New York's Mad Justice

While the largest banks come to his court seeking to take the homes of New Yorkers who cannot pay their mortgages, New York  State Supreme Court Justice Arthur M. Schack rejects almost half of the banks’ motions because the foreclosure documents had obvious errors. Justice Schack has tossed out 46 of the 102 foreclosure actions that have come before him in the last two years. He goes back and forth with the banks that started in 2007 as foreclosures spiked sharply, particularly affecting working people in the mostly black neighborhoods in Brooklyn. “Banks had given out loans designed to fail,” he said. Meanwhile as big banks and expensive mortgage brokers repackaged mortgage loans for sale to investors, concluding with a confusing mess of paperwork. Justice Schack maintains the view that if a bank cannot prove ownership, it cannot foreclose.