Davidson Realty, Inc.

Will Mandatory Mediation Help Foreclosures in St. Augustine?

March 3, 2010

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Posted by in Distressed Properties, Foreclosures, Short Sales

Florida is one of the states hit very hard by residential foreclosures. We had over 13,000 foreclosure filings in the Seventh Circuit Court (for Flagler, St. Johns, Putnam and Volusia Counties) in 2008 and over 16,000 filings in 2009.

A task force was formed to address the crises and they identified lack of communication between the parties as the most significant issue. The Florida Supreme Court addressed this issue by requiring mediation in all foreclosure cases involving homestead property unless the parties agree otherwise or have already participated in mediation.

The mediation will be handled by a Florida Supreme Court certified mediator appointed by the Court. The costs of the mediation will be paid by the lender and the total cost may not exceed $750. The plaintiff (lender) must have a representative who has full authority to settle at the mediation but they may appear by telephone or other electronic method.

The homeowner must provide financial information to the mediator and meet with an approved foreclosure counselor prior to mediation. They may also request certain information from the Company suing them before going to mediation.

The mediation manager must schedule mediation no earlier than 60 days and no later than 120 days after the foreclosure is filed.

The program is being implemented in each Circuit Court and right now the Seventh Circuit and the Fourth Circuit (Duval, Clay and Nassau Counties) have not implemented the managed mediation program. The Supreme Court just authorized the program on December 28, 2009.

Now back to the question if the program will help foreclosures in St. Augustine. I would hope that if a lender has options to foreclosure such as a loan modification, they would see the benefit of modifying the loan rather than incur the cost of mediation and the cost of foreclosure. I would also hope that short sales would become another viable option and lenders would be more cooperative in approving and closing a short sale rather than face mediation and foreclosure.

As you can see, I don’t have the answer yet. I will keep you updated as the program gets implemented in our area and we see the results.

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About the Author
Sherry Davidson
President of Davidson Realty

Since launching Davidson Realty in 1989, Sherry Davidson has built the firm to include nearly 60 agents and exceed $100 million in annual sales. She is known throughout the First Coast as an authority on all things residential real estate, having served on the Board of Directors for Northeast Florida Association of Realtors, Florida Realtors® (a division of the National Association of Realtors), and Builders Care (charitable arm of Northeast Florida Builders Association).

Thanks to Sherry’s leadership, Davidson Realty has been recognized as one of the state’s Best Companies to Work For (Florida Trend Magazine), as well as one of the region's Best Places to Work and 50 Fastest Growing Companies (Jacksonville Business Journal). Get to know Davidson Realty’s talented team of agents by clicking here or call us at (904) 940-5000.

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