Miami-Dade to close dedicated foreclosure courts

Miami-Dade Circuit Court will stop dedicating three courtrooms to foreclosure cases as their backlog winds down.

Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey, head of civil courts, ordered that trials and summary judgments involving foreclosures will be assigned to circuit judges rather than senior judges in the foreclosure-dedicated courtrooms.

The foreclosure courts in Miami-Dade will formally shut down on Tuesday, June 30, the last day of the state’s fiscal year.

In 2013, the state government provided its court system with extra funding, temporary staff and other resources to clear a mounting number of foreclosure cases. The state hasn’t renewed the extra funding.

Bailey wrote in an administrative memorandum that “as a result of the foreclosure project, through the hard work and tireless efforts of the circuit’s division judges, senior judges and the staff of the Administrative Office of the Courts,  the backlog of foreclosure cases has largely been resolved.”

Bailey said her order to  shut down of the foreclosure courts will permit judges to resolve foreclosure motions via paperwork alone  if the parties fail to set a timely hearing. [Daily Business Review] — Mike Seemuth