Only Time Will Tell
Foreclosures are on the move again. What was once a dormant forclosures is not sliding through the new faster system with ease. Homeowners will not longer beable to sit in their homes for indefinate periods. Time is of the essence.
Only time will tell the real story about foreclosures in Florida. Are foreclosures down because the economy is up? Or is it a result of the new Florida Fair Foreclosure Act which became law July 1, 2013?
COLLIER COUNTY FORECLOSURE FILINGS:
June 171 July 67 August 97
LEE COUNTY FORECLOSURE FILINGS:
June 484 July 112 August 268
FLORIDA FORECLOSURE FILINGS:
June 14,613 July 4,386 August 7,0l45
The new law does place some additional onus on foreclosing banks to have "all their ducks in a row." Some claim that since the "checklist" has changed the banking industry attorneys have paused to acquaint themselves to the new requirements. They need to develop new systems to comply with the new requirements.
The bill was designed to speed up proceedings, especially letting final judgments come faster when it was clear the home was abandoned and the homeowner had no defense. That said, the banks now only have one year to file for a deficiency judgment in lieu of the former five year period. The banks must retrace the chain of title and provide evidence of that title to the court at the moment it files the foreclosure. Lenders who were sitting on cases simply because they could not find paperwork can now move forward. This should in the short run begin to speed up the process on "zombie homes (homes where a bank begins the foreclosure process and then abandons it due to lack of paperwork)"
The Bill also allows any lien holder, including homeowners associations, to force a home into an expeditied process, eliminate extra hearings and place extra burdens on defendants attempting to derail the proceedings against them.
Since January of this year the courts recceived a cash infusion to pay for more judges, staff and better case tracking technology. Is this the reason things are moving smoother and as soon as the attorneys representing banks are up to speed on the new law foreclosures will increase?
The answer to all questions asked can be easliy summed up: "Only Time Will Tell" Enjoy your day
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