April 13, 2011 - Stopa Law Firm

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Consenting to an Order Denying a Motion to Dismiss

Posted on April 13th, 2011 by Mark Stopa

One of the things that drives me craziest about being a foreclosure defense attorney is when I see fellow foreclosure defense lawyers, in court, voluntarily withdrawing their motions to dismiss or consenting to entry of an Order denying those motions. Sure, this has no direct impact on my cases, but I hate seeing homeowners prejudiced by bad lawyering. Plus, I fear this suggests to judges, albeit implicity, that motions to dismiss are not worth arguing – that creates the false impression that such motions lack merit, and that’s not the impression we want to be leaving on our judges.

I’m not suggesting that foreclosure lawyers bring motions to dismiss that lack merit. Rather, my point is that, in my experience, there is almost always a bona-fide reason to dismiss a foreclosure complaint. Judges don’t always agree, but the way the banks’ lawyers prepare these complaints, there is invariably some good-faith argument for dismissal. So when I see colleagues giving up on these motions without a fight, it drives me nuts!

If you’re a foreclosure defense attorney or a Florida homeowner facing foreclosure, and you don’t think motions to dismiss can be granted in foreclosure cases, check out the Orders below. There’s obviously no guarantee such a ruling will happen in any given case, but Orders like this are entered frequently enough that it would be hard for me to imagine consenting to an Order denying a motion to dismiss (without a hearing).

Order Granting Motion to Dismiss