“According to the Florida House of Representatives, the State of Florida has been negatively impacted by the national foreclosure crisis, and, as a result, Governor Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature want to minimize the impact upon the judicial branch both in terms of funding and caseload. It is reported that the average time to complete a residential foreclosure in Florida is 853 days, as compared to the national average of 414 days. Thus, in an attempt to shorten Florida’s lengthy residential foreclosure timeline, Governor Scott signed House Bill 87 on June 7, 2013 (Chapter 2013-137, L.O.F.).
House Bill 87 (the Bill), or “The Fair Foreclosure Act,” provides several important changes relating to Florida’s residential foreclosure process. As more fully described herein, the primary goal of the Bill is to reduce the amount of time foreclosure matters remain pending before a judgment is entered. To that end, the following two important amendments are contained within the Bill: (i) implementing an order to show cause procedure, similar to the procedure in place for commercial foreclosures in Florida, in which the plaintiff can, in conjunction with the filing of the verified complaint, move for an order to show cause requiring the defendants to file an answer within 20 days of the filing of any complaint; if an answer is not filed, the court may enter a judgment of foreclosure, and (ii) allowing for third parties, including condominium and homeowners’ associations, to utilize the statutory expedited procedure.
Specifically, the Bill has been codified into the following statutes:”