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Foreclosure Defense Florida

Just How Much Fraud in Foreclosure Cases? The Florida Land Title Association Weighs in On the Pino Case Pending Before The Florida Supreme Court

From the amicus brief submitted   and now pending before the Florida Supreme Court:   (I thought I’d add a few editorial comments in just to give another perspective on the whole debate.)
The residential mortgage foreclosure crisis has caused a host of problems for homeowners, lenders, and Florida’s court system. (Yep, Kinda gotta agree with that statement)
The Court addressed many of these problems by forming the Task Force on Residential Mortgage Foreclosures in 2009 and by adopting its recommended amendments to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure in 2010. (Except many problems were ignored and the Rules adopted (the Verified Complaint Rule) were first ignored and now are just played games with…..I’m not aware of a single case of discipline or sanction as contemplated by the new rule.)
However, unlike some other states, the Court has not adequately addressed the protection of third party interests when otherwise final court proceedings are collaterally attacked, especially the interest of those who have purchased foreclosed real estate. (The unfortunate lesson is, given the state of chaos the banks have created in our courts, the interests of third parties are implicated.)
Respectfully, if the Court is to give guidance to trial courts and litigants regarding collateral attacks against foreclosure actions (whether relief is sought under rule 1.540(b) or the use of inherent judicial powers) beyond the narrow facts of this case, it should give guidance on protecting the interests of third parties that purchase, finance and insure title to foreclosed properties. (Respectfully, the Rule of Law should be respected.   When parties choose to ignore the Rule of Law, there should be consequences and all parties who are jumping into the viper pit need to be aware of the risks.
Recognition and protection of these neglected interests is vital to the integrity of our judicial system and to the ultimate resolution of the mortgage foreclosure crisis. (The integrity of “our” judicial system is exactly why this issue is so important…should we just ignore the concept of integrity of our court system?)
The mortgage foreclosure crisis is far from over, especially given the ” robo-signing” problems and questions about plaintiffs proving loan ownership. (Not just that teensy weensy little thing called “robo signing” {as if that ain’t bad enough}, we’re talking about fraud, forgery, crimes, etc.)
In the fall of 2010, large mortgage lenders such as GMAC Mortgage, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America halted most of their foreclosures in response to the robo-signing concerns, other allegations surrounding loan ownership, and new state laws or rules of procedures. (Really?   They just stopped? Hit the pause button, but now we can all just move right along like nothing happened?

A negative consequence of this stoppage has been a logjam in the housing market. (Another negative consequence has been the utter desecration of our court system and the destruction of that whole “Integrity of our judicial system”)
I could keep going here, but what’s the point…it’s kind of like spitting into the wind anymore.   Respectfully.
FLORIDALANDTITLEFiled_02-03-2012_Amicus_FLTA