Florida Enacts Fast-Track Foreclosure Bill

Foreclosure Mortgage Servicing

On June 7, Florida enacted HB 87 to immediately expedite the state’s judicial foreclosure process, including with regard to pending cases. The bill amends the state’s alternative foreclosure procedure to, among other things, (i) allow any lienholder, not only the mortgagee, to initiate the procedure, and (ii) establish new fast-track court procedures. The bill also (i) reduces the statute of limitations for deficiency judgments on a foreclosure action from five years to one year, (ii) requires the foreclosing party to provide information upon case filing regarding a lost, destroyed, or stolen promissory note, (iii) defines “adequate protections” in cases where there is a lost, destroyed, or stolen note, and (iv) adds protections for purchasers of property at a foreclosure sale. The bill took effect immediately.