Monday, May 10, 2010
Non-Judicial Foreclosure Bill Appears Dead
The beginning of May marked what appears to be a substantial victory for Florida homeowners. The proposed bill in the Florida legislature that would allow banks to circumvent the courts with a nonjudicial foreclosure process suffered multiple set-backs in both the Florida House and Senate committee hearings.
The bills would allow banks to foreclose without judicial hearings within as little as 120 days. In order to contest the non-judicial process, homeowners must contest the foreclosure by filing documents with the court. The issue is that the cost of litigation shifts from the bank to the homeowner – the filing of such documents could cost the homeowner as much as $1,900. Given the fact that the homeowners are already facing financial hardship, such financial burden would be impractical and unfair.
Florida Real Estate attorneys have banded together to fight against the non-judicial foreclosure process under the presumption that the bill is unconstitutional. Many Florida attorneys would agree that the bill denies homeowners Constitutional due process – simply stated that the homeowner was not allowed their "day in court."
In legal circles, Florida is known as a state that zealously protects its citizen’s property rights – the non-judicial foreclosure process goes against the grain of nearly 175 years of Florida law. The fact that the proposed bill appears dead is a tremendous victory for Floridians and great thanks should be given to the Florida Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section attorneys that lobbied for Florida’s homeowner rights.