Florida Supreme Court Forms Statewide Task Force To Relieve Foreclosure Backlog

The Miami Herald reports:

• To sandbag the flood of foreclosures pouring into the state's underfunded court system, the Florida Supreme Court announced the formation of a statewide task force on Monday that will look for solutions to the docket backlog while ensuring borrowers and lenders are treated fairly.

• ''This is a hurricane that has hit our state,'' said Miami Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Bailey, who was appointed to lead the 15-member task force. "Over 75 percent of the incoming cases are mortgage foreclosures. Our dockets have exploded.'' The task force will take specific aim at integrating the growing patchwork of judicial rules that have been established by the state's circuit court judges as they seek to manage the influx of cases.

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• Statewide, the time needed to complete a foreclosure has increased from roughly 150 days to around 300, leaving homes vacant longer and condo associations hurting from unpaid maintenance fees.

For more, see Task force to seek answer to foreclosure court backlog (The Florida Supreme Court is looking for ways to cope with the overwhelming volume of foreclosure cases coming into the system, including a mediation requirement).