Lee County Judge John Carlin has been holding rocket docket hearings to reduce the backlog of foreclosures cases that have been flooding his court. He just asks the borrower two questions before stating the number of days the borrower is allowed to stay in the foreclosed property or negotiate with the lender.
Rocket docket refers to a court that strictly follows deadlines by quickly disposing of cases. This type of resolution, commonly applied to patent cases, is being applied by judges in Lee County and other parts of Florida to cope with Florida foreclosures.
Florida foreclosure rates have been among the highest in the country since 2008. Since the state requires foreclosure orders to be signed by judges, the courts have been overloaded with foreclosure paperwork, requiring the courts to ask retired judges to come and help clear the workload.
Lee County’s court clerk Charlie Green says the court has been hearing almost 1,000 foreclosure cases each day. He and his colleagues are also expecting a further surge of cases in February despite the release of Obama’s foreclosure plan. The area has been affected adversely by the housing crisis because of thousands of speculators that sold houses to working families and retirees.
In 2007, there were only about 1,900 foreclosure filings in Lee County. At the start of 2009, the number soared to 24,000. The huge number forced Lee County judges like Judge Carlin to use the rocket docket style.
Fort Myers lawyer Robert Hill says the judges have been kind, giving borrowers more days to stay in the houses longer than what the law requires. Hill even says that most of the borrowers have been living in the properties rent-free for over a year.
The only two questions Judge Carlin asks the borrowers are whether the borrower is current with his payments and whether he is living in the property. If the answer is no to the two questions, the judge states that the house is going to be auctioned in 45 days. If the borrower says he is living in the property, the judge usually gives 60 days for the borrower to vacate the house or negotiate with his lender.
Lee County judges relate they understand the difficulties of the borrowers, but almost all of the cases just need a brief court hearing. They try to look for cases in which the borrower gains something from mediation and perhaps avoid foreclosure, but almost all involve cases where the borrower has not paid his mortgage loan in more than a year.
Author Resource:-
John Cutts has been educated in the finer points of the foreclosures market over 5 years. Read foreclosure articles and news at EForeclosureMagazine.com.
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