Judge rules in favor of eviction in case involving former Cuban political prisoner
A last-ditch motion to stop a Writ of Possession — the final judgment before Miami-Dade Police can carry out an eviction — was denied by Judge Charles K. Johnson in circuit court on Friday afternoon in the case of Ana Rodriguez, the 82-year old former Cuban political prisoner who is at risk of being kicked out of her home.
The previously issued writ can be executed. But the judge agreed to grant attorney Bruce Jacobs, who is representing Rodriguez pro bono, a two-week window to get the Third District Court of Appeal to stay the writ.
Jacobs argues the foreclosure by Bank of New York Mellon on Rodriguez’s home was not legal because it was obtained through “forgery, perjury, destruction of evidence, backdating of records and other racketeering activity,” he said.
The judge clarified that after the expiration of the two-week period, if the District Court has not ruled in favor of Rodriguez, she will be evicted.
But neither Rodriguez nor her attorney have lost their spirit in the fight.
“I’ve had to fight a lot of battles over the course of my life on my own,” she said. “But I’m happy because I have a lot of people by my side fighting this war against corruption. My fight has become the fight of many. If we are able to prove the bank committed fraud, that will help a lot of seniors and poor people to have better lives.”
“We obviously disagree with the ruling, but we live to fight another day,” Jacobs said. “The court got overly concerned with the media narrative on Ms. Rodriguez being a Cuban political prisoner. The court should have focused on the fact that there were multiple frauds in the foreclosure which deprived her of her property without due process.”
Rodriguez, who served 19 years in Cuban prison as a political prisoner, moved into the Miami home in 1997 with her friend Maria Antonia Mier, who bought it for $140,000. Before her death from brain cancer in 2008, Mier refinanced the mortgage with Countrywide Financial, signing a predatory loan in which the payments ballooned every month.
Rodriguez was unable to pay the new mortgage and Bank of New York Mellon foreclosed on the home in 2010. The case stretched on for 12 years, during which five different attorneys represented Rodriguez and she declared bankruptcy twice.
The foreclosure case was settled in 2019 and the house was sold to a California woman for $415,000 in August 2020. But she has been unable to take possession of the home.
In his ruling, Judge Johnson recognized Rodriguez’s plight and said the case required “benevolence and compassion” from both parties. But he also said that “mercy and compassion should not come as a detriment to the other person.”
“No judicial action of any kind should rest on that foundation,” he said.
The judge also spoke about his Cuban father-in-law and his familiarity with Cuban culture, and expressed sympathy for Rodriguez’s life story. But he said those facts were irrelevant in the case.
According to Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, a total of 324 evictions have been carried out in Miami-Dade since Nov. 13, when former Mayor Carlos Gimenez resumed enforcement on writs of possession in all cases filed on or before March 2020.
Some legal experts say it will be a challenge for Jacobs to put together an appeal case within the allotted two-week window.
“Bruce has been a longtime champion of homeowners fighting foreclosure,” said Miami attorney David Winker, who represents landlords and homeowners in other ongoing eviction cases. “But it will be a tall order to get the appellate court to issue a stay within that two-week period. It will be difficult procedurally and substantively to present the evidence necessary for such a stay.”
Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla, who has taken a personal interest in Rodriguez’s case and presented her with a special proclamation on Thursday to bring attention to her plight, said he believes the extension on the writ will allow Jacobs and his team to shed even more light on the case, which has already attracted considerable media attention.
“I’m very happy,” he said. “We get to make the case and I think the most important thing is we get to continue the political pressure and public outcry. In this country, we have the ability to defend powerless people against powerful institutions. Ana is not alone. And compared to everything she has been through in Cuba, a bank is not a big deal at the end of the day.”
This story was originally published February 26, 2021 at 6:10 PM.
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