There IS a 5 Year Period (Deutsche Bank v. Beauvais)
In another post I’m going to publish the oral arguments from this case which are just FASCINATING! The oral argument provides very great insight into the frustration that the courts are feeling with foreclosures. Watching that argument is like watching FIGHT CLUB! And WOW! isn’t it exciting!
But for now, let’s take a look at the written opinion written by the panel. Cutting straight to the chase, the 3rd DCA found that a bank has five years from acceleration of a mortgage note to file a foreclosure…if they do it one day after, they are foreclosed from filing that foreclosure. And WOW….was the panel hostile to the bank’s position that there is any legal position other than 5 years. A critical fact here is that the mortgage at issue was over $1 million dollars…but that’s not really relevant at all…whether it’s a million dollars or ten dollars the same rules should apply.
But the 3rd DCA does not buy the bank and their “special” status….they find:
We hold that, under the facts of this case, once Deutsche Bank accelerated
the debt under the terms of the mortgage and note, and in the absence of a
contractual reinstatement, modification by the parties, or an adjudication on the
merits, the accelerated debt was not “decelerated” by an involuntary dismissal
without prejudice. The accelerated payment of the debt continued to be due and
the statute of limitations on the action on the accelerated debt continued to run.
Because there were no “new” payments due, there could be no “new” default upon
which a “new” cause of action (and newly-commenced statute of limitations) could
be based. The statute of limitations expired before the filing of the subsequent
action and was thus barred. We certify conflict with Evergrene Partners, Inc. v.
Citibank, N.A., 143 So. 3d 954, 956 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014).
The full opinion is below….and next up, I’m going to do a full takedown of the bank’s Motion for Rehearing
Beauvais v. DeutscheBank3D14-0575
