Pino v. The Bank of New York, etc., et al.

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This case arose when respondents commenced an action to foreclose a mortgage against petitioner. At issue was whether Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.350 required the court to dismiss a case after the court had accepted jurisdiction based on a question certified to be one of great public importance and after the petitioner had filed his initial brief on the merits. This issue arose after the parties filed a joint Stipulated Dismissal, which advised that they had settled this matter and stipulated to the dismissal of the review proceeding pending before the court. The court held that well-established precedent authorized it to exercise its discretion to deny the requested dismissal of a review proceeding, even where both parties to the action agreed to the dismissal in light of an agreed-upon settlement. The question certified to the court transcended the individual parties to this action because it had the potential to impact the mortgage foreclosure crisis throughout the state and was one which Florida's trial courts and litigants needed guidance. The legal issue also had implications beyond mortgage foreclosure actions. Because the court agreed with the Fourth District that this issue was one of great public importance and in need of resolution, the court denied the parties' request to dismiss. View "Pino v. The Bank of New York, etc., et al." on Justia Law