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FLORIDA
Navigating Florida Foreclosure Code Issues
e Legal League 100 hosted a webinar entitled "Code Issues: How
ey Impact Your Florida Foreclosures and REO." e webinar was
presented by Van Ness Law Firm, a Legal League 100 member firm.
Speakers included Holli Adams, Senior Associate Attorney, and Tony
Van Ness, Founder and Managing Attorney.
Adams kicked off the webinar by answering the question: "What is
a code enforcement lien?" Florida, Adams notes, is a notice state. As of
October 1, 2013, recording of liens in favor of governmental and quasi-
governmental entities to establish priority is required. Updating records
so that the lien is against the correct property is an issue that can arise,
Adams noted.
"With the lender being in title prematurely, sometimes a borrower
made his deed property to the bank without the bank's knowledge, and
all of a sudden the bank may be getting code violations notices and tax
bills, so it's very important that you review the mail," Van Ness noted.
Some common challenges in foreclosure actions, Van Ness stated,
include counterclaims, denial of inferiority, and requests for specificity
in the final judgement. Counterclaims can happen if municipality or
county is joined for a lien that is superior. Property registration, they
note, is the responsibility of the banks. Minimizing negative impact in
communities is a priority.
Florida has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country,
according to the ATTOM Data Solutions' Q 3 2019 U.S. Foreclosure
Market Report, at one in every 577 housing units with a foreclosure
filing. Additionally, Florida is still trying to recover from the impact of
Hurricane Michael, with many homeowners still displaced.
