Rubber Stamping Florida Judge Changes Public Position On Exempting F'closing Banks From Complying w/ Procedural Rules, Then Lets 'Em Break Them Anyway

AOL Daily Finance columnist Abigail Field writes:

• Over the holidays, I wrote about judges in Lee County, Fla., and how they appear to prioritize completing foreclosures over the rule of law. The most extreme example was an order in one case by Judge James R. Thompson that specifically exempted banks from a rule on affidavits that all other Florida litigants must follow -- specifically, part (e), which requires claimants to provide legally valid documents to back up their claims.

• Now, Judge Thompson has disowned the original order, replacing it with an order that claims banks do have to follow the rules. The problem? Even though he says the rules of evidence do apply to banks, the judge allowed the bank in that case to use an affidavit that obviously breaks the rule.

• Apparently, the judge merely changed his public position: Rather than admit the fact that foreclosing banks don't have to follow the rules on affidavits and loan documentation, he'll say they do, then fail to make them comply. That smells like a cover-up, not a correction.

• Indeed, the clerk of the court told a Florida TV station that the court never makes the banks comply with the rules on documentation.

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• To its credit, the Florida Supreme Court, like its counterparts in New York and New Jersey, has been trying to defend the rule of law. Sadly, a more robust action seems necessary.(1)

For more, see Florida Is Still Letting Banks Break the Rules in Foreclosure Cases.

(1) See Florida Trial Judges Continue Sloppy Work In Foreclosure Actions; Rubber-Stamped Judgments Tainted By Sewer Service Reversed By State Appellate Courts for more on the apparent crappy attitude of some Florida judges presiding over foreclosure proceedings.