Motion for Sanctions

• Author: Rebecca A. Taylor
• Pages: 89-97

Motion for Sanctions

Chapter 10

89

Courts are increasingly willing to grant a homeowner’s motion for

sanctions against a bank. There are numerous procedures and pre-

requisites to foreclosure that the banks must follow, and each of

these directives to the banks opens more doors for sanctions against

them if they fail to comply.

In announcing his investigations into three of the state’s largest

bank foreclosure firms, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum stated,

“I want law firms to really think about it before they go through this

volume.”1 Going through this volume in such a rushed manner causes

mistakes. As we have also found, some foreclosure firms and their

employees, while rushing to meet bank time lines and motivated by

financial rewards for faster foreclosures, have filed improper and

fraudulent documents to expedite the court process.

These rushed mistakes and knowingly fraudulent acts usually

inure to the detriment of the homeowner, sometimes fatally prejudic-

ing his or her case. In every jurisdiction, however, procedures exist

to deter and punish litigants from advancing frivolous claims and

defenses, commonly encapsulated within a motion for sanctions.

1. Nirvi Shah, 3 South Florida Foreclosure Law Firms Probed, MIAMI

HERALD, Aug. 11, 2010.