Improper Service Of Process In Foreclosure Cases Becoming A Concern With Some Defense Attorneys Representing Homeowners

In Miami, Florida, the Daily Business Review reported last week that a Miami-Dade Circuit Court Civil Division Administrative Judge Jennifer D. Bailey discovered more than 15,000 foreclosure cases filed this year have yet to be served on the property owners who have become delinquent in their mortgage payments. However, some feel the problem facing the courts could be worse, as this excerpt explains:

• [T]he scope of the foreclosure service problems could be much worse than the 15,000 cases without service that Bailey discovered. Some foreclosure lawyers question whether there are more cases where service hasn’t been done, but court records show the defendants have been served.

• Take a foreclosure case filed by Indymac Federal Bank against Ahron and Amitza Benvenisti, who bought a North Miami Beach condo for $177,938 in January 2006. Indymac attempted to serve the husband through constructive service — or service by publication without actual notice — and the wife through a relative in Massapequa, N.Y.

• The lender moved for a default judgment against the couple. [Fort Lauderdale foreclosure defense attorney Morton] Antman, who represented the couple, argued the process server contradicted himself by checking boxes stating he successfully served the wife through the relative, though Amitza Benvenisti doesn’t live at the relative’s address. The relative, Gilan Benvenisti, swore in an affidavit that she doesn’t live with him. A docket entry dated Monday said the clerk’s office was not authorized to enter a default because of a lack of service.

• “I don’t know if this was intentional or not, but this isn’t the first time we’ve had situations where process servers do stuff like this,” Antman said.(1) “I think it’s a mistake.”

For the story, see Judge grapples with her discovery of 15,000 unserved foreclosure cases.

(1) Go here for other posts on "sewer service" (a reference to the practice by process servers of filing sworn affidavits in court asserting that proper service was made when, in fact, it wasn't). SloppyForeclosuresAlpha SewerServiceAlpha