Last year, with much fanfare and high expectations, it was announced that the Florida Supreme Court would require all residential foreclosures to go through a formal mediation program where borrowers and lenders would sit down together to try and come up with a workable solution to each foreclosure case. What we all hoped was that these formal meditations would lead to modifications or other solutions that would relieve some of the pressure on our courts and help to keep people in their homes, paying mortgages and stabilizing communities.
But first, please read (here) what I said about how the success of the Supreme Court’s Mediation Directive rests entirely with the lenders….more than one year ago….
Regrettably, this has not happened. Mediation has been an abject failure across the state. While borrowers certainly bear some of the responsibility for this failure, the primary responsibility for the failure lies squarely in the laps of the banks that received billions in bailouts from taxpayer dollars and who have steadfastly failed to provide any substantive relief to the taxpayer that bailed them out.
From the outset of this crisis I have remained consistently infuriated by the lack of good faith and fair dealing shown by the banks…a fact clearly demonstrated by the failure of the banks to come to mediation ready to provide solutions.
And now I believe there is a concerted push on the part of the banksters to kill the mediation program in this state. Given the state of affairs in this country right now, where the banksters control and rule the world, they will frankly probably get what they want….they certainly seem to be prevailing on every front with legislators, regulators and anyone in a position of power or authority prepared to do whatever bidding the banksters require.
The Florida Legislature and Governor certainly seem ready to just turn the keys to Florida’s courthouses (especially when it comes to foreclosures) directly over to the banksters. I hold faint hope that the third branch of government may still provide some semblance of Due Process and protections against the crushing tyranny of corporatism, but that faint hope fades every day.
I’m going to make my voice heard. I will submit comments, hoping that someone might listen and I certainly encourage all of you to as well…..for what it’s worth…..
Hi Matt,
I’m unable to open the above documents in the form you provided. However, I do believe that “real mediation” is a great alternative to litigation; it is much less costly in time, in money, in judicial resources. However, this residential foreclosure “mediation” (in my opinion) was a far cry from mediation in that homeowners were not on any sort of equal footing with the “lender” (if that entity could be identified). So I would support mediation but it really needs to be a process as defined by the dispute resolution center … to empower the parties to make their own decisions, to take whatever time is necessary. Many restrictions were attached to this special residential foreclosure mediation which would not be permissible in other forms of mediation. Thanks. Rosie
The banks want everyone out of the way including our Florida legal system. Speak out about the banks and especially the legal system and you are canned, silenced, by the Florida Bar or by the legal system itself. Mediation failed because borrowers challenged the note and the right of the party to mediate had legal rights to mediate. When mediation is with the same parties who created the fradulent securtizations and sold securities against which they did not have valid mortgages and notes to back them up, they committed crimes. Our courts and judicial system has failed to impliment the laws of this State all to the favor of the banks. Add to this the pressure to help get the economy jump started with rocket docket foreclosure processes and the circuit judged grinned and robo-signed thousands of them thinking they were Paul Revere. What we need here in this state is a legal system that respects the defendants and their lawyers. If mediation does not allow this, then try another method. Thanks Mr. Weidner.
The banks have ruined our nation now taking homes away from people with frauded documents. The banks should pay for their wrong doings and give the average american a chance to stay in their homes
As a homeowner in foreclosure who has gone through this “mediation” program, I have to agree with Matt. The “banks” are not coming to the tables with options to resolve the issues.
I bought my home in 2005 for $166,000,have paid my mortgage for years, then in late 2008 the note was sold to another “bank.”
When I lost my job in mid 2009, foreclosure came in late 2009.
I tried in mid 2009 for a HAMP mod, but because my loan was an FHA 30yr fixed, I was ineligible. Fast forward to early 2010 and the mediation… The bank came to the table with a “deal” of reinstate the mortgage & dismiss the action if I would agree to new loan terms of: New fixed rate loan at 5 1/8% interest (only 1 % less than my original loan), 30 yr term and they would roll up the late fees, interest and attorney fees into the loan. My new total loan value would be $200,000+!!! But my payments would be what they were before I lost my job (I was re-employed by the mediation time). Now mind you, the county assessed my home value at $75,000.
And on top of it all, my wife is NOT on the note, yet they checked her credit record and factored her Credit Card payments into our monthly expenses. At one point, our expenses were “just $50 over” to “qualify” for the loan and the “banks” attorney (barely 23) suggested “if there was a way to reduce the monthly expenses (wink wink) we would qualify for this.”
We tried to get them to change the interest to something better, like 1% for 5 years, then 5% after, and they laughed in our faces.
Needless to say, we said FU to the “bank” and are still fighting the foreclosure.