Miami-Dade’s foreclosure courts are set to undergo significant changes starting July 1 when last year’s emergency funds dry up and the overburdened judicial system is forced to function with less money.
Judge Jennifer Bailey outlined the changes during a town hall meeting for attorneys and other stakeholders Friday. Beginning July 1:
• Four judges pulled from other divisions will hear foreclosure cases that are more than two years old, replacing the retired judges that were brought on last year specifically to rule on those lingering files.
• Law student volunteers will be in charge of screening case files, replacing the paid screeners that were funded by the one-time grant.
Hearing dates will be set via email, replacing a paper system that has overwhelmed the courts with paperwork.
• Lawyers who have irregular or incomplete court documents will not be granted an extra hearing to fix the problems, and their cases will be set for trial.
“If your summary judgment is denied, you’re not going to get another hearing,” Bailey told a group of attorneys Friday. “You’re going to have a trial date.”
In 2010 state legislators awarded Miami-Dade courts $862,053 to whittle down its enormous backlog within a year. That funding ends at the end of this month. Miami-Dade County had more than 58,000 foreclosure cases pending as of March, according to data from Office of State Courts Administrators.
While foreclosure activity has slowed down during the last nine months as banks have struggled to reclaim homes, most analysts expect a ramp up of foreclosures in the near future.
Many of the changes are being made in order to speed the timeline of foreclosure, which has swollen to an average of more than 600 days in Florida.
“The economic recovery of the state of Florida is going to be dependent on moving this inventory and the shadow inventory through these courts,” Bailey said.
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