UPDATE- AUGUST 1, 2011-
Key robo-signing case ends with settlement
The first robo-signing case scheduled to get to the Florida Supreme Court for oral arguments has been settled out of court by Bank of New York Mellon and the homeowner.
The first robo-signing case scheduled to get to the Florida Supreme Court for oral arguments has been settled out of court by Bank of New York Mellon and the homeowner.
The settlement comes as a disappointment to homeowners in foreclosure who have been trying to challenge the use of fraudulent documents used by banks to expedite foreclosure orders for Florida circuit courts.
Enrique Nieves III of Ice Legal in Royal Palm Beach had been preparing for oral arguments in Roman Pino v. BNY Mellon after the 4th District Court of Appeal upheld the bank’s right to voluntarily dismiss the case.
But on Thursday, Nieves filed a dismissal notice for the Lake Worth resident, stating the case had been settled. As a young lawyer, this was to have been Nieves’ first chance to argue a case before the high court.
Nieves said he was bound by the settlement not to discuss the case or divulge terms of the settlement.
“Unfortunately, lawyers are charged with responsibly acting in the client’s best interest,” ”That’s not necessarily in the best interest of the community.”
With the settlement, the 4th DCA ruling remains the law in every court in Florida. In Pino v. BNY Mellon, the homeowner requested an evidentiary hearing when the bank tried to re-initiate a foreclosure that had been stalled because of a questionable assignment of mortgage document.
The bank was trying to go forward with a cured document and Nieves was arguing they couldn’t proceed until the original fraud allegation was aired on its merits.
Palm Beach Circuit Judge Meenu Sasser noted the bank had voluntarily dismissed the original foreclosure petition and that case could not be reopened. She treated the second foreclosure petition as an entirely separate matter, and Nieves appealed.
The 4th DCA sided with Sasser in an en banc decision. But there was a dissent mainly on grounds that an attempt to perpetrate a fraud on the court was still actionable. The majority panel acknowledged the issue was of great public importance due to the rampant use of questionable documents; that certification helped Nieves put the case before the Supreme Court.
“It’s a shame that we’re not going to have this question resolved,” Ticktin said, noting it remains a common tactic for banks to use voluntary dismissals when foreclosure defense attorneys question the authenticity of certain documents.
“We see banks frequently sidestep and take themselves out of harm’s way.”
The banks continue to use suspect documents.
“It will rise again because the banks will continue to act as BNY Mellon did, and responsible law firms will act as Ice Legal did, and ultimately this issue is going to be tested.”
The first robo-signing case scheduled to get to the Florida Supreme Court for oral arguments has been settled out of court by Bank of New York Mellon and the homeowner.
The settlement comes as a disappointment to homeowners in foreclosure who have been trying to challenge the use of fraudulent documents submitted by banks to expedite foreclosure orders for Florida’s circuit courts.
