Rocket Docket

Lots of distractions today, so I'll decorate the space with a pickup from the ever-watchful Joel on the Florida housing market/meltdown:

A Florida Court's 'Rocket Docket' Blasts Through Foreclosure Cases
2 Questions, 15 Seconds, 45 Days to Get Out; 'What's to Talk About?' Says a Judge


By MICHAEL CORKERY

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Hoping to save her house, Saundra Hill Scott arrived at the county courthouse clutching dog-eared mortgage bills and letters from her lender.
Foreclosure Court in Fort Myers

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Lexey Swall-Bobay for The Wall Street Journal

See photos and hear audio clips from the Lee County Courthouse and Ms. Hill Scott's home.

She need not have bothered. The foreclosure hearing lasted less than 20 seconds, with Judge John Carlin asking her two questions: Are you current on your mortgage and are you living in the home? She answered no and yes and then offered to show him her paperwork.

"I don't need to see that. That's between you and the bank," he said as he gave Ms. Hill Scott, her husband and three grandchildren 60 days to work out a deal with their lender or vacate their three-bedroom house.

While the Obama administration prepares to unveil on Wednesday its plan to rescue the U.S. housing market, officials here in Lee County have come up with their own unique plan for dealing with the crisis. To clear a huge backlog of foreclosures, judges are hearing "rocket dockets" of nearly 1,000 cases a day and calling retired colleagues back to the bench to help ease the workload.

The housing crisis has been pounding the Florida court system like a Category 5 hurricane. Not only does the state have among the highest default rates in the country, its legal system, unlike many other states with devastated housing markets, requires judges to sign off on foreclosures. The combination has created a monster glut of cases that are overwhelming the courts. The Obama plan to encourage more loan modifications nationally may stem the flood of foreclosures in Florida somewhat, but Lee County officials say that the area's large number of unemployed residents and housing speculators may end up losing their properties anyway. ...

Was it not Eugene V. Debs who said that the American judicial system is the only railroad that runs on time.