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LOXAHATCHEE, Fla.—Israel Machado's foreclosure started out as a routine affair. In the summer of 2008, as the economy began to soften, Mr. Machado's pool-cleaning business suffered and like millions of other Americans, he fell behind on his $400,000 mortgage.
But Mr. Machado's response was unlike most other Americans'. Instead of handing his home over to the lender, IndyMac Bank FSB, he hired Ice Legal LP in nearby Royal Palm Beach to fight the foreclosure. The law firm researched the history of Mr. Machado's loan and found two interesting facts.
First, the affidavits IndyMac used to file the foreclosure were signed by a so-called robo-signer named Erica A. Johnson-Seck, who routinely signed 6,000 documents a week related to foreclosures and bankruptcy. That volume, the court decided, meant Ms. Johnson-Seck couldn't possibly have thoroughly reviewed the facts of Mr. Machado's case, as required by law.
"It's a brand new world for foreclosure activists," said Lisa Epstein, director of Caring for Americans in Foreclosure, a citizen advocacy group.
In Florida, which leads the nation in foreclosure filings, loans remain delinquent for an average of 573 days before going to foreclosure, according to LPS Applied Analytics, a research firm. A year ago it took 423 days, an indication that the foreclosure process is lengthening. Nationwide, the average foreclosure takes 478 days, up from 361 days a year ago. At the height of the housing boom in early 2006, the foreclosure delinquency average stood at 292 days nationwide and 305 days in Florida.
"Six or seven out of 10 people threatened with foreclosure crawl in a hole and don't protect their rights."
At the West Palm Beach County courthouse, the scene seems to support his case. On a recent Monday, a retired state judge named Roger B. Colton ruled on about 30 petitions for summary judgment in foreclosure cases.
Judge Colton dispatched with all the cases in about an hour and twenty minutes, setting foreclosure sale dates for each house for 120 days after the hearing. One by one, homeowners and their families took a podium in front of the judge, explained the basic facts of their foreclosure, told the judge what they hoped would happen (usually they are hoping a short sale of their property before the foreclosure goes through, or a loan modification from their bank) and received a quick explanation of the judgment from the judge: their home would be repossessed and sold by the bank in 120 days if they weren't able to work out a deal first.
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Once the REAL reason for all this "sloppy" (but purely innocent and clerical in nature) paperwork becomes apparent maybe then we will all truly be on the same team.
How many times has your "signature" been re-created by an "Autopen" for the purpose of being traded like baseball cards on Wall Street?
If you dare, click on "Rocket Docket Judge" Roger B. Colton's name above to see if you think our Judicial System is handling this in a manner consistent with the Constitution. He basically comes out (in chambers and transcribed by a court reporter) and declares he will not listen to ANY evidence. PERIOD
blech!