According to a report Thursday by the Mortgage Bankers Association, Florida carried 24.2 percent of the foreclosures nationwide, up a percentage point from the end of 2010, while California’s foreclosure share dropped nearly 3 percentage points to 10.2 percent.

~

Florida has one-fourth of nation’s foreclosures

The fight to streamline Florida’s foreclosure system and more quickly clear its backlog of an estimated 368,000 cases is raging in Tallahassee, where homeowner advocates rallied Thursday against a bill they fear will reduce homeowner rights.

The proposal (HB 213), which would reduce the bank’s deadline to seek a deficiency judgment from five years to two years, has passed through two House committees. It is scheduled to be heard next in the House Judiciary Committee before going to the full floor for a vote.

Rep. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, is co-sponsoring the bill with Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota.

A similar Senate bill (SB 1890) has not been voted on in committee but is scheduled to be heard Monday by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Passidomo has said the proposal keeps the judicial process but allows uncontested foreclosures or those on abandoned homes to move more quickly through the system.

Opponents say it is more harmful than that because it allows process servers to determine whether a home is abandoned and puts the burden of proof on the home­owner as to why the foreclosure should not go through.

“The Passidomo bill does not guarantee the rights of citizens,” said Boca Raton foreclosure defense attorney Margery Golant. “On the contrary, it allows the mortgage servicers more latitude to trample on the rights of citizens.”

Full report here…

~

4closureFraud.org