FL Judicial Committee Recommends Ending Mandatory Foreclosure Mediation; Advocates Object
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Author: Kimberly Miller
Source: Palm Beach Post, “Panel: Kill foreclosure mediation”
Date: October 21, 2011
The Palm Beach Post writes: “The Florida Supreme Court should end its landmark mandatory foreclosure mediation program, a judicial committee concluded Friday. Despite acknowledging the state's foreclosure crisis is ongoing, the counsel of five judges and a court administrator said obstacles including homeowner mistrust of the mediation program and lender resistance marred its success. Instead of requiring mediation in all residential foreclosure cases, as was ordered by the Supreme Court in December 2009, the committee recommended each of the state's 20 circuit courts be allowed to join in to a newly created, uniform program or make mediation decisions on a case-by-case basis. The report has been forwarded to the Supreme Court justices, but there is no timeline for when they will make a decision on its recommendations. It was hoped mandatory mediation would serve two purposes: give borrowers a chance to meet one-on-one with their lenders to negotiate a foreclosure alternative and relieve the courts of a massive backlog of cases. Although the committee noted that the program ‘has not had time to mature,’ the success rates have been minimal. . . . Proponents of the program complain that many agreements are reached after a mediation has occurred, a measurement not gathered by the official reporting system. But mandatory foreclosure mediation has been contentious from the beginning. Defense attorneys say banks sabotage mediation sessions, forcing an impasse so they can foreclose more quickly. For St. Petersburg defense attorney Matt Weidner the recommendation to end the required mediation is a sign of banks' political muscle. ‘The banks aren't satisfied with the outcomes or the costs so they are able to use the government against its own people,’ Weidner said. ‘The mediation was a failure largely as a result of noncompliance by the banks.’ Weidner said he would have liked to see the committee keep mandatory mediation, but recommend changes, such as enforcing rules that require banks to send representatives who can do more than just negotiate a loan modification. ‘There is no enforcement mechanism,’ agreed Boca Raton defense attorney Margery Golant. ‘There is also no consistency.’”