Foreclosures mount – Florida court turns to ‘rocket docket’
Daylife/AP Photo by David Zalubowski
With eyes tearing, some stare off into space. Others sit quietly with an expressionless pain as they wait for the inevitable.
When you are called before this court, it’s the end of the line. You are about to lose your home. This is foreclosure court in Fort Myers, Florida.
At this point in the legal process, all that’s needed is a judge’s signature. CNN was in court Friday to witness the process, which takes seconds. It’s called the “rocket docket.” On some days the court hears up to 1,000 cases. “It is a legal, procedural response to an overwhelming number of filings that unfortunately is necessary,” Judge Hugh Starnes told CNN…
Casey McNeer couldn’t even speak her name when the judge called her case. Her face red from crying, she wiped away tears as she told the judge her story. “My husband passed away and the debt just kept getting higher and higher,” she said.
“[My bank] told me my best option was to refinance, but they wouldn’t do it,” she said.
Nice human interest story, well-written. Just one paragraph deals with another side of this reality:
Sixty percent of the cases handled here involve homeowners who were speculators and out-of-towners. They don’t bother showing up for the court hearing, so the process is quick, and many are handled in seconds.
These are the people who precipitated most of this disaster. These are the people who supported and sustained sleazy storefront “mortgage brokers” who have about as much business doing home loans as Dick Cheney would have teaching business ethics.
