Shortcuts on the Foreclosure Paper Trail

To get a sense of the lawlessness in Florida’s court-run foreclosure process, look no further than public records at the Sarasota and Manatee county courthouses.

To get a sense of the lawlessness in Florida’s court-run foreclosure process, look no further than public records at the Sarasota and Manatee county courthouses.

There, on foreclosure documents open to everyone, is the evidence that at least one law firm’s employees repeatedly broke a state law in a rush to push cases through the courthouse so banks could seize people’s homes.

The evidence — missing signatures and misdated documents that could not have been signed on the dates specified — can be found on an important document called a "mortgage assignment." The paperwork helps prove a lender has the legal right to seize a property.