Kimberly Miller, Palm Beach Post
Homeowners in foreclosure may have a better chance of getting a true trial, instead of a quickie judgment, following a 4th District Court of Appeal decision that requires banks to prove ownership of the note at the time they file for repossession.
The ruling Wednesday in Palm Beach County was heralded by foreclosure defense attorneys who said it may even force banks to dismiss some cases and start over with new paperwork.
Tom Ice, founder of the Royal Palm Beach-based foreclosure defense firm Ice Legal, called the decision a “sea change” in the way courts are looking at foreclosure cases and the importance of assignments of mortgage.
“No longer can banks just walk in and have their attorney wave around a piece of paper saying this is the note,” Ice said. “The good news for homeowners is now they have an opportunity to prove their case and get a trial on its merits.”
The 4th DCA ruling follows a rare Florida Supreme Court decision last week to take up an already settled Greenacres foreclosure case that involved an allegedly backdated assignment of mortgage that the bank used to show ownership. The court said it wanted to rule on the case, in which the homeowner was defended by Ice’s firm, because its opinion could have an impact on the “mortgage foreclosure crisis throughout the state.”
Wednesday’s ruling was on the case of Robert McLean vs. JPMorgan Chase, and involved a 2009 Broward County foreclosure.
According to the decision, which reversed a lower court’s verdict in favor of the bank, Chase originally filed the foreclosure claiming the note – basically the IOU from the borrower – was “lost, stolen or destroyed.”
