Shop

Florida homeowners are being steamrolled through foreclosure courts by overzealous judges, while others are left holding the bag for abandoned and unlivable homes, because state officials have placed expedience over the right to due process in an effort to clear a perceived backlog in court cases. The Center for Public Integrity interviewed dozens of homeowners, lawyers, judges and public officials, observed courtrooms, and examined databases and documents to paint a picture of a foreclosure crisis that persists years after the financial crisis. The project resulted in Wells Fargo, one of the biggest mortgage lenders, rehabbing dozens of abandoned homes it owns, and state officials looking at ways to make the state courts more responsive to the needs of homeowners.