Jacksonville Bankruptcy Lawyer Blog
The Tampa Florida Tribune has posted an interesting article about the actual effects of the early stages of the statewide, mandatory foreclosure mediation program. According to statistics compiled by the Tribune, between March and June 2010 there were 13,417 cases referred to mediation statewide. Of those cases only 1%, 768 total, resulted in an agreement between the borrower and the lender!
The primary question many are asking is why is the program not working as intended. While there are several factors that may be contributing to the low success rate of the program, most mediation administrators are point to the sloppiness of the lenders attorneys’ and their process servers as the most obvious reasons for the breakdown of the program. The sloppy paperwork has made it difficult to locate borrowers in order to determine their desire to participate in the mediation program, which is problematic because the mediation program must contact the borrowers within 60 days of the lawsuit being filed or the case goes back to regular court proceedings.
While only 7 of the 20 Florida Circuit Courts submitted data for the Tribune report, there is enough data to determine that there are major flaws in the program. Foreclosure Defense Lawyers think that mediation is a good alternative for many struggling homeowners and hopes the trend reverses. If you are facing a Florida Foreclosure Lawsuit contact us to discuss how foreclosure defense or a bankruptcy may help you.