Welcome to The Home Equity Theft Reporter, a blog dedicated to informing the consumer public and the legal profession about Home Equity Theft issues. This blog will consist of information describing the various forms of Home Equity Theft and links to news reports & other informational sources from throughout the country about the victims of Home Equity Theft and what government authorities and others are doing about it.
Friday, December 21, 2012
Litigating Miami-Dade Foreclosures Becomes A Joke As Judges Begin Bulldozing Cases Through System, Steamrolling Homeowners In The Process
In Miami, Florida, The Miami Herald reports:
Miami-Dade Circuit Court — choked with foreclosure cases, many dating to 2009 — has gotten tough on pushing cases through the system.
Five months into a state-funded project, Florida’s busiest circuit court is conducting hundreds of foreclosure trials a week.
With $626,000 in special funds for the fiscal year ending July 31, 2013, the court has added two senior judge slots and a staff of case managers to help clear a backlog of some 53,668 foreclosure cases.
“It’s a rocket docket,” said Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jon Gordon, a senior judge who is churning through about 50 trials a day.
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Most trials are short and simple. Judges can plow through a one-witness foreclosure case in 15 minutes if it isn’t contested, the judge said. Contested cases with two witnesses can take a couple of hours.
Attorneys, especially defense attorneys, don’t like the court’s tough line.
Bruce Jacobs, a Miami attorney who specializes in foreclosure defense work and hosts a weekly radio program called Mortgage Wars on WZAB-AM 880 in Miami, said the court’s efforts are well intended but can hamper the defense’s ability to challenge a bank’s evidence that it is entitled to foreclose.
Jacobs said he has shown up in court objecting that lenders have refused to provide documents he requested to prepare a defense until the day of trial. “They haven’t provided me anything, and the judge sends me outside the courtroom to look at them and then it’s, ‘Let’s go to trial,’ ” he said, expressing frustration at being asked to speed-read important documents.
Jacobs said under the law, it isn’t enough for a lender to show that a homeowner hasn’t paid a loan; the lender must prove it has the right to foreclose. That often can be dicey when mortgage loans have been packaged into securities and are being serviced by a third party and have been passed from one institution to another.
“I’m all in favor of moving these cases forward, but they’ve got to hold both sides to the rules of procedure,” Jacobs said.
Last Thursday, Sergio Cabanas, a Pembroke Pines attorney, was in court arguing to postpone a foreclosure trial set for that morning, because, among other things, his attorney had another hearing in Broward County the same morning.
Gordon, the senior judge, denied Cabanas’ request. “You’re here today,” the judge said.
Cabanas, who defends foreclosure cases, claimed it would be “almost like a Woody Allen skit,” for him to be both a witness and the attorney in the case, but the judge brushed aside his argument.
In Miami-Dade, the court typically won’t consider requests for continuances made the day of trial, except in an emergency. Such requests must be filed at least seven business days ahead of time for review by a judge on the foreclosure team.
Forced to go to trial, Cabanas acknowledged that he hadn’t made payments on the loan since early 2009, even as the bank laid out its documentation to foreclose.
Asked if a signature on a document was his, Cabanas said it looked like it, but he had “no specific recollection” of signing it.
Cabanas then raised one issue after another — to no avail. Among other things, he said he was trying to get a loan modification for the rental property, held in a trust.
He questioned the bank representative’s qualifications to be a witness in the case. He challenged the bank’s right to foreclose at all, demanding proof the mortgage had been properly transferred when the original lender, World Savings, was acquired by Wachovia, which in turn was acquired by Wells Fargo.
The judge overruled his objections.
“I’m running out of time, and I’m running out of patience,” Gordon finally told Cabanas. Soon afterward, he ruled in favor of the bank. Cabanas later said he plans to file an appeal.
“In my case, they’re overlooking certain burdens of proof and other evidence that would never be tolerated in other proceedings,” Cabanas said. “They’re under the gun, no matter what, come hell or high water, to push these cases off the cliff.’’
For the story, see Miami-Dade court puts foreclosures on fast track (Miami-Dade Circuit Court is aggressively setting foreclosure cases for trial as it tries to clear the backlog that ensued from the ‘robo-signing’ delays).
CBC News: Betrayal of Trust (A CBC investigation reveals how lawyers across Canada have misappropriated and mishandled clients money, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, or sometimes even charging vulnerable people top dollar for shoddy services)
Land Contract/Contract For Deed/Rent-To-Own Rackets
The New York Times: The Housing Trap (In the wake of the housing crisis, low-income families have turned to seller financing to buy homes but these deals can be a money trap)
Beware The Fine Print: Consumers Forced To Sign Away Their Rights To Use Court System
The NY Times: Arbitration Everywhere, Stacking the Deck of Justice(Part 1 in series examining how clauses buried in tens of millions of contracts have deprived Americans of one of their most fundamental constitutional rights: their day in court)
Foreclosure Mills' Abysmal Record In Complying With New NYS Foreclosure Requirements
Justice Deceived: How Large Foreclosure Firms Subvert State Regulations Protecting Homeowners
MFY Legal Services Report On Questionable Practices By Process Servers In Debt Collection Cases
Justice Disserved: A Preliminary Analysis of the Exceptionally
Low Appearance Rate by Defendants in Lawsuits Filed in the Civil Court of the City of New York
Mortgage Mess Redux: Robo-Signers Return (A Reuters investigation finds that many banks are still employing the controversial foreclosure practices that sparked a major outcry last year)
CNN Video: As Foreclosures Mount, Florida Court Turns To 'Rocket Docket'
The Wall Street Journal: 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)
"Produce The Note" Strategy When Dealing With Missing Promissory Notes In Foreclosure Actions
ABC Video: Fighting Against Foreclosure (Some homeowners have found a new tactic to keep the banks at bay)
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