Law Firm in 'Deliberate, Willful & Flagrant' Contempt Fined $49K for Missing Foreclosure Hearings
A judge has found a Florida law firm in “deliberate, willful and flagrant” contempt and fined it $49,000 for setting—and then missing—two foreclosure hearings.
The action against Smith Hiatt & Diaz by Manatee County Circuit Judge Janette Dunnigan followed three previous incidents in which the law firm either canceled a hearing at the last minute or simply didn’t show, reports the Miami Herald.
She also ordered the Fort Lauderdale-based law firm, which represents a bank, to pay $450 to the defendant homeowner for lost wages and interpreter costs and an estimated $840 in legal costs to the Barrington Ridge Homeowners Association.
A partner of Smith Hiatt says the failure to appear was accidental and promises that the firm has taken measures to ensure it doesn’t happen again. The firm is contesting the $49,000 fine.
The sanction may be the most extreme yet taken in a growing trend by state-court judges overwhelmed with a deluge of foreclosure actions to enforce the rules against lenders, observers tell the newspaper.
Earlier this month, Sarasota County Circuit Judge Harry Rapkin reportedly dismissed nearly 25 percent of the cases on his docket (61 out of 258) because bank lawyers hadn’t complied with required procedure.
