Homeowner Insurance Broward County Florida

ACLU Sues To Stop Florida Judges' “Rocket Docket” Because It ...

Posted By Larry Tolchinsky on April 12, 2011

Florida homeowners just got a new ally in their battle against Foreclosure lawsuits:  The ACLU has entered the battlefield by joining in to defend a homeowner against a Florida foreclosure action .  Florida homeowner’ s due process rights under the U.S. Constitution are arguably being violated in Florida state courts, and have been for the past few years.

How?  The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida (ACLU-Fla) joined the war against ForeclosureGate by entering a law suit begun by plaintiff George E. Merrigan against the Bank of New York Mellon fka Bank of New York (filed as Case No. 2D11-1728 in the Second District Court of Appeal) ( follow the docket online here ).

Ms. Merrigan lives in Cape Coral, Florida. She is facing foreclosure on her home because she’s been unable to keep up with mortgage payments after her husband was involved in a car accident that left him seriously injured, and needing her to care for him full-time.  This Florida homeowner has been strong in the face of tragedy:  she has fought hard and well against every move made by the Powers that Be to foreclose on her home.

It’s one thing to fight against the bank and the bank’s lawyers.  It’s another to fight against the court’s system, too – which is, in part, the basis for the ACLU’s involvement in the case . Ms. Merrigan has had to defend herself in a lawsuit that was filed in the Lee County, Florida “mass foreclosure docket.”

The ACLU petition asserts that the “rocket docket” prevents Defendant Merrigan from getting the same opportunity to defend herself as she would in any other kind of civil action . Accordingly, the relief that the ACLU seeks includes moving her foreclosure to the standard civil docket as well as asking that the “rocket docket” be deemed unconstitutional because it violates due process under the U.S. and Florida constitutions.

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