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Deficiency judgment Florida - Can you be sued by lenders?

Author: Jessica Bennet
Community Mentor
Ask Jessica
Posted on: 08th Aug, 2007 01:58pm
If your property is sold in a Florida judicial foreclosure and the sale price is less than the actual amount owed, you will be responsible for paying the deficiency. The lender can either forgive this deficient amount or come after you to recover it.

Can lenders get deficiency judgment Florida?


The lender can obtain a judgment against you to recover the deficiency. He has to file a separate motion/lawsuit for a deficiency once the foreclosure sale is complete. The court then holds a hearing to decide if a deficiency judgment can be allowed against you. At the hearing, the lender has to prove that the property value is indeed less than what you owe.

As a borrower, you have the right to oppose your lender's claim for judgment. You will have to prove that the property is worth more than the outstanding mortgage balance at the time of foreclosure. You can use an appraisal or the tax assessed value of the property to support your claim.

What happens after lenders get judgment?


Deficiency judgment Florida allows lenders to come after your wages, levy your bank accounts and put liens on your other properties. However, there are certain assets which are exempt from judgments. They include IRA, 401k, other retirement accounts, social security income, unemployment benefits, workers compensation, etc. Your lender has the right to collect on that judgment for 20 years. The interest will accrue every year till it is paid in full. Apart from this, the judgment will show up on your credit report for 7 years and will affect your credit scores adversely.

Are your wages exempt from garnishment?


If you are the head of the family and your net wages are less than $500 per week, you can protect your wages from garnishment. But if you've signed any document allowing the wage garnishment, the lender can come after your wages. In case you are not the head of the family, you can still protect certain part of your wages. Federal law limits the amount of money that can be garnished by your lender. He can take only 25% of your net wages or the amount in excess of 30 times the federal minimum wage per week, whichever is less.

Are homestead properties exempt from deficiency judgment Florida?


Homestead properties are not protected from judgments for mortgage liens. You can protect your home from creditors of unsecured debts under homestead protection. But lenders, who have financed purchase, repair, improvement, etc. of your home, hold a lien on your property. If you default on such secured loans, your home is not protected from judgments.

Does PMI help you cover the deficiency?


Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) cannot protect you from deficiency judgments. It is meant to protect a lender against the losses from a mortgage default. A PMI is required if you make a down payment of less than 20% on your loan.

Is there a way to avoid deficiency judgments?


If you can stop foreclosure, you can avoid the judgment. In case you're having difficulty in making mortgage payments and a foreclosure is imminent, you can look for various loss mitigation options like loan modification, deed in lieu (DIL), etc. A loan modification can reduce your mortgage payments and help you save the home.

A deed in lieu does not help you retain the home. But it waives off the lender's right to collect the deficiency. This helps you avoid a judgment. However, you should not believe in verbal agreements. If the deficiency is forgiven, ask your lender to give it in writing before you proceed with the deed in lieu.
Posted on: 08th Aug, 2007 01:58 pm
Hi I'm currently going through a foreclosure on two properties and would like to know how much time do the banks take to file a deficiency if they decide to do this? How will I know the sale price of the property at the court?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
As soon as the foreclosure procedure is over they will approach the court and file a lawsuit for getting a deficiency judgment in Florida for recovery of their balance dues. But generally it takes some time for the court to give a judgment.

At the time of auction, the court representative in charge of the foreclosure sale will announce the sale price that has been fixed for the house. This is the price to which buyers will bid.

Miller
Posted on: 08th Aug, 2007 07:05 pm
Hi guest,

It seems that you are frustrated. Oh, please don't; it's a tough time no doubt, but do not lose hope. Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that things will turn for the better.

Foreclosure deficiency judgment florida can be filed only at the end of the foreclosure auction. The foreclosure proceedings continue for a period of 180-200 days in Florida, depending upon the court schedule. At the end of this process, the deficiency judgment can be filed by the lender.

Let's hope for better times to come. :)
Posted on: 09th Aug, 2007 04:43 am
"Hi I'm currently going through a foreclosure on two properties and would like to know how much time do the banks take to file a deficiency if they decide to do this? How will I know the sale price of the property at the court?

Any help would be greatly appreciated."

You should have tried a short sale or dil before letting the house go into foreclosure. Your credit is going to get hurt because of this. Is there any possibility that foreclosure can be stopped now?
Posted on: 09th Aug, 2007 02:30 pm
if a person is on the title only and not on the loan will a foreclosure reflect on there credit? What is a dil?
Posted on: 11th Aug, 2007 09:04 pm
Posted on: 13th Aug, 2007 05:02 am
liz,

dil or deed in lieu of foreclosure is used to give away the house to lender and avoid foreclosure.

often when the lender accepts a dil he agrees not to go for deficiency judgment against the borrower for the balance amount not recovered from sale of the house.

but let me also tell you that a dil has very similar impact on a person's credit to what happens in case of foreclosure. borrower's credit score goes down by quite a few points. so both foreclosure as well as deed in lieu should be avoided if possible.
Posted on: 13th Aug, 2007 03:03 pm
I'm taking the short sale route. My 1st mortgage holder (Ocwen) wants to keep all the money and give the 2nd mortgage holder (Chase) only $1,000. I owe chase $45,000. How can I influence Chase not to seek a deficiency judgement florida?
Posted on: 23rd Nov, 2007 07:13 pm
Hi Bonita,

Welcome to this forum.

Unfortunately, you have to pay the short sale deficiency florida. But you can avoid it if you request your lender to go for the deed in lieu of foreclosure. But it is also true that Deed in lieu of foreclosure will affect your credit more than short sale. Deed in lieu of foreclosure will drop your more than 100 points but short sale will drop around 50 to 80 points. Now you have to decide. You can also talk to an attorney regarding this.

Hope it will help you. Feel free to ask if you have any further questions.

Thanks,
Larry
Posted on: 23rd Nov, 2007 11:42 pm
I have a property I am struggling to make the payments on. I also have a silent partner involved that I feel may stop making payment to me. We are in it 50/50 without any signed contract between us. I am the only one on the loan and title. If I let the property go, can the lender hit me with a judgement or will this be covered by the PMI? If there are any judgements or tax repercussions is my partner liable for half the costs? If not, how can I make him liable?
Posted on: 28th Nov, 2007 06:04 am
Hi Jeff,

Welcome to this forum.

You have a partner without any written documents. The title and the loan both are on your name. So your partner is not liable for any judgment. He does not own the property and if the property is foreclosed, his credit will not be affected.

" If not, how can I make him liable?" you should put you partner's name both on the title and the loan. He is your 50% partner of the property. So his name should be both on the title and the loan. So talk to your partner and see if he is willing to do so.

Feel free to ask if you have any further questions.

Thanks,
Larry
Posted on: 28th Nov, 2007 09:26 pm
Because of health reasons I had to let my home in Ft. Myers go.
I was just served papers for a forclosure and would like to know if the lender geta a foreclosure florida deficiency judgement if they can attache my pension.
Posted on: 29th Nov, 2007 07:40 am
Hi Jeff,

As your friend is not on the deed and you are going for the foreclosure, lender will come after you for florida foreclosure deficiency judgment.

I think you should talk with your lender ASAP and instead of foreclosure you can go for Deed in lieu of foreclosure. You credit score will be less affected. Deed in lieu will only drop your credit score only around 100 points. And the lender will not go after the deficiency.

Thanks,
Larry
Posted on: 30th Nov, 2007 04:55 am
i live in florida ive just been served on some credit cards and a town home
how long will those judgements last in florida and can they take money out of my bank accounts or wages if im head of household
Posted on: 10th Jan, 2008 01:10 pm
Hi,

Welcome to the forum.

I don't know the law of Florida exactly regarding this but generally, I think the judgment lasts for 10 years and they have the rights to claim the money from you.

Thanks,
Larry
Posted on: 10th Jan, 2008 01:36 pm
my husband got a new mortgage company to refinance the house(in his name only, house in fla.) where he got the difference (equity) and bought a second house (cabin, in al) as a gift to me and put it in my name only. he paid cash for the cabin. then the insurance more than tripled, taxes soared, and we had more bills than ever come on us and we put the house in fl. up for sale and moved to the cabin in al.it stayed on the market for 8 months with not one hit. since our payments doubled and i'm not working here in al. we decided to let the house go into forclosure. the bank called and offered us a dil. will the whole new mortgage be forgived if we do that? at this point we are not worried about a credit rating since we are a little up in age and we have a house. what should we be looking out for , please advise. thank you
Posted on: 06th Apr, 2008 06:49 am
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