Predatory Foreclosures
The Chief Judge of the 12th Circuit, Lee E. Haworth, has thrown up his hands in defeat. With three out of four homes going to foreclosure without any showing that the party seeking to foreclose is entitled to foreclose. A lack of manpower and funding assures the indefinite continuation of the problem.
A spokesman for Judge Haworth said:
“We have NO resources, magistrates or case managers, to verify checklists to insure compliance. We were forced to fire the people we needed to assist with foreclosures two years ago. We are sailing with a skeleton crew. Our budget is now what it was in 2004, before the tsunami of foreclosures hit us. We have all hands on deck now struggling to avoid furloughs. I simply have no one to assign to such duties, although I am working with Stetson Law School to set up an unpaid intern program to help with these issues this summer.”
The Court admits the problem of unauthorized foreclosure but decides not to fix it. The spokesman for Judge Haworth said:
“It's kind of like the FHP catching speeders. We'll catch a few in hopes of keeping the others honest, but most will escape. We don't like this, but this is the hand the legislature has dealt us.”