"Rubber Stamp" Method vs. Mandatory Mediation: CBS News Goes Into The Courtroom For A Look At Foreclosure Adjudication

The CBS Evening News has a story on its website contrasting the approaches being taken in adjudicating foreclosures in two different courtrooms:

• The "Rocket Docket" in Fort Myers, Florida (described in The Wall Street Journal article, A Florida Court's 'Rocket Docket' Blasts Through Foreclosure Cases (2 Questions, 15 Seconds, 45 Days to Get Out; 'What's to Talk About?' Says a Judge)), and

• The swap meet-like affair that meets every Thursday in Courtroom 676 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (described in the Philadelphia Daily News article, The miracle of Courtroom 676: Saving lives, one address at a time).

For the CBS Evening News' story, see Glut Of Foreclosures Clogs Courts (CBS Evening News: A Look At "Fast-Court" In Florida And An Innovative Program In Philly For Those Facing Losing Their Homes).

For the CBS' Evening News video on the "Rocket Docket" foreclosure proceedings in Fort Myers, Florida (1:40), see Pay Up Or Move Out.

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Editor's Note: CBS News could have spiced up their story a little had they included something on the courtrooms of:

• Brooklyn, New York jurist Arthur Schack, a judge who has unequivocally rejected the "rubber stamp" approach to handling foreclosures, and has demonstrated no reluctance at giving unprepared lenders and their attorneys the boot from his courtroom (at times threatening sanctions on lenders' attorneys when their paperwork is garbage) when they fail to file the proper paperwork (see Brooklyn Trial Judge Nixes "Rubber Stamp Method" Of Adjudicating Foreclosures; Lenders, Lawyers Lacking Legal Standing To Bring Actions Get Bounced), and

• Miami, Florida Judge David C. Miller, who, in a recent denial of a foreclosing lender's motion to proceed with foreclosure because it hadn't complied with a pro se homeowner's document request, reportedly punctuated his decision by tearing the lender's motion in half and throwing it over his shoulder in open court (see The home you save could be your own (In foreclosure crisis, more Americans representing themselves in court)). ThetaMissingDocsMtg