Most of our debt collection laws in Florida apply only for consumer debt, not business debt. Sometimes the answer is not quite clear as to what type of debt is involved. What if for instance you operate a business and took out a loan, but signed a personal guarantee. Sometimes,…
If you closed on a short sale in the last five years and did not obtain a waiver of the unpaid balance owed to the first mortgage holder, you are at risk of now being sued for the difference – called a deficiency balance. This could be for tens or…
We’ve had some of Tampa Bay Florida clients ask us what the forgiveness act means to them and if it applies to them and I thought the following summary may help others as well: This legislation that was just signed into law and good through the end of 2016 now…
In the past year, Floridians have been hit with ten thousand or more deficiency lawsuits by Dyck-O’Neal, a collector hired by Fannie and Freddie to go after unfortunate homeowners. Many defaults have been obtained against homeowners which should not have occurred due to lack of personal and/or subject matter jurisdiction.…
Mortgage companies in Florida must think money really does grow on trees as they are now suing for deficiency judgments on past foreclosures of homes. July 1, 2014 was the deadline in Florida for lenders to file deficiency lawsuits for foreclosure Judgments issued between July 1, 2009 and July 1,…
Under Florida law, a creditor has up to twenty years to try and collect a judgment. That’s an intimidating number, two whole decades. Something not to take lightly. To become a lien on real estate, a certified copy of a final judgment must be recorded in the public records in…
In Florida, typically someone who is sued is served with the lawsuit and given 20 or sometimes 30 days to file a response. If the lawsuit was filed in small claims court, you are given a date to appear at a pretrial conference instead of filing a written response. The…
Here’s an example in Tampa, Florida this month for one of our foreclosure clients who wanted to keep her house and avoid the possibility of a deficiency judgment: New monthly payment: $933.45 with escrow Old monthly payment: $1,491.35 New interest rate: 4% fixed Old interest rate: 7.75 % fixed Term:…
Bloomberg today reports that banks are offering as much as $35,000 to delinquent homeowners to sell their home in a short sale. In doing so, the banks avoid the costly foreclosure process especially when their loan documents are questionable and perhaps fraudulently prepared. I imagine we will be seeing a…
When listing and selling a home in a short sale, homeowners should consider including language to limit recovery of any unpaid amounts by the mortgage company (known as the deficiency balance). In Florida, we recommend this limitation be placed in the Purchase and Sale Contract. This way when the lender/bank…