As seen in Key West the Newspaper May 20, 2011
But as we concluded last week, we posed the concept that our Courts should be the last line of defense, and surely they would preserve the integrity of the system, and due process. Surely the Courts will provide just resolutions that can build confidence in our title histories, and not allow for greedy bankers with their teams of lawyers to roll us like a Cuban smoke.
Over the last couple of weeks I have been sharing with you an ugly portrait of how almost every economic ailment we are faced with somehow ties back to bank fraud, and what has now morphed into foreclosure fraud.
I’ve described how the banks defrauded investors, destroyed the titles, evaded filing fees, and are now stealing houses. It affects everyone, and you should be irate not only with the banks, but with those responsible for maintaining the integrity of our system.
For example, when you hear about budget cuts at the school affecting your child’s education, it is traced back to tax base, and property values. Property values are traced back to confidence in title histories, which have been wantonly destroyed by the banks while our County Clerk has been asleep at the switch by allowing the banks to arbitrarily decide that they will now maintain land records.
But as we concluded last week, we posed the concept that our Courts should be the last line of defense, and surely they would preserve the integrity of the system, and due process. Surely the Courts will provide just resolutions that can build confidence in our title histories, and not allow for greedy bankers with their teams of lawyers to roll us like a Cuban smoke.
Nothing could be further from the truth. You see, unfortunately the Judges have been acting as nothing more than a rubber stamp validating the Banks destruction of our title histories. They do so under the guise of the the same rationale fed to you by sound bite journalists, “The defendant’s not paying their mortgage, surely they are in the wrong, they don’t deserve a free house.” Well if that isn’t the over-simplification of the decade, I don’t know what is. I guess it is better to give the property to the thieves that defrauded investors, and intentionally destroyed the link between the investor and the homeowner.
Most of the problems with these cases stem from documents like mortgage assignments and lost note affidavits that were simply fabricated to gain standing to foreclose. “60 Minutes” recently did an expose on the famed Linda Green whose name appears on tens of thousands of such documents, signed by countless robo-signers. Do a search on Youtube to view it. In it Chairwoman of the FDIC Sheila Bair suggests the problem of the forged docs is pervasive.
So what is going on locally? Over the last few years I have probably reviewed between 50- 100 foreclosure cases and almost every one had some sort of obvious red flag. I have discussed this with State Attorney Dennis Ward and while he is cognizant of the issue, he advised me of the difficulty in proving knowledge and intent to win a conviction.
He does however welcome the public to report fraud on his hotline and website, but has also gone one step further. Ward went to the front line in search of infractions by meeting with Chief Circuit Judge Luis Garcia.
He asked Garcia to bring to his attention any such documents that he discovers in the 16th Circuit.
To date, Ward says none have been brought to his attention.
The head of the FDIC says the issue is PERVASIVE, and Judge Garcia can’t find ONE such example? I sent an email to Judge Garcia through Trial Court Administrator, Holly Elomina and asked him if he had found any, but also what specifically he was doing to monitor for such documents. Through Elomina he expressed a willingness to meet with me. However, I’ve worked in government long enough to know that when I ask for something in writing and get the ol’ “Call me,” or “Come see me,” reply that I won’t be satisfied until I get the answer in writing. I don’t want to misquote anyone, so I asked that either Elomina or the Judge respond to my questions in writing. Eventually Judge Garcia again replied through Elomina that he’ll answer my questions when we can arrange a meeting. I spoke with his judicial assistant and of course the Judge is very busy. Maybe an email back saying, “Have not given Ward any docs, and have done absolutely nothing to look for them,” would be easier.
However, just when they thought the lipstick on this pig might suffice, it gets uglier. How about no fake docs at all? That’s right, at the behest of a friend I came upon a local case where Deutsche Bank foreclosed on a property where the original mortgage was owned by Option One. Deutsche Bank showed no link whatsoever, and got a big ol’ stamp of approval from Judge Audlin.
This is also outside the realm of the victim being the deadbeat homeowner. This property had been foreclosed upon by Deutsche Bank and given a shiny new title, and my friend bought it. She was wondering if there were any lingering title issues. I guess the unresolved mortgage from Option One might be one.
That’s right, even though Deutsche Bank brought a shiny new title to closing courtesy of Judge Audlin, there is not an assignemnt, nor a satisfaction of the the original Option One mortgage in the Clerk’s records at all, nor in the case file that I could find. I forwarded the docs to Judge Audlin through Holly Elomina and he advises that he will not comment on any specific case.
Do you think that the value of that property is compromised with this lingering title issue? Do you think this might effect the resale value? This is now a subsequent buyer who is financially compromised by the lack of attention to this issue, not the deadbeat. I’m sure this foreclosure was uncontested, and in the need of expediency the Judge just Ok’ed it like hundreds of others. I mean after all the guy’s not paying his mortgage, and a bank and their lawyer wouldn’t misrepresent the facts now, would they?
But do you think it might have helped to have opened the file to see that Deutche Bank was foreclosing on a mortgage owned by Option One and provided no link whatsoever?
Any chance of the lawyer filing the crap getting sanctioned and disbarred vs giving the case a rubber stamp? I suggest the former would go more towards restoring integrity in the system and our title histories.
This is where you might expect Matt Gardi to start ranting about Judges being more responsive to the taxpayers who pay their salaries! But I can’t.
You see, the vast majority of the Judges salaries are directly paid for by Banks. I kid you not, read that again. According to Holly Elomina, 79% of the Court funding comes from the State Courts Revenue Trust Fund, of which 79% of that funding comes DIRECTLY from Foreclosure filing fees. That means that 62.4%, nearly 2/3rds of Garcia’s and Audlin’s salaries comes DIRECTLY from Banks that are foreclosing. Think about that impartiality next time you’re standing as a pro se defendant, vs. a banker’s lawyer, in front of a Judge whose salary comes from that very same plaintiff.
The Judges have a very real and direct motivation to see to it that foreclosures move smoothly through their system, and that nothing deters them from continuing to be filed. While Elomina agrees with my math, she states, “10% of the Court’s state budget comes from General Revenue. This GR pays for part of the Judge’s salaries. How much, I do not know. It could be 50%, it could be 25%. Without knowing how much of a judge’s salary comes from GR, you have no way to calculate how much comes from the SCRTF.”
Really? Perhaps a more Keys oriented analogy might help. A bartender at the Parrot fills up a pitcher, 2/3rds with Bankster Brew, and the rest with a mixture of assorted beers, one being General Revenue Ale. The Judges all pour themselves a nice frosty mug from the pitcher, blow off the foreclosure fraud froth, and swig it back. Explain to me how the Judges didn’t just enjoy a nice cold beer comprised primarily of Bankster Brew.
So instead of our justice system being funded by the Banks properly recording mortgage assignments with the Clerk, we instead are blessed with a system dependant on funding from the very same thieves that evaded the original filing fees and caused this mess, but are now litigants stealing our homes and destroying our property values. No conflict of interest there.
Next week, Florida’s Rocket Docket in action, it’s molasses covered lightning.
Fast, slow, and shocking.
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