Central Florida Foreclosure Conciliation Program Begins In December

In Central Florida, the Bradenton Herald reports:

• With foreclosure cases swamping local courts, the area’s top judge is planning a novel approach: Forcing lenders to talk with borrowers. Saying he wants to break “the wall of silence” between lenders and homeowners, 12th Circuit Chief Judge Lee Haworth soon will require them to discuss possible ways of avoiding foreclosure before it actually happens.

• “Forcing the parties to slow down and discuss possible solutions is a good thing,” he said Monday. The new Homestead Foreclosure Conciliation Program likely is the first of its kind in Florida, Haworth said. The program applies to foreclosure suits filed on or after Dec. 1 against homesteaded residential properties in Manatee, Sarasota and DeSoto counties.

For more, see Local judge says borrowers, lenders must see eye to eye.

Go here for more on Florida's 12th Circuit Homestead Foreclosure Conciliation Program:

• Attorney's Certificate of Compliance With Twelfth Circuit Homestead Foreclosure Conciliation Program,
• Chief Judge's Letter Summarizing New Foreclosure Procedures & Administrative Orders.