Florida has the somewhat dubious distinction of having the most metropolitan areas that are likely to experience housing declines in 2013. This scenario is arguably due to Florida’s extremely arduous foreclosure process. The foreclosure process currently has a claimed 600 day time frame but my experience is that it is DOUBLE that. Additionally, nearly one in five of all Florida mortgages are currently delinquent, and half of all those loans are not even in the foreclosure process yet. As a result, the property market in the state is in limbo and attempts at recovery are suffering.
Florida lawmakers are taking what some might call harsh measures in an attempt to push foreclosure reform bills through their state legislature and speed up the process. Their hope is that a faster foreclosure will ultimately mean a faster recovery. Sounds like twisted governmental “dislogic” to me. What about loans that are current now but will become delinquent later?? This will affect recovery too. The bill was presented by State representative Kathleen Passidomo. She apparently hopes that the measure will ultimately result in condominium associations being able to speed the foreclosure process when banks are in the way and stalling foreclosures to limit maintenance fees and expenses. She also hopes to make the foreclosure process a shorter one for distressed homeowners, as the bill would cut the number of years banks have to pursue deficiency judgments in the wake of a foreclosure from five to one.
Similar legislation proposed last year in Florida was met with such a hue and cry that the attempt was dropped. Now, however, lawmakers believe that the situation has become much worse as homes sit in “limbo” and deteriorate along with the property values around them. “Unfortunately, if you don’t have an income or you can’t afford to pay anything, [your] property can’t just sit in limbo forever,” explains Passidomo. The bill does allow for fast-track foreclosure procedures – called the “rocket docket foreclosure” by critics – but it also contains strict paperwork requirements for lenders to prevent a recurrence of 2010’s robo-signer scandal. Opponents of the legislation take issue with the bill’s failure to protect homeowners who lost their homes through wrongful foreclosure. The proposal eliminates any possibility of recouping the home itself if the property has already been sold to an unsuspecting third party.
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