Brooklyn Foreclosure Cases Face Rocket Docket As Court Tosses Inactive Cases And Speeds Up Active Cases

Brooklyn foreclosure cases could be facing a Rocket Docket. Kings County Supreme Court judges are fed up with the backlog of foreclosure cases clogging their dockets. Judges are also fed up with uncooperative homeowners who they perceive are milking the legal system. 

Kings County Supreme Court quietly dismisses thousands of Brooklyn foreclosure cases in May.  homeowners with pending cases.

The court planned to dismiss nearly 1600 foreclosure cases filed before Jan. 1, 2016 that have seen no court activity after Sept. 30, 2016. It quietly published a notice of the administrative dismissal in the New York Law Journal.

Lawyers say the court’s actions would be extremely harmful to homeowners battling lenders. For one, all of the motions a homeowner had filed taking issue with the lenders’ claims would be lost. In addition, many of the delays are due to the lenders dragging their feet. Lawyers also say that dismissing the case without fault to either side would allow the lenders to relaunch their cases.

In addition, lawyers say that it’s highly unlikely that most of the self-representing owners would have seen the notice buried in the “Court Notes” on page 11 of the journal last month.

K. Scott Kohanowski of City Bar Justice Center said:

None of the homeowners received actual notice of this calendar call. They have legal defenses and rights they are going to lose.

Lawyers have complained that since the Brooklyn courts whittled the 25 judges previously assigned to handling foreclosures down to just four judges. The reforms seem to focus on resolving cases quickly to clear the backlog. Lawyers argue judges are creating a “Rocket Docket” and not considering the facts of the case or giving homeowners a fair hearing.