn’t even intend to rant about problems with Service of Process, I wanted to talk about situations where the homeowners had no service of process at all. Like the story that appeared in the Tampa Tribune Here. The pleadings filed in court reflect that this defendant had no knowledge whatsoever that his home was in foreclosure and despite this, his home was sold at a public auction. Now that’s bad enough, but it get’s worse. Much worse.
You see there’s an important laws called the Servicemember’s Civil Relief Act . The Act reflects the special challenges faced by the good men and women who serve our country in uniform and affords them practical protections that respect the unique demands placed on our military. The Act is being widely ignored and our men and women are suffering. There’s so much about Fraudclosure that people don’t care about, but this is one very important area, that we cannot let people not care about.
I will consult with any servicemember whose rights under the SCRA have been violated, and I want to make a commitment that no soldier who is in foreclosure will go unrepresented. Please learn about the SCRA, and spread this word throughout our military communities, any soldier or family can email me directly at weidnerlaw@yahoo.com for information and advice on the rights provided under the SCRA.
