Foreclosures.

The disconcerting aspect of the report given to the Senate Judiciary Committee, referenced in the December 15 story "Senate panel seeks ways to expedite foreclosures," is the suggestion that the backlog of foreclosure cases is caused primarily by a lack of judicial resources, and, to a lesser extent, aggressive defense attorneys.

The unspoken reality of the situation is that banks want to control the tempo of foreclosures to avoid flooding the market with a supply of homes, and thereby lowering the sale prices for themselves, the ultimate sellers. In our experience, a party truly desiring to foreclose can do so readily. Thus, the banks' delays are a function of basic profit maximization.

When retired judges were temporarily made available to hear foreclosure cases in Miami-Dade County, bank attorneys usually fought vigorously against having a final judgment entered and a sale date set, even in cases where no defenses were interposed and a default was entered. It sounds crazy, but it's true. These were not cases where the summary judgment paperwork was not in order; these were cases where the bank just did not want to mow the lawn, pay the condo fees, and otherwise become a homeowner, something it is not in the business of doing. Thus, large numbers of the foreclosure cases forced in front of senior judges were voluntarily dismissed by banks, meaning they will one day come back to add to the backlog. This was publicly acknowledged by Judge Jennifer D. Bailey, who was disappointed the banks did not take advantage of the additional public resources made available to them.

Nonjudicial foreclosures will do nothing to address the backlog, as long as the banks have no monetary incentive to move forward. The only explanation for this push is the financial industry's desire to avoid judicial scrutiny.

Michael Schimmel

Miami

Despite the known and acknowledged falsifications of paperwork, despite the "robo-signing" scandal, despite the intrinsic contradictions in the complaints filed, despite the forgeries, despite the lousy lawyering on the part of the banks' counsel, and despite the horrible economic problems...