On a recent Friday morning in Miami-Dade County, Judge Maxine Cohen Lando went on the record to dress down a foreclosure mill in such a fashion that it brought chills to any lawyer who is a member in good standing of the Florida Bar.
The foreclosure case was before the court because the defendant had brought a motion to dismiss the foreclosure with prejudice. The judge, having previously become annoyed with the bank and the bank’s counsel, had requested that there be an order to show cause. The judge was questioning the pleadings and wanted the foreclosure mill representing the bank to come forward and prove that they had not been involved with any inappropriate conduct.
The judge was clearly upset and said to the banks’ attorneys:
The court went on to question what kind of supervision is going on at the foreclosure mills and whether the named partners were in any manner setting up the proper systems to ensure that quality work was being produced. The court specifically stated that legal work being dished out in a factory-like fashion may “be okay for you, but it is not okay for the court.”
The judge further questioned whether the attorneys gave legal counsel to their clients, stating:
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