Friday, July 15, 2011

Foreclosure case goes to Supreme Court of Florida

http://pdfserver.amlaw.com/dbr/Nieves-appeal.pdf

In Nieves' case, the 4th District Court of Appeal ruled Feb. 3 that BNY Mellon legally avoided a claim that it committed a fraud on the court by voluntarily dismissing a foreclosure action against Pino, a Lake Worth, Fla., resident. The claim was dismissed after Pino's counsel scheduled depositions and asked for an evidentiary hearing to determine whether BNY Mellon used a fraudulent mortgage assignment.


On appeal is an 8-1 en banc decision saying courts have no authority to rescind voluntary dismissals and that no harm was done. Judge Mark Polen disagreed, saying the allegation of a systemic fraud was the very thing the Supreme Court addressed in its 2010 rule change giving courts greater latitude in sanctioning plaintiffs who make false allegations.

http://www.law.com/jsp/law/sfb/article.jsp?id=1202501156555&src=EMC-Email&et=editorial&bu=Law.com&pt=LAWCOM%20Newswire&cn=nw20110715&kw=Newcomer%20to%20Argue%20High-Stakes%20Foreclosure%20Case%20Before%20Fla.%20Supreme%20Court