Florida Judge Refuses To Recuse Herself From Foreclosure Cases As Hubby Serves As Local Bank's Chairman, CEO; Jurist To Critics: 'Take A Hike!'

In Central Florida, The Tampa Tribune reports:

• A Hillsborough County judge seeking to tame a backlog of thousands of foreclosure lawsuits is raising questions from critics who wonder whether she should be hearing foreclosure cases at all.



• Judge Martha J. Cook has an ownership interest in Community Bank, where her husband, William H. Sedgeman Jr., serves as chairman and chief executive, public documents show.



• The bank, known formally as Community Bank of Manatee, has 17 locations throughout the Tampa Bay area. The bank has been hard-hit by the foreclosure crisis and has struggled to shed troubled assets. Like most banks, Community Bank often finds itself as a plaintiff against homeowners in foreclosure cases.



• "It's reasonable that a homeowner would fear they aren't going to get a fair hearing before her," said Mark Stopa, a foreclosure defense attorney. "There's no way I could go into court before her without thinking about this."



• But Cook said she is not prejudiced. "I don't have bias," Cook said. "I listed my connection, as required by the law. Beyond that, my personal life is my personal life."

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• Henry P. Trawick Jr., a Sarasota lawyer and author of Florida's Practice and Procedure, a textbook used by lawyers, said it's good that Cook disqualifies herself from hearing cases that involved her husband's bank. But he said she should go a step further. "I think she shouldn't hear foreclosure cases," Trawick said. "That's what I would do if I had that close of a connection, but perhaps my ethical standards are higher."



• The problem, Trawick said, is whether or not Cook shows favor to the banks; those representing homeowners may feel like she might. Hillsborough's other nine judges have not owned bank stock over at least the past four years, according to state disclosure documents.



• Stopa, the foreclosure defense attorney, said Cook once told him in court that she thought the "only way to improve the economy is to push through foreclosures as soon as possible." Cook said she was misquoted, but she declined to correct the statement.



• Mike Wasylik, a foreclosure defense attorney, said he's had few cases before Cook but is uncomfortable with her connection to a local bank. "A judge has the duty to avoid even the appearance of bias," Wasylik said. "She may have personal opinions about the need to push foreclosures through quickly."



• Phyllis Kotey, a professor at FIU School of Law, said the connections show an "appearance of personal and financial interest." "At the very least, parties before her should be put on notice and have the opportunity to object to her hearing their cases."

For more, see Critics: Judge with interest in bank shouldn't hear foreclosures.