Science Friday: The Science of Foreclosure
… And the anatomy of fraud. Matt Taibbi reports on the “rocket docket” handled by a Florida court, where systematic fraud flourishes, the sense of US justice all but disappears, and a judge sees nothing wrong with using intimidation to get his way, which is to make bad mortgages disappear, human beings be damned.
Here’s a slice from the article (which absolutely should be read in full):
A recent divorcee delinquent in her payments, she has come to court today fully expecting to be foreclosed on by Wells Fargo. She sits down and takes a quick look around at the lawyers who are here to kick her out of her home. “The land has been in my family for four generations,” she tells me later. “I don’t want to be the one to lose it.”
Judge Soud pipes up and inquires if there’s a plaintiff lawyer present; someone has to lop off this woman’s head so the court can move on to the next case. But then something unexpected happens: It turns out that Kessler is supposed to be foreclosing on her today, but he doesn’t have her folder. The plaintiff, technically, has forgotten to show up to court.
Just minutes before, I had watched what happens when defendants don’t show up in court: kerchunk! The judge more or less automatically rules for the plaintiffs when the homeowner is a no-show. But when the plaintiff doesn’t show, the judge is suddenly all mercy and forgiveness. Soud simply continues Cooper’s case, telling Kessler to get his shit together and come back for another whack at her in a few weeks. Having done this, he dismisses everyone.
What happens next is stunning. This article is available for free; keep supporting great reporting by subscribing to Rolling Stone here.