Advocates Call for Veto of Bill Accelerating Foreclosures
Monday, May 13, 2013
By: Amy Green

May 13, 2013 | WMFE - A consumer advocacy group is calling on Gov. Rick Scott to veto legislation aimed at accelerating the foreclosure process. Advocates say the bill should focus on banks and funding for judges, not homeowners.

The bill allows more parties – like homeowners and condominium associations – to call for hearings where homeowners must prove why they shouldn't be foreclosed on.

Under current law only banks can call for the hearings, and they seldom do. But Alice Vickers of the Florida Consumer Action Network says the bill also makes it harder for homeowners to contest the hearings.  

"The bill turns to the homeowner and says OK, we're going to remove some of your rights in an effort to push this forward because we can't get the banks to push it forward, and we're not going to radically increase funding for judges."

Vickers says most homeowners don't fight foreclosures. A lot of them abandon their homes, and in those cases accelerating the process makes sense.

But she says the legislation doesn't address the real reasons behind Florida's slow foreclosure process – banks and inadequate funding for judges.

One recent report ranks Orlando fourth in the nation when it comes to foreclosures.