Central Florida Judge Admits Foreclosure Ruling Subsequently Reversed On Appeal Wasn't His Best Work

In Central Florida, Sarasota Herald Tribune columnist Tom Lyons writes:

• When a ruling is reversed by an appellate court, the judge faulted sometimes grumbles. So I didn't know what to expect when I asked Circuit Court Judge Robert Bennett about an appellate court ruling that overturned a house foreclosure he had granted.(1) The three-judge panel said a bank that was not the original lender had not proven it had the right to foreclose, because the documents filed did not show how, or if, mortgage ownership had ever been transferred to the bank.

• Bennett's reaction? The higher court was totally right, he said. "I'm willing to fall on my sword on this one," Bennett said. "It wasn't a very good piece of judge work."(2)

• To be fair, many judges have done much the same thing in similar cases, partly because most foreclosures had long been so routine. If contested at all, it was rare that anyone claimed a major financial institution had not proven any link to the mortgage. Now, just a couple of years since Bennett's ruling on a foreclosure case he cannot even recall, that sort of claim has become commonplace. Of the dozen or so lawyers I've heard from who fight foreclosures -- a common specialty these days -- all mentioned that issue. "This issue of standing, it's common throughout the state," said circuit Chief Judge Lee Haworth.

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• Bennett's ruling happened before all this became as ordinary in Southwest Florida as sunshine. Few judges then thought to doubt that a bank had standing to foreclose.

For the story, see Documents insufficient in foreclosure case.

(1) See BAC Funding Consortium Inc. v. Jean-Jacques, et ano., Case #2D08-3553 (February 12, 2010). Go here for BAC Funding's appellate brief, describing the sloppy, careless conduct of the lender and its assembly line, foreclosure mill attorney in prosecuting this case (available online courtesy of MattWeidnerLaw.com).

See also, Florida Appeals Court "Deep-Sixes" Rubber-Stamped Foreclosure Judgment; Kicks Case Back To Trial Court For Further Proceedings.

(2) Hopefully, Judge Bennett's reversed ruling was attributable to him simply having an off day. After all, even Babe Ruth struck out from time to time.