Florida foreclosure problems are brewing ahead!

Existing laws and policies don't seem to be enough for lenders here in Florida when it comes to foreclosures. Claiming that finalizing foreclosures are both "time-consuming and expensive" they're looking to speed up the process.   If members of the Florida Banker's Association have their way, homeowners facing foreclosure could have as little as three months before having to leave their homes. That isn't much time considering it takes at least that long to modify or refinance a loan -or simply try to clean up erroneous credit reporting caused by mortgage servicing abuses.

Florida homeowners have been caught up in foreclosure nightmares for long enough and someone needs to start looking out for them, especially those homeowners who are going through this process unfairly.  Many of these foreclosures have been the result of bank accounting errors or less than above board mortgage servicing practices.

Homeowners are going to be at even greater risk of losing their homes now because they will have even less time to prove that the lenders have started illegal proceedings against them due to errors, fraud, misinformation or deceptive practices.  Defaulting homeowners are going to be unfairly pushed through an accelerated foreclosure process. Responsible homeowners who have arranged loan modifications with their lenders, but who have been lost in a sea of red tape, will be at risk of losing their homes if they don't have the proper amount of time to prove their innocence -or that they are in good standing on their loans.  This shouldn't happen.

The banks simply want to put foreclosure on the race track in Florida and push each one through as quickly as possible by instituting a non-judicial foreclosure.  This type of proceeding bypasses the legal courts, judges, and sufficient time for tracking down the proof that the homeowner is being targeted for foreclosure unfairly.  Technically, this new bill would require non-judicial foreclosures to occur sometime between 90 days and 12 months. While many states already have a non-judicial foreclosure in place, it would be new to Florida, a state that has been especially hard hit with foreclosures and fraud. 

The Florida Consumer Protection and Homeowner Credit Rehabilitation Act currently being perused by state lawmakers would give lenders the right to go after homeowners for unpaid mortgage debt even after they have been evicted.  While banks have that right, they can opt not to exercise it.  This is small comfort for the homeowners who can no longer rely on mandatory mediation since the new bill totally bumps that concept right out of the picture.

What is the impetus behind this bill? Well, bank officials say they want to help those individuals who are hurt when foreclosed homes sit in a state of disrepair on their block. Plus, they want to assist cities and neighborhoods in avoiding the burden of empty homes.

Sounds like more spin.

Maybe they ought to  focus on the state of disrepair the mortgage servicing industry itself is in! We need a system that works to keep people in their homes, not kick them out. What about aiding the people whose homes are being taken away from them not because of any fault of their own, but because of the mishandling of their loan accounting, credit or so-called missing paperwork?   There certainly are plenty of them out there.

Find useful information on what you can do, find support and helpful links here.

We need a Consumer Financial Protection Agency that will provide the protection innocent families need in order to make sure homeowners aren't erroneously fast-tracked through a broken system!

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