Common Foreclosure Mill Practice Of Using Screenshots Of Documents And Clueless Mortgage Servicing Employees Shot Down By Florida’s 4th DCA
It’s been a Florida foreclosure mill practice to bring employees from a mortgage servicer to testify at a foreclosure trial.
On the surface this sounds like a pretty logical and prudent thing to do. Employees testify that they have first-hand knowledge of note endorsements and mortgage assignments.
However, the reality of what these employees testify to is much different.
Servicing of the mortgage switches multiple times. Therefore, the current mortgage servicer would not have any knowledge the assignment of the mortgage or the transfer of the note.
They will also not have a complete picture of any irregularities in the transaction histories created by the previous servicers. Employees of the current servicer do not and would not have first-hand knowledge of any of this.
The typical foreclosure mill practice has been to have the employee bring screenshots of the documents to the trial. Not the real documents.
The judges wanted to expedite an overflowing docket of foreclosure cases. So they allowed the screenshots be used in at the trial. Regardless if there is a question about authenticity.
This foreclosure mill practice was dealt a serious blow by Florida’s 4th District Court of Appeals. The Appellate Court reversed a circuit court ruling last week and ruled in favor of the homeowner in Sanchez v. Suntrust.
The judges from the 4th DCA basically said copies and screenshots are not proper evidence. The screenshots are not proper evidence to show the foreclosing party had or has possession of the note.
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