Non-Judicial Foreclosure Is Ridiculous Part I
Please allow this to serve as a response to Mr. Alex Sanchez’s Guest Opinion. I will address Mr. Sanchez’s arguments one at a time, but before I do, a little bit of reality needs to be served up. Let’s start with what’s really going on in Southwest Florida.
There are predictions that we will see another 3.5 to 5.5 million foreclosures in the United States in the coming years, and Florida will continue to be at the top of the foreclosure lists, and yes, that will keep the real estate market depressed. This is the only point on which I agree with Mr. Sanchez.
There is no doubt that unless something dramatic happens, our real estate market will remain depressed for quite some time.
The lenders and bankers do not want to hear this news because it means that the value of their real estate portfolios are not as valuable as they would like for them to be. Do you remember President Obama’s stress tests that faded in the headlines before the results were provided to the public.
So, it is not shocking that the President of the Florida Bankers Association would be in support of a bill that makes it easier for lenders to take Floridians homes without “Due Process of Law”.
When I heard about this proposition I was outraged because it is just another blow to consumer rights.
As a Consumer Protection Attorney, I believe in Consumer Rights, Access to the Courts and of course Due Process of Law. I have sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the State of Florida, and I cannot stand by when someone attempts to curtail these fundamental rights that our Founding Fathers sought to protect.
Let us ask ourselves: How many Southwest Florida banks have failed due to outrageous lending practices? Riverside, Orion, Florida Community Bank, just to name a few. I am in a position where I get to see the amount of money that was financed on real estate. Let me tell you: Southwest Florida banks were giving out second mortgages and loans on real estate as if the money tree in the backyard had an endless supply of leaves.
Were these banks members of the Florida Bankers Association? Maybe! Did they really work with the homeowners for months and months prior to starting the foreclosure process? I highly doubt it.
I must admit that I read Mr. Sanchez’s opinion with a bit of anxiety, and then I thought I was reading a fairy tale, wondering if someone in the industry can be so out of touch with what is really going on.
I would like to start with his premise that Non-Judicial Foreclosure will streamline the foreclosure process. The foreclosure process provides the lender and the homeowner with an opportunity to have a neutral third party (Circuit Court Judge) hear the dispute, listen to the evidence and render a decision.
As a tax-payer, a voter and a proud American, I am not willing to waive this right because the Court system may be clogged. Unfortunately, I do not believe that the bank’s plight of having to foreclose on its bad loans is enough of a crisis to have to overturn decades of Florida juris prudence.
Likewise, the Courts are the last chance for a homeowner to get a fair chance to fight their foreclosure. Only in a Courtroom is a homeowner allowed to use the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure and the Florida Rules of Evidence. I’m sure this is one of the reasons that Mr. Sanchez and his organization choose to avoid the Florida courts.
Right now my law firm is fighting hundreds of foreclosure cases for homeowners who believe they have been wrongfully foreclosed against. Likewise, we are pursuing an unfair debt collection cases where the mortgage companies did in fact file wrongful foreclosure cases.
Please Click HERE to go to Part II of this article.
This post was submitted by Carmen Dellutri, Esq., founder of The Dellutri Law Group, P.A. Currently, the firm has offices in Port Charlotte, Fort Myers, Naples and Sarasota. Mr. Dellutri also sits on the Board of American Board of Certification. Mr. Dellutri is also one of the founders of the Bankruptcy Law Network, Debt Law Network, Credit Law Network, and Mortgage Law Network. Mr. Dellutri also writes for the firm's personal injury litigation blog. Mr. Dellutri also writes for the firm's other blogs: www.faircreditreportingactblog.com and www.fairdebtcollectionpracticesactblog.combankruptcy blog.
