Even though it's kind of old news, it's still worth noting for those of you who missed it, as a display of how corrupt things had become in Broward's foreclosure-world.
For about a year, Chief Judge Victor Tobin was the Chief Judge in Broward County. He reigned during the height of the biggest foreclosure crisis in Broward's (and the state's and country's) history. As Chief Judge, he dictated policy in the circuit, directed how tens of thousands of foreclosure cases would be handled, and was generally the figurehead of the Broward Judiciary.
During his time, he was hardly a friend of homeowners. Judge Tobin refused to adopt any mandatory mediation program until he absolutely had to, as dictated by the Supreme Court (Miami and Palm Beach had mediation programs long before Broward). He instituted administrative orders making it harder for homeowners to get foreclosure sales cancelled. He started a "rocket docket," a system where hundreds of foreclosures a day are heard one after the other, with little attention to the details of each case, and which routinely trampled upon the due process rights of homeowners.
Well, just this year, Judge Tobin left the judiciary, and went into private practice. With whom, you may ask?
How about Marshall Watson, one of the biggest foreclosure firms in the state.
It has to make you wonder how close Judge Tobin was with Marshall Watson while he was Chief Judge, and how his relationship may have clouded his decisionmaking as Chief Judge. I would imagine that for Judge Tobin to be working at Marshall Watson, he would do what any job-seeker would. He would need to talk to the higher-ups at the firm, maybe have a lunch or two, negotiate salary, etc etc. And the logical conclusion was that he was doing all this, while he was also the supposedly impartial Chief Judge of the County, implementing those homeowner-unfriendly decisions.
Had Judge Tobin been more even handed in his treatment of foreclosure-related matters, maybe this wouldn't be an issue. But he wasn't. So it is. And regardless of any actual impropriety, the whole thing just looks bad. The judge presiding over Broward during the largest foreclosure crisis in history goes to the largest foreclosure firm the day after he leaves. It just looks like it stinks.
The New Times wrote about this story, and I was quoted. It can be found here:
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2011/05/victor_tobin_marshall_c_watson.php
(I should note that since July 2011, the new Chief Judge Peter Weinstein has somewhat righted the ship, and so far appears to be a very fair and even handed Chief Judge. Even though he rarely personally presides over foreclosure cases, his appointment of Judge Garcia-Wood to the foreclosure division has been a step in the right direction.)
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