Poor Disclosure Practices Raise Legal Concerns Over Florida Foreclosures
Regardless of how overwhelmed lenders or their loan servicers are with foreclosures, they must disclose crucial mortgage information to borrowers.

August 18, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Florida is among the states with the highest number of foreclosures in the U.S. Since courts and mortgage lenders are overwhelmed with foreclosure proceedings, South Florida attorneys and consumer advocates say lenders are failing to provide borrowers with crucial documents that could help them defend foreclosure proceedings and keep their homes.

The St. Petersburg Times reports that Florida had the second-highest number of foreclosure filings in the nation last year. There were 516,711 foreclosure filings in 2010, compared to 122,000 in 2005 before the housing bust, according to a report from RealtyTrac, a marketer of foreclosed properties.

The number of foreclosures is so tremendous that, in 2009, the Florida Supreme Court ordered foreclosure mediation for residential homesteaded properties before the cases may proceed to judicial hearings. In foreclosure mediation, borrowers have the right to receive "plaintiff's disclosures" in advance, which should include:
- The mortgage payment history
- A current appraisal of the property
- The lender's estimate of the present value of the mortgage
- Documentary evidence that the lender owns and holds the mortgage note

Unfortunately, Florida's mandatory foreclosure mediation program has had relatively little success in helping borrowers and lenders come to agreements or in reducing the number of foreclosure cases that ultimately reach the courts. One of the main reasons why is that lenders are not providing borrowers with the required documents to prove the lenders own the loans and have the legal basis to initiate foreclosure proceedings.

In addition, lenders are failing to provide other necessary plaintiff's disclosures to South Florida residents, leaving out critical appraisal and net value information that can help borrowers determine whether they qualify for government loan-modification programs or other types of mortgage modification.

If you are facing foreclosure in South Florida, contact a bankruptcy attorney with experience in foreclosure cases to enforce your rights in foreclosure mediation and to explore other possibilities for saving your home.

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