a lawsuit claiming homeowner's rights were violated in two Florida counties was dismissed by a federal judge.
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.
The attorney filing the lawsuit, Richard Kessler, said the judicial system is still violating homeowners' rights, but he will not appeal the decision because his clients are no longer interested in doing so.
Kessler also said he is pursuing new ways to protect homeowners caught in foreclosure.
For years, foreclosure defense attorneys across the state have been preaching how important it is for homeowners to put up even the most basic legal defense.
Many foreclosure cases have been filed that do not even meet the basic requirement of showing why the lender is entitled to take the property.
Filing a few documents can buy a homeowner a year of living in the home, and ensures that the company taking the property actually has a claim to the property.
The courts usually rely on defendants to point out problems in the cases against them. But in foreclosure court, as many as half of property owners make no attempt to defend themselves. Judges cannot step into that role.
With the court system flooded with foreclosure cases, judges say they do not have the time or money to try to verify every document. They must rely on the word of the lawyers doing the filing.
Just last year, a judge happened to glance at an order she was signing in a foreclosure, and realized that the two properties were in Miami, a few hundred miles outside her jurisdiction.
Twelfth Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Lee Haworth recruited volunteer law students to verify documents in cases for foreclosure judges this summer.
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