Florida Gov. Rick Scott is considering whether to sign a bill meant to speed up the home foreclosure process. But foreclosure lawyers are saying the measure is unfair to consumers, and they’re threatening a legal fight if it becomes law.
Florida’s housing market may be improving, but courts are still getting crushed by the backlog of foreclosure cases””that’s lenders trying to take possession of property when someone can’t pay a mortgage. As of February, about 340,000 foreclosure cases sat unresolved in Florida courts. And it’s predicted an additional 680,000 cases will be opened in the next two years.
Courts and lawmakers agree that’s a problem, but there’s disagreement about how to alleviate it. One solution is in a bill now before Scott, sponsored by Sen. Jack Latvala (R-Clearwater).
Debating the bill on the last day of the legislative session, Latvala said, ” I don’t think our real estate market will really start getting back to normal in Florida with new home building and so forth unless we can reduce this backlog. I think we’ve added safeguards in this bill that on balance make it much more tilted toward consumers than it is the banks.”
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