TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) _ The Florida Supreme Court is hearing oral argument in a mortgage foreclosure case that could have far-reaching consequences.
Thursday’s argument focuses on whether lenders or other plaintiffs can avoid penalties for filing forged documents with courts simply by voluntarily dismissing their cases.
Palm Beach County homeowner Roman Pino accused the Bank of New York Mellon of submitting bogus documents in its foreclosure case against him.
A judge, though, denied Pino’s request to penalize the bank by prohibiting it from again trying to foreclose.
An appellate court affirmed that ruling but certified the issue to the Supreme Court as a matter of great public importance.
Pino and the bank then settled but the high court said the case was so important that it would not let them dismiss it.
