DS News

28 Roy A. Diaz is the Managing Shareholder of SHD Legal Group, P.A. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Diaz has been a member of the Florida Bar since 1988. He has concentrated his practice in the areas of real estate, litigation, and bankruptcy. He has represented lenders, servicers of both conventional and GSE loans, private investors, and real estate developers throughout his career with an emphasis on the mortgage servicing industry for over 25 years. In your day-to-day duties, how do you work to help grow the firm and adapt to the ever-changing industry landscape? In the current environment, the challenges for the servicing industry are different than those that existed during the mortgage crisis. Volume and timelines were the drivers and created a "process driven" model, which worked well given the high volume of defaults. at model is less effective in the current environment in Florida, which includes more contested litigation. e percentage of foreclosure cases that are defended and litigated shifted from a 2010 low of 2 percent to current rates of approximately 60 percent. at shift leads to two important focus points: quality attorney advocacy and strong capability to manage by data. As to the quality of attorney representation, I have to assure firm attorneys remain fully up to date on the evolving case law that Florida is experiencing. I assure the litigation group is properly staffed with experienced litigation attorneys and paralegals with litigation experience. I monitor defense trends and regularly meet with our attorneys and managers to carefully evaluate the law to properly rebut evolving defense strategies. From a process perspective, current volume has resulted in transitioning the practice to "milestone processing," which broadens the scope of responsibility of each portion of the case. is facilitates volume changes, allows for cross training, and assures fluid file management at current low volumes. Reporting technology is critically important to assure high quality work-product is produced on behalf of firm clients. Data-reporting technology enables me to have critical information related to each step of the foreclosure process at my fingertips. is provides me and the management team the ability to review and manage process flow at every step, identify issues, proactively resolve issues, and assure client expectations are being met. e firm utilizes a Snapshot Report, which I particularly utilize as part of my day-to-day management. e Snapshot Report provides both the firm and firm clients complete access to the client's entire portfolio with the ability to drill down at a loan level at every juncture. In the January issue of DS News, you highlighted statute of limitations issues as being a particularly thorny area in Florida litigation. Could you talk more about some of the biggest challenges you deal with in this area, or ones you see coming ahead in 2018? e Florida Statute of Limitations issue has been interesting. It has almost come full circle. I say "almost" because the Florida Supreme Court has indicated that a lender can collect amounts that accrued beyond the five-year Statute of Limitations but has not provided a conclusive opinion. e consensus among the District Courts of Appeal and Circuit Courts is that a lender must adjust a default within five years of filing suit. So until the Florida Supreme Court hands down binding authority otherwise, I work with clients to adjust their loans within the five-year timeframe. e biggest challenge is working with our clients to create a level of consistency in managing loans impacted by the Statute of Limitations. Firm clients review their portfolios to make decisions about loan adjustments to deduct amounts that may be impacted by the Statute of Limitations. COUNSEL'S CORNER LEARNING LESSONS FROM DIVERSE COURT CASES "This is the time for the industry to retool and improve on processes which require adapting and being proactive with change." Roy A. Diaz Managing Shareholder, SHD Legal Group, P.A.

• Cover