Federal Judge Refuses To Intervene In Alleged Rubber-Stamping, Rocket Docket System Of Handling F'closures Against "No-Show" Homeowners In C. Florida

In Sarasota, Florida, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reports:

• A federal judge has issued a warning to Florida's homeowners in foreclosure: You'd better fight if you want your rights. U.S. District Judge James Moody threw out a lawsuit that claimed the judicial system in Sarasota and Manatee counties violates the rights of homeowners who do not contest their foreclosure.

• Two homeowners who filed the lawsuit, both of whom have since lost their houses, cited a study that found lenders used incorrect or fraudulent paperwork in three of every four foreclosure cases. The lawsuit called for a halt to all foreclosures until judges could verify all documents filed by lenders, to keep property from being taken by fraud or mistake.

• But Moody, in his order throwing out the case, wrote that Florida's homeowners must defend their rights or raise any claims in the state foreclosure actions. "Though participating in the state court proceedings may be personally difficult for them, the opportunity is available," Moody wrote of the plaintiffs.

For more, see Judge: Homeowners must fight for rights.

(1) The Florida Supreme Court recently enacted new procedural rules designed to help Florida's judicial system better cope with the flood of foreclosures. See Fla. High Court Enacts Procedural Rules To Apply In Residential F'closre Mediations; Seeks To Tamp Down Use Of "Lost Note" Affidavits, "Sewer Service."