A foreclosure bill emerged from Florida’s legislature and found its way to the governor’s desk. The new law expedites foreclosures on abandoned properties and reduces the window of time for lender to obtain a deficiency judgment.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott was busy on Friday, signing 34 state bills into law — including a bill known as HB 87.
HB 87 relates to residential foreclosures in the Sunshine State — where more foreclosures were filed and completed than any other state during May, according to statistics provided by RealtyTrac.
Calling the state’s housing market “important to our economy’s continuous recovery,” Scott said in a transmittal letter that the new law will move abandoned homes onto the market while enabling distressed borrower to move forward with financial recovery and re-establishing their credit.
HB 87 expedites an existing voluntary alternative court process for defaulted mortgages in uncontested cases where both the borrower and the lender seek to quickly resolve the loan.
The bill reduces the amount of time that a mortgage servicer has to file a deficiency judgment. In addition, lenders will be required to certify that they possess the note before filing a civil action.
The governor said that third-party purchasers of foreclosed homes are protected by the bill.
Mortgage servicers face more resistance from Florida judges and appellate courts than other states, with borrowers often moving forward in trial cases or obtaining reversals of decisions in favor of lenders on appeal.
