David Cruz Jr. got what he believed was a great offer in a foreclosure lawsuit filed against him by giant mortgage lender Fannie Mae.
If Cruz deeded the modest Fort Myers investment house back to Fannie Mae, the government-backed company would release him from the loan’s $123,750 note: the obligation underlying his mortgage.
He deeded the house back to Fannie Mae, but court records show he didn’t get what he bargained for.
Jack Luzzo is replacing Marina Garcia-Wood in Family in July, with Luzzo to be replaced by Vic Tobin’s successor. A Senior Judge covers Luzzo’s division until the appointment is made some months from now. We’re hearing it’s Joel Lazarus.
It’s getting interesting …
Excerpt from the email:
Judge Marina Garcia-Wood has graciously offered to take over the foreclosure division in July. Recognizing the disruption that could occur in placing all of the pending foreclosure cases back into division, and after consulting with Judge Tuter, we have decided to maintain a separate foreclosure division. This will be done despite the lack of additional resources such as that appropriates through this fiscal year ending June 30th.
If you’re a foreclosure defense lawyer doing work in Broward County, there are lots of reasons to think Chief Judge Victor Tobin doesn’t side with homeowners. In his tenure at the top of the county’s legal system, he has instituted rules that make it tougher on homeowners to fight foreclosures and resisted changes that would protect them from cases being rushed through the system.
Broward County Chief Judge Victor Tobin is resigning from the bench to work for the Law Offices of Marshall C. Watson, a South Florida firm that recently paid $2 million to settle a state investigation into its foreclosure practices.
Tobin, 64, announced late Tuesday in a four sentence e-mail to staff at the 17th Circuit Court that his last day will be June 30.
The news shocked foreclosure defense attorneys who said it is unusual for a judge with three years remaining in his term to leave the bench, and questioned the move to a so-called “foreclosure mill.”
According to JAABlog, Broward County Judge Victor Tobin wrote in an email notifying all judges, Gov. Scott that effective June 30, 2011 he will be resigning as Circuit Judge and that effective July 1, 2011 he will return to private practice with the Law Offices ofMarshall C. Watson.
If you recall last October, the Miami Herald published an article about the rocket docket called “Florida judges face avalanche”, where they quote Judge Tobin as saying, “Batter up,” as he finished signing one stack of uncontested foreclosure cases and eyed the next.
What is very puzzling here is exactly when and how discussions came about of possibly working together with a law firm who is under such scrutiny? Inquiring minds do want to know…how this all took place.
PInellas County Judge Campbell ordered the heads of two major firms that handle foreclosures for banks, both based in Ft. Lauderdale, to come to Pinellas County to explain their business practices.
They will no longer be able to telephone in for cases and ordered to appear for each case.
4 Q. You contend that Exhibit 1 is the document
5 that authorizes you to sign on behalf of Countrywide Home
6 Loans Servicing LP?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. Okay. How so?
9 A. Countrywide Financial Corporation
10 actually — let me correct myself.
11 The plaintiff, as listed in this particular
12 case, is owned by Countrywide Financial Corporation.
13 It’s one of their entities.
14 Q. Okay. And how do you come to that
15 information?
16 A. Because I know it. I’ve been doing it for
17 a long time. I’ve — I don’t remember at what point in
18 time I found out that knowledge, but I’ve had it.
19 Q. Okay. Now, is Countrywide Home Loans
20 Servicing LP, to your knowledge, a separate corporate
21 entity from Countrywide Financial Corporation?
22 A. I don’t know.
<SNIP>
1 Q. And was that the situation back in December
2 of 2008 when you executed the assignment?
3 A. Yes. 4 Q. Okay. At that time, who was the owner of
5 the beneficial interest in the mortgage?
6 A. The beneficial interest in the note was
7 held by Fannie Mae. The interest in the mortgage was as
8 to, arguably, the interest in the mortgage was both
9 entities, the plaintiff and the Fannie Mae. 10 Q. Do you have any documents establishing your
11 authority to execute any assignments on behalf of Fannie
12 Mae?
13 A. Did I bring them? What? Say that again.
14 Sorry. 15 Q. Do you have any documents indicating your
16 authority to execute assignments on behalf of Fannie Mae?
17 A. I don’t know. 18 Q. Fannie Mae — excuse me.
19 The mortgage is to secure the note, right?
20 A. The mortgage follows the note, yes. 21 Q. Okay. And if Fannie Mae has the note, they
22 have to transfer or assign their interest in that note —
23 MR. ROSENQUEST: Object to form.
24 BY MR. FLANAGAN: 25 Q. — to someone else.
<SNIP>
20 Q. Okay. Does the name R.K. Arnold mean
21 anything to you?
22 A. No. 23 Q. Do you know Mr. Arnold, who is the
24 president of MERS?
25 A. No. 1 Q. You never heard of him?
2 A. No. 3 Q. If he stated that in order to be a
4 certifying officer and sign an assignment on behalf of
5 MERS somebody needed to pass and complete an examination,
6 is that something that is familiar to you?
7 A. It’s not familiar to me, no. I don’t know. 8 Q. Okay. That was not something that you had
9 to do.
10 A. I did not do that. 11 Q. Okay. And if he’s saying that, if that was
12 a rule or a qualification, that was something that was
13 not made known to you.
Before you go to the deposition, take a look at R. K. Arnold’s reply to one of Senator Brown’s questions on the hearing for “Problems in Mortgage Servicing From Modification to Foreclosure” on November 15, 2010.
For a brief period of time in the history of courts in Florida, lawyers engaged in a widespread and pervasive practice of submitting blatantly false evidence in courts. This period of time began roughly when the foreclosure crisis moved from the mortgage and lending industries and into Florida courts.
Now that judges and courts have become aware of just how pervasive this practice was, individual efforts on the part of judges and systemic rule changes implemented by the Florida Supreme Court should signal the end of this era. An article that appeared in the Sarasota Tribune and can be viewed here quotes a local judge, Robert Bennett from Sarasota who recently had one of his opinions reversed by the Second District Court of Appeals. (Verizzo v. Bank of New York) Found here
In the article, the good judge admits that his initial ruling…in favor of the bank was incorrect. The decision was a reflection of a judicial system that was totally overwhelmed by problems caused by the mortgage and lending institutions….they caused the problems then dumped their problems in the laps of absurdly understaffed courts and judges then said, “Here, you fix the mess we’ve created!”
It’s taken a while to identify the issues and to grasp the scope of the problem, but now that judges and court systems are aware that they were taken advantage of, the tide has shifted. New rules and new cases, both from appellate courts and from sister courts, have made judges all over aware of the issues such that they are no longer willing to look the other way and sign off granting sale….when asked how he thinks Plaintiff’s attorneys will comply, Chief Judge Lee Hayworth (long a critic of sloppy Plaintiff practice) had this to say:
“I’m looking forward to see how they do comply,” Haworth said. “Their license could be on the line.”
Liberty and Justice Prevail When Good Judges Sit Firmly on The Bench!
I warned these banks in 2007, “give the People a loan modification before they discover that you defrauded them, because woe be onto you when they find out”. Anyway, I figured out that was on to something so to buy time to think strategy, I demanded that my mortgage go from the $3,833.54 to $1,200 per month. The judge agreed and ordered that the mortgage payments was going to be $1,200 a month, and he also wiped out the $20,000 plus mortgage in arrears. This was too easy, they were willing to cater to me just to keep my brethren from feasting. The judge then ordered that I was to begin mortgage payments of $1,200 a month, but not to pay it to the lender, but to the court’s registry. My claims were still pending, even though I was paying the mortgage, I could still pursue my claims of mortgage fraud against the banks. But I saw the trap! The day I sign any papers accepting this payment modification, I the day that the case is SETTLED, and the banks would get away with robbery. The judge also gave me a stern warning, “Mr. Muckle, I am going to tell you this and please listen to me carefully”.. then he looked me into my dark brown cold eyes with is tender and sincere big blue ones, and said, ever so sincerely and meaningfully, “Mr. Muckle, do not win the battle and lose the war”. He really was looking out for mines and my children’s best interest. But as his mouth opened up and uttered those words, all I could really hear him saying to me was, “ Mr. Muckle, why settle for a battle when you can win the war?” Fight them my brother, I have your back!”.( Lol, I swear, that’s what heard). But to secure the order and bind me, the judge ordered in writing, “If the plaintiff do not begin to pay the money into the court’s registry as ordered, the defendant SHALL foreclose on the Plaintiff’s property and sell it” Huh! …continue HERE
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