Florida Supreme Court’s ruling could bring borrowers in default back around to paying up

Florida: Mortgage lenders have received a favorable ruling regarding statute of limitations and previous unsuccessful foreclosure actions for the property.

 

The Supreme Court of Florida affirmed Bartram v. U.S. Bank National Association, holding that each subsequent default after the dismissal of an earlier foreclosure action creates a new cause of action, and effectively returns the parties to their previous foreclosure complaint status.

 

As such, the involuntary dismissal of a foreclosure action will reinstate the “mortgagor’s right to continue to make payments on the note and the right of the mortgagee, to seek acceleration and foreclosure based on the mortgagor’s subsequent defaults.”

 

The ruling could stand to bring borrowers in default for more than five years into paying their agreements with lenders, though the rules for collecting on debts from prior default actions where the foreclosure action was dismissed remain unset.

 

 

 

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