Rogers Towers: More Changes in Store for the Hud-1
Many of you will remember the sweeping revision of the venerable HUD-1 form which went into effect in 2010 as well as the hours of retraining that we all went through to understand it....By: Douglas L....
View ArticleRogers Towers: Legal Standing to Bring a Mortgage Foreclosure Lawsuit
The importance of demonstrating legal standing as a condition precedent to filing a mortgage foreclosure lawsuit cannot be overstated. In simple terms, “standing” refers to one’s legal right to bring a...
View ArticleRogers Towers: Documentary Stamp Tax: a Quick Review of the Basics
Happy new year to our blog readers! In 2013, we are all hoping for an improved economy and, with it, an increase in the volume of commercial and consumer loans. Remember that Florida has certain...
View ArticleRogers Towers: The Status of Florida Foreclosures
Recently, The Wall Street Journal published an editorial discussing the status of mortgage foreclosure litigation. The purpose of the article was to extol the alleged benefits of non-judicial...
View ArticleRogers Towers: Minimizing Delay in Owner Occupied Commercial Real Estate...
This article is an update of an article which some of our blog readers may have received by email. Based on recent experience that I have had with this statute in circuit court, I have revised the...
View ArticleRogers Towers: Residential Lending and the Ability to Repay Rule
On January 10, 2013 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a rule imposing new requirements on residential mortgage lenders. The “Ability-to-Repay” rule was created to help implement certain...
View ArticleRogers Towers: Foreclosure Strategies for Second Mortgage Holders
Lenders holding second mortgages will, assuming the first mortgage is in default, face decisions as to how to best protect their interests in the property. These questions typically come to the...
View ArticleRogers Towers: HB 87 – Florida’s Foreclosure Bill is Back
On February 7, the House Civil Justice Subcommittee voted to pass Florida’s newest bill designed to improve the efficiency of mortgage foreclosures: House Bill 87. While it is still early in the...
View ArticleRogers Towers: Transfers of Real Property for Estate Planning and Other...
I receive frequent inquiries from bank clients who are concerned because their mortgage borrower has requested permission to transfer the collateral real property to another entity. These requests...
View ArticleMunicipal Liens vs. Mortgages: Which Has Priority?
I have recently encountered several situations in which local governments are claiming, under ordinances they have enacted, that their liens and fines have “superpriority” status over existing...
View ArticleHB 87 – Florida’s Foreclosure Bill Is Back (Part 2)
In a prior post, we discussed two of the four main components of HB 87, the foreclosure reform bill presently under consideration in Florida. The remaining sections of the bill which merit...
View ArticleMagistrates to Handle Florida Residential Foreclosure Actions – Florida...
It is no secret that Florida consistently ranks among the worst states in the union in regards to the mire of the residential mortgage foreclosure case backlog. From 2007 to 2013, approximately 1.5...
View ArticleRogers Towers: Municipal Liens vs. Mortgages: Florida’s Supreme Court Rules...
In my April 18th post, I discussed the recent trend of municipalities enacting ordinances designed to give their code enforcement liens “superpriority” over prior-recorded mortgages. Basically, the...
View ArticleRogers Towers: Documentary Stamp Tax on Renewal Loans – A Review of the Basics
With property values slowly increasing and borrowers beginning to see the light at the end of a long recession, the demand for renewal loans is slowly building. To that end, let’s briefly review a few...
View ArticleRogers Towers: HB 87 – Florida’s Foreclosure Bill Becomes Law
In two prior posts, we analyzed the main components of HB 87, the bill introduced in the Florida legislature which proposed significant changes to certain aspects of Florida’s mortgage foreclosure...
View ArticleRogers Towers: HB 87 – A Summary of Florida’s New Foreclosure Law – Part 1
In prior posts we analyzed the main components of HB 87, the bill introduced in the Florida legislature which proposed significant changes to certain aspects of Florida’s mortgage foreclosure...
View ArticleRogers Towers: Managing Litigation Cost: Pre-Lawsuit File Review
In today’s environment, clients are more cost-conscious than ever and this is in direct conflict with the ever-increasing cost of litigation. There are, however, some common sense ways in which a case...
View ArticleRogers Towers: HB 87 – A Summary of Florida’s New Foreclosure Law – Part 2: A...
One of the new statutes created by HB 87 is 702.015. I referenced this in a prior blog post on July 11, 2013....By: Douglas L. Waldorf, Jr.
View ArticleRogers Towers: Authority to Endorse Note and Mortgage Not Self-Authenticating
Establishing the authority to foreclose a note and mortgage is simple when the note and mortgage are held by the original lender....By: Douglas L. Waldorf, Jr.
View ArticleManaging Litigation Cost – Discovery and Summary Judgment Motions
This article is the second of a series and is excerpted from my book entitled Mortgage Foreclosure and Loan Collection: A Practical Guide for Lenders which is now available at Amazon.com. Here, we...
View ArticleManaging Litigation Cost - Florida's Expedited Foreclosure Procedure
This article is the final article of a series and is excerpted from my book entitled Mortgage Foreclosure and Loan Collection: A Practical Guide for Lenders which is now available at Amazon.com. Here,...
View ArticleThe Status of Florida Foreclosures
The Florida Bar News, in its October 1, 2013 edition, published an article summarizing the status of Florida mortgage foreclosure cases. The current volume of cases is reportedly the lowest since 2006....
View ArticleHB 87 – A Summary of Florida’s New Foreclosure Law – Part 3
In prior posts we examined several components of HB 87, the bill which became law in Florida this past summer. In this post we will review a few more aspects of the new law. The law creates statute...
View ArticleFlorida Mortgage Foreclosure Volume Update
Following a monthly high volume of foreclosure filings from July 2008 to July 2010, there has been a significant decline in new cases through August of 2013. This information was provided by The...
View ArticlePlaintiff Has the Burden To Prove Its Right to Enforce the Note Even If It Is...
The legal right to enforce, by judicial proceeding, a promissory note and mortgage is referred to as “standing”. This has been a hot topic in Florida foreclosure cases with courts holding that standing...
View ArticleAuthorized Signors of Loan Documents
One of the threshold issues to consider in loan transactions is determining who is authorized to sign the loan documents on behalf of entity borrowers. This is important not only in cases where the...
View ArticleThoughts On Mortgagee Title Insurance Policies
Banks are, once again, making real estate secured loans in Florida. Those in the industry will undoubtedly be aware of the fact that most lenders require a mortgagee title insurance policy to insure...
View ArticleStanding To Foreclose– Revisited
There have been several articles posted on this blog on the subject of standing – the legal right to enforce a promissory note and/or mortgage. This continues to be a popular issue for defense counsel...
View ArticleA New Case On Standing to Foreclose
Legal standing to foreclose a note and mortgage continues to be an issue that frustrates plaintiffs and delights defense counsel. Florida courts have consistently held that standing must exist when the...
View ArticleYet Another New Case On Standing to Foreclose
In July, the 2d DCA overturned a bank’s summary judgment on the grounds that the bank failed to rebut the defense of lack of standing. The frequency and similarity of these cases makes me think of the...
View ArticleFlorida Foreclosure Volume Update
The Florida Bar News, in its September 15, 2014 edition, reported that Florida foreclosure volume has declined with the number of filings in the first half of 2014 about 50% of filings for the same...
View ArticleThe Third District Weighs-in on the Application of the Statute of Limitation...
Who would have imagined that a dismissal with prejudice would be better for a lender than a dismissal without prejudice? It is counterintuitive to say the least, but when it comes to the application of...
View ArticleA New Case Interprets First Mortgagee’s Safe Harbor for Past Due Condominium...
Florida Statute § 718.116(1)(b) limits a foreclosing first mortgagee’s liability for past due condominium assessments by providing that liability will be the lesser of twelve months of past due...
View ArticleCondominium Association Assessments in Mortgage Foreclosure Cases
Recently, in Montreaux at Deerwood Lake Condominium Ass’n, Inc. v. Citibank, N.A., _ So. 3d _, 2014 WL 7183213 (Fla. 1st DCA Dec. 18, 2014), Florida’s First District Court of Appeal followed the Third...
View ArticleDodd Frank and Seller Financing
While there has been much attention given to the wide variety of new rules and regulations imposed on lenders under Dodd-Frank, those of us not in the business of regularly making mortgage loans may...
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