The Florida Supreme Court recently amended several of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure relating to mortgage foreclosures. The amended and new rules and forms are in response to recent legislation regarding mortgage foreclosure actions. Be sure to read the amended and new rules and forms in their entirety, but here are a few highlights:…
The Palm Beach Post published an excellent article about the newest method some underwater owners are using to try to save their homes from foreclosure. Many people consider this a way to “beat the bank in foreclosures.” Is it a brilliant legal strategy or just the latest scheme? You decide. The Post reports that at…
Can judges be “connected” with lawyers on LinkedIn? According to the Florida Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee, the answer is a qualified “no.” See Opinion 2012-12. This isn’t the first time Florida’s Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee dealt with the issue of judges’ use of social media and interactions with lawyers. In a 2009 opinion, the same…
It’s official. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi signed off on the record $25 billion joint federal-state settlement agreement with the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers over foreclosure abuses and unacceptable nationwide mortgage servicing practices. Forty-nine of the fifty states have approved it, with Oklahoma being the lone hold out. According to the Florida Attorney General’s…
I was honored to co-moderate last night’s Foreclosure Crisis Committee which was held by the Broward County Bar Association’s Real Property Section. I previously blogged here about the Florida Supreme Court’s termination of the statewide mandatory mediation program for residential foreclosures. The new Administrative Order provides that circuit chief judges of each circuit may “adopt…
Our federal government is once again going to make real estate transactions “easier” for consumers to understand. For almost two years, real estate practitioners have been struggling with the new Good Faith Estimate (GFE) and HUD-1 Settlement Statements on all RESPA transactions. The intent behind these revised forms was to make things “easier” for the…
In an earlier blog, I wrote about the Florida Supreme Court’s appointment of a “Statewide Managed Mediation Program Assessment Workgroup” to examine the statewide residential foreclosure managed mediation program data. The Workgroup recently submitted its report to the Supreme Court. You can obtain a copy of the report here. The report is worth reading in its…
Do mandatory mediations work in Florida foreclosure cases? That’s the question being asked by the Florida Supreme Court. The Court is seeking your input, but you only have until October 3rd to send in your comments. Earlier this week, the Florida Supreme Court released Administrative Order SC11-33. In its Administrative Order, the Florida Supreme Court noted that…
In addition to representing plaintiffs and defendants in foreclosure cases, I am regularly appointed by our local court to serve as a Guardian Ad Litem, Attorney Ad Litem, or Administrator Ad Litem in foreclosure cases. A recent frustrating experience with a “foreclosure mill” in one of those cases prompted me to write about this issue….
South Floridians are acutely aware of the foreclosure meltdown. We’ve all had family, neighbors, or friends who have been affected. We’re not alone though. Many parts of our country are still reeling from the foreclosure crisis, and we’re not even close to seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Foreclosure cases continue to…