The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee in December held hearings that we are now finding out about. We have submitted a written request (see below) to get the recording of the hearing and will publish once it is received.
Here are some excerpts from the Florida bar News on what went down…
Progress made in moving foreclosures, but courts brace for even more filings to come
The courts are making progress in tackling the huge backlog of foreclosure cases — thanks in large part to supplemental legislative funding — but defective paperwork is still a big problem, and another wave of home foreclosure filings looms on the horizon.
The judges said faulty and fraudulent documentation is the main cause of delays, and the courts are bracing for an anticipated deluge of commercial foreclosures in the coming year. Court officials also discussed the limitations of the Supreme Court-ordered managed mediation program.
Got that, “fraudulent documentation.”
Now how many indictments have we seen for these fraudulent activities?
Hell, how many cases were dismissed where the fraud was found?
Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples, the committee’s chair chair, soberly noted approximately 14 percent of Florida mortgages are in foreclosure and over 23 percent are “past due in one form or another.” He said those numbers are placing “significant stress and strains” on the judicial system’s ability to resolve foreclosure cases in a timely manner.
23% of Florida are “deadbeats.”
“We have finally turned that corner of closing more cases than are coming in,” said Bailey. She cautioned, though, that could change without additional resources because another bump-up in foreclosures is expected as adjustable rate mortgages and other exotic loans made in 2007 begin resetting in May.
“The process-servers tell me they have warehouses of stuff they are just waiting to file, and it is not getting filed because they are waiting to get all the documentation set,” she said, adding that no objective economic indicators tell the court anything other than delinquencies will continue to accrue.
Is that what they are calling it now? Getting their documentation set.
Here are some excerpts from the testimony…
“And I’m ripping my hair out because it is a complete waste of time for them to see me and get a stay,”
“In Dade County, for example, we have had over 3,000 stays to the end of November.”
“We grant those stays because we want to make sure there are not title insurance problems . . . and the process is done correctly,” Bailey said. “But that is a squandered hearing.”
Plaintiffs are mostly to blame for paperwork quality control issues, Bailey said, and while most foreclosures are uncontested, she is often hesitant to rely on the summary of the evidence to dispose of the cases.
“I’ve got affidavits that were supposedly signed in California and notarized in Minnesota. I’m not out there digging for problems, but if someone hands me an affidavit that is signed in California and it is notarized in Minnesota, I can’t ignore that,” Bailey said. “That would seem to be unjust and call the evidence into question.”
That sentence almost sounds like “we are trying to ignore the fraud, but it is so blatant we cant.”
“That would seem to be unjust and call the evidence into question.” Unjust? Really? How about fraudulently fabricated…
“A number of institutions have pulled cases from the folks who are under investigation, but the attorneys from those firms are still the attorneys of record until somebody substitutes in for the client,” Bailey said. “That is another event where there is no forward momentum because of the investigations.”
Nonjudicial Foreclosure
After studying nonjudicial foreclosure statutes in other states and some Florida proposals being floated, Gelfand said, the section doesn’t think they “meet the exacting standards of the Florida Constitution and Florida’s history dealing with homestead and other real property issues.”
Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Ft. Lauderdale, asked: Is it possible to do nonjudicial foreclosure in uncontested cases?
“In theory, the answer is ‘yes,’” Gelfand said. “The problem is in practice, because who is going to determine whether or not, for example, the unit owner has been served with papers and that there really is no opposition?
And we all know how good the “Sewer Service” is here in Florida…
“You are going to have someone who is paid by the person who is foreclosing to make that decision, and that goes to the heart of the public perception of the system,” Gelfand said.
You can check out the Florida Bar article in its entirety here…
We are working on getting the complete testimony of this hearing (see letter below) but in the meantime, you can check out the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee meeting packet from the hearing which is also below…
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4closureFraud.org
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Of course the Florida Bar can move forward. It has not put a single fraudulent lawyer in jail. It has done a great job covering up the fraud. Why yes they have disbarred a few shysers, but their names remain a secret. And the fraud they uncovered against these perjured attorneys they have not passed on to any prosecuting attorney. And if they did, they know the PA would do nothing and let the case die. If these are not foxes in the chicken house what is.
The Florida Bar is doing little to nothing to stop fraud or to stop judges who rubber stamp fraud. I have a simple place for the Bar to start, and a point at which any complaint should start.
First determine of the Plaintiff has standing before any motions of any kind by the Plaintiff can be accepted by the court. If a Plaintiff has no standing they should not be able to ask the court for any request regarding any answer, affirmative defenses, or other motions of the defendant(s). But, this is not the case in every court room in Florida. Plaintiffs are NOT MADE to prove standing before any other act of the complaint is moved upon.
Flordia Bar, be more than a rocket docket control center.
Nonjudicial foreclosure in uncontested cases is easy and already legal.
Here’s how the process works. Either a homeowner or bank calls the other and says something along the lines of “you’ve stopped paying; rather than foreclose would you willing to do a deed-in-lieu, or a rent-back?” For deeds-in-lieu they don’t ask for financial info because they realize no sane person would do one-side discovery for no reason; the bank made the loan. For rent-back’s same thing; the homeowner would be giving the house to the bank – if they can’t pay they can file a renters eviction; cheaper and easier than a foreclosure.
So there .. voila .. non-judicial foreclosure. There are still title issues; that’s true of any house, but that’s the banks problem. It’d really be for people who don’t want the house: too big, they really can’t afford it and won’t ever be able to, they’ve moved or have to move for work .. whatever. No changes to the law necessary; the banks just have to stop trying to milk every cent they can, which is reasonable give that the only reason they’re in business is $14 trillion (might be more by now; haven’t checked) in corporate welfare.
Hey Mike.
Your 100% wrong. Where do you dream this fantasy crap-up? Better keep a close tab on the deadbeat Fl BAR & FL congressional morons! They already tried to change FL to a NON-JUD once. They will try again.
I read they decided that non-judicial foreclosure was unconstitutional. Some will probably try anyway but if that’s the reason guessing they’ll skip it. Foreclosed properties have enough problems already without worries that a Constitutional ruling rolling all sales under a non-judicial process backwards.
Spoke to a few: there’s some dingbat state Senator from Delray Beach trying to push through a bill (a Democrat, in this case) to help the “real-estate industry.” — as if they weren’t the primary driver of this mess. But others say no .. they’re only focus on procedural changes is in condo’s. Condo’s are a tough subject because people who don’t pay condo dues push up the dues (in the buildings with their high genuine maintenance costs .. not the HOA’s) so much that others end up in foreclosure. I wouldn’t be ready to take a stand on the subject, except to recognize that non owner-occupied condos who aren’t paying condo dues (those renting and empties) deserve some more thought.
Not sure what your saying is wrong though. My version of “non-judicial” is a servicing company offering a substantive deal to skip foreclosures; that is, negotiating in good faith, including title indemnification and waiving a deficiency. What’s wrong w/ that? There – the bank gets a house quickly and gets to skip a foreclosure … if the homeowner is OK — nothing forced about it and the bank has no more extra negotiating power. Some people don’t want their houses: there’s vacation homes, or homes where the couple since retired and are too big, or they’ve moved, divorced .. whatever.
NON JUDICIAL FORECLOSURES BY FEDERALLY CHARTERED BANK CORPORATIONS ARE UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
GO TO LIVINGLIES AND SEARCH “UNCONSTITUTIONALITY OF A POWER OF SALE FORECLOSURE ” AND YOU’LL GET A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE. IF THE POWER OF SAL FORECLOSURE IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL AS APPLIED UNDER THE 5TH AMENDMENT THEN THE EVICTION THAT FOLLOWS IS AN AB– USE OF PROCESS BECA– USE IT WAS NEVER INTENDED TO EFFECTUATE AND COMPLETE THE DEPRIVATION BEGUN BY THE POWER OF SALE FORECLOSURE. iT IS ALSO A N AS APPLIED CONSTITUTIONAL VIOLATION OF DUE PROCESS AND ACTIONABLE UNDER 42 US 1983. TWO EVENTS BUT ONE TRANSACTION.