THE FLORIDA SENATE

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1100

COMMITTEES: Judiciary, Vice Chair Appropriations Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Subcommittee on General Government Community Affairs Environmental Preservation and Conservation Ethics and Elections SELECT COMMITTEE: Select Committee on Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

SENATOR DARREN SOTO

Deputy Democratic Whip 14th District

For Immediate Release: February 27, 2013 Contact: Christine Aleknavich, 850-487-5014 Aleknavich.Christine@FLSenate.gov

Soto Continues to Fight for Floridas Families in Foreclosure Tallahassee As Florida continues to maintain its shameful distinction as first in the nation for housing foreclosures, state Senator Darren Soto (D-Orlando) announced Wednesday his filing of four bills intended to better help Floridians save their homes and protect them from unscrupulous foreclosure practices. These bills represent a vision for resolving the foreclosure crisis where we work with families to save their homes and make them more affordable as well as provide meaningful debt relief, said Senator Soto, who last year spearheaded efforts to crack down on foreclosure mills. This vision stands in stark contrast to the numerous bills filed over the past few years with the sole intention of kicking thousands of Floridas working families out of their homes for the sake of expediency. We can and must do better, Soto filed Senate Bill 1236, the Mortgage Principal Reduction Act, which would require the Florida Housing Finance Corporation to apply for $100 million of the federal governments Hardest-Hit Fund program in order to begin a mortgage principal reduction program for Floridians whose homestead properties are in foreclosure. Senator Soto and Representative Joe Saunders (D-Orlando) also filed Senate Bill 1226 and House Bill 371 aimed at giving homeowners relief after having their homestead property foreclosed upon. Currently, lenders are able to file a deficiency judgment additional debts assessed by creditors against homeowners to make up for any loss in property value from the original mortgage amount - up to 5 years after the final judgment of foreclosure. Senator Soto proposes to change that length of time to only one year. Additionally, lenders would have only two years to collect the outstanding debt, sparing homeowners from collectors current license to haunt them for up to two decades. Soto will also be introducing the Short Sale Debt Relief Act (SB 1228), along with Representative Fullwood (D-Jacksonville). This bill will make deficiency judgments

REPLY TO: 220 Senate Office Building, 404 South Monroe Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1100 (850) 487-5014 Senates Website: www.flsenate.gov

DON GAETZ President of the Senate

GARRETT RICHTER President Pro Tempore

unenforceable for short sales where the original mortgagees debt is greater than 20% of the fair market value. Finally, Senator Soto and Representative Jose Rodriguez (D-Miami) are working on the Florida Mortgage Collection Fairness Act (SB 1218), which would prohibit mortgage collection firms from falsifying evidence in foreclosure proceedings. ###