Florida Land Title Association Gov't Affairs Blog

Foreclosure Reform Bill scheduled for Senate Vote

Alan Fields — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 14:06:55 GMT

4-30-13 The foreclosure bill has been withdrawn from its last Senate committee of reference and is scheduled for floor consideration on 5-2-13. I'm told that procedurally this took a minor miracle.

4-29-13 The Foreclosure Bill passed the full House of Representatives 87-26, and has been transmitted to the Senate. The Senate counterpart remains stuck in its final committee of reference, which may present procedural issues for considering the house version.

4-22-13 The Foreclosure bill was calendared for second reading in the House. At this point, there are significant differences between the house and senate versions as regards the handling of senior judges. Keep your fingers crossed.

4-19-13 The referral of the Senate Companion to the Rules committee was withdrawn, shortening the path to becoming a law. At this point it still has one remaining Senate Committee stop (appropriations), and scheduling may become difficult.

4-17-13 Facing increasing opposition from consumer groups, Rep. Passidomo's Foreclosure reform bill was approved by the House appropriations committee 17-8

4-3-13 Because of the addition of the senior judges provisions, Rep. Passidomo's foreclosure bill was pulled from the house calendar and given an additional referral to the House Appropriations Committee, thus delaying final approval.

3-28-13 This morning the House Judiciary approved the Foreclosure bill posturing it to move on to the House Floor.

On Wednesday afternoon 3-8-13, Rep. Passidomo's Foreclosure Reform bill (HB 87) was approved by the House Justice Appropriations Subcommittee by a 9-2 vote.

It will now move to its third and final committee stop before the House Judiciary committee.

This is one of the bills that FLTA members advocated during the recent Lobby Days.

Fraudulent Recording Bill

Alan Fields — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 15:16:07 GMT

4-30-13 The Fraudulent Recording Bill was unanimously adopted by the house and will be sent to the Governor for signature.

4-29-13 The Senate version of the bill was substituted for the house version, and second reading occurred this morning.

4-16-13 The house version of this bill was adopted by the full Judiciary Committee by a 17-0 vote and is now postured for consideration by the full House.

4-11-13 SB 112 was adopted by the full Senate in a 39-0 vote.

4-3-13 SB 112 was approved 16-0 with a CS by the Senate Rules committee, completing its last committee stop in the senate. The house companion, HB 915 is on the agenda for the house Justice Appropriations committee tomorrow morning

3-28-13 SB 112 is on the calendar for its final committee stop on Tuesday April 2

The house companion remains stuck in the Justice Appropriations Subcommittee. Absent special treatment it is probably dead for this session.

3-18-13 SB 112 passed out of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee 7-0. It has one remaining committee stop

3-6-13 Senator Dean's Fraudulent Recording bill making it a crime to record an instrument containing a materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or representation with the intent to defraud or harass. The bill also allows the "victim" of the fraudulent instrument to file to have the fraudulent instrument voided and stricken from the record and allows an injunction prohibiting a filer from any future filings without express court permission.

The bill was intended to clearly criminalize fraudulent documents and to address the problems with "Sovereign Citizens" filing false liens, judgments by the "people's court" and the like against sitting judges and government officials.

Several of the early drafts were overly broad potentially criminalizing human error and legitimate practices. On behalf of FLTA, we have negotiated a number of changes to the original proposal to make it more acceptable. The revised version is not perfect, but the product of compromise, outright opposition is awkward given that there are legitimately fraudulent instruments being filed to harass and defraud.

The bill, with the changes recommended by the FLTA, was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee 9-0.

Land Trust Bill Passes Both Houses

Alan Fields — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 04:06:51 GMT

4-26-13 The Land Trust Bill has passed both houses of the legislature and is now ready to go to the Governor for signature.

4-24-13 The House Bill, HB 229 has been placed on the Special Order calendar for second reading on 4/24/13. The Senate Version is scheduled for vote on 4/25/13.

4-17-13 SB 1172 was approved by the Rules Committee 13-0.

4-2-13 The Land Trust Bill, SB 1172 was approved by the Banking and Insurance Committee 10-0. The senate bill has one remaining stop at the Rules Committee.

3-20-13 HB 229 passed 16-0 out of the Judiciary committee, its third committee of reference and moved on to the house Floor

3-12-13 By a Land Trust Bill advances in House 9-0 vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved SB 1172 with a committee substitute. The bill has two remaining committee stops in the Senate.

3-6-13 By a 13-0 vote, the House Insurance & Banking Subcommittee approved HB 229. The bill has one remaining stop in the House. The senate companion bill, SB 1172 has been agendaed for its first of three committee stops on 3-12-13

2-13-13 the House Civil Justice Committee approved HB 0229 with a committee substitute by a 10-0 vote. This bill addresses the issues raised in the Brigham v. Brigham case which suggested that the inclusion of trust powers under s. 689.071 could take a traditional estate planning trust outside the protections of the trust code.

HB 995 curative act for witnesses

Alan Fields — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 15:26:36 GMT

4-25-13 SB 736 passed the full Senate 38-0, and has been taken up by the House on second reading.

4-17-13 SB 736 passed its final committee of reference and has been placed on the special order calendar for 4-24-13 consideration.

Florida has long had a curative act validating a deed lacking witnesses or with a defective notary five years after recording. The RPPTL proposal to expand this curative act to apply to any instrument lacking required witnesses or with a defective notary.

The bill passed in its final committee stop in the house on March 28.

The senate companion, SB736 has two remaining committee stops.

Hidden Lien Bill Passed -- On to Gov. Scott

Alan Fields — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 04:02:47 GMT

4-26-13 HB 267 Has now passed both houses of the legislature and is prepared to be sent to Governor Scott for signature.

4-21-13 HB 267 is awaiting a Floor vote and is calendared for 4-23-13

4-17-13 SB 404 passed the appropriations committee 17-0 and is on the Special Order calendar for the Senate on April 25

3-27-13 The Senate version of the Hidden Lien bill passed 10-0 out of it's third (of four) committee.

3-20-13 The Hidden Lien bill passed out of its third house committee of reference 16-0 and moved on to the House Floor.

3-8-13 This week the Hidden Lien Bill, which our members lobbied during our Lobby Days, advanced in both the House and Senate. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved SB 404 by a 9-0 vote on Wednesday 3-7, the House Local and Federal Affairs Committee approved HB 267 by a 17-0 vote. In both committees a committee substitute was adopted.

2-13-13 the House Civil Justice Committee by a 12-0 vote endorsed HB 267, which includes the "Hidden Liens" provisions introduced by Rep. John Wood.

Design Professionals Bill Becomes Law

Alan Fields — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 21:12:42 GMT

4-24-13 SB 286 was signed by the Governor becoming law Chapter No. 2013-028, Laws of Florida

Senator Negron's bill allowing individual design professionals (including surveyors) to limit their liability for professional malpractice in their contracts has passed both houses and been submitted to the Governor. The Governor must act on this bill by April 29.

This is very similar to the issue facing the title industry (and many others) following the Supreme Court's limitation of the economic loss rule to product liability cases. An unhappy homebuyer will be able to sue their title agent in negligence notwithstanding any limitation contained in the title policy or even policy limits.

Marketable Record Title Act -- Local Government Exclusion SB 762/HB 1317

Alan Fields — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 13:07:54 GMT

Local Government groups have proposed two new exceptions to MRTA which would create major gaps in its coverage and impose significant search burdens. Alan Fields and Raul Ballaga from Fox Ruiz met with representatives from the Dade County Attorneys office last week to better understand their goals and the issues they are facing. It was a positive session, although no mutually acceptable solution was found, each side came away feeling they better understood the issues and concerns of the other.

No committee hearings have been held on either bill, but the issue is expected to continue to be of concern to the local governments.

Condo Act - ILSA CS/SB 120 CS/CS/HB 175

Alan Fields — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 12:42:54 GMT

4-4-13 The fix for the interstate land sales act problem with current Florida condo law passed the Senate 40-0. The house companion bill HB 175, has passed all committees of reference and is awaiting floor action.

Amendments have been proposed to the Condominium act allowing for the early recording of a condo declaration to create legal descriptions during the presale process so that presales are not in violation of the Interstate Land Sales Act.

These bills have passed all committees and are on the calendar for floor action in both the House and Senate.

HB 903 Adverse possession

Alan Fields — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 15:33:06 GMT

HB 903 making dramatic changes to the statute regarding adverse possession without color of title, passed out of the House Judiciary committee on a bipartisan basis. This was its third and final committee stop on the house side.

The sponsors agreed to continue working with the Real property section.

There has not yet been any movement on the senate companion bill SB 1166

Narrow Ruling in the Pino Case

Alan Fields — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 02:12:00 GMT

Last Thursday, the Florida Supreme Court released its opinion in Pino v. Bank of New York. FLTA and ALTA had filed a joint Amicus brief in this case. The opinion was carefully crafted to address only the question of reopening a case which had been voluntarily dismissed (in this case, after allegations of fraud had been asserted) before any affirmative relief had been granted.

Given the court's understandable frustration with the mortgage crisis and various frauds on the courts, ALTA and FLTA were concerned about the possibility of an overbroad ruling, which might call into question the sanctity of REO outsales. In the opinion, the court specifically stated:

"Although this case arises out of a mortgage foreclosure action, we do not decide broader issues related to mortgage foreclosures in general, such as whether a copy of an assignment of mortgage is necessary to establish standing to foreclose on the mortgage or whether the rights of affected third parties who later purchase foreclosed properties are protected when collateral attacks are brought against otherwise final court proceedings."

While we are pleased with the narrow scope of this opinion, the language above highlights the importance of our efforts in supporting the finality provisions of House Bill 87.

Copies of the Opinion and more background on this important case can be found here.

Foreclosure Reform Bill passed out of House Civil Justice

Alan Fields — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 15:45:23 GMT

About half an hour ago, the House Civil Justice Committee passed the Foreclosure Reform bill (HB 87) 10-3. There were over 2 hours of testimony, pro and con and some concerns yet to be worked through.

Recess Appointments Invalidated

Alan Fields — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 18:28:00 GMT

A federal appeals court today ruled that President Barack Obama violated the Constitution when he bypassed the Senate to fill vacancies on the National Labor Relations Board.

The court's decision could also have implications for Richard Cordray, the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. President Barack Obama also used a recess appointment to name him to his position after Republicans blocked his nomination from coming to a vote.

Qualified Mortgage Rule may be coming????

Alan Fields — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 19:10:21 GMT

Jan. 9th date emerged as a possible drop-date for the final QM rule since the CFPB scheduled public hearings to collect feedback on Jan. 10 and Jan. 17. Nothing has been officially confirmed by the CFPB, but the scheduling of those hearings is a suggestion the rules will be released right before the feedback sessions.

US to hit Debt Limit December 31. Extraordinary measures begun

Alan Fields — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 19:18:32 GMT

The U.S. government will hit the $16.4 trillion federal debt limit Monday and turn to “extraordinary measures” to continue borrowing, the Treasury Department said Wednesday, beginning a countdown until Congress either passes legislation to allow for more borrowing or the government defaults on its debt.

In a letter to Congress, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said that although the debt ceiling would be reached Dec. 31, the government could buy roughly two months’ more time before it would be unable to meet all its obligations.

House Ethics Committee finds no violations in Countrywide VIP probe

Alan Fields — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 19:15:42 GMT

WASHINGTON -- The House Ethics Committee has found no rules violations by lawmakers and staffers who used a VIP loan program from Countrywide Financial Corp. saying the allegations of special treatment fell outside the panel's jurisdiction.

The committee's leaders said its investigation largely led to the same conclusions as the Senate Ethics Committee, which determined in 2009 that there was "no substantial credible evidence" that Sen. Kent Conrad (D-S.D.) and former Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) had broken rules by accepting loans through the special program.

Expected Foreclosure Wave Weakened by Short Sale Rip Current

Alan Fields — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 18:54:43 GMT

A strong rip current of distress continues to threaten the U.S. housing market despite the absence of a giant wave of bank foreclosures in 2012.

There’s no doubt that the great foreclosure wave of 2012 just didn’t happen. No mighty financial dams fell and no monetary levees were washed aside.

Certainly that’s still a huge number of bank repossessions by historical standards. In 2005 and 2006 there were less than 270,000 REOs per year. But it’s 19 percent below the 800,000 REOs in 2011 and 35 percent below the peak of more than 1 million REOs in 2010.

According to the National Association of Realtors, “distressed homes undefined foreclosures and short sales sold at deep discounts undefined accounted for 24 percent of October sales (12 percent were foreclosures and 12 percent were short sales), unchanged from September; they were 28 percent in October 2011.” Foreclosures sold for an average discount of 20 percent below market value in October, while short sales were discounted 14 percent.” (Parenthesis theirs)

Foreclosures come out in 'drips and drabs' in Florida as prices rise

Alan Fields — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 18:48:56 GMT

The foreclosure crisis brought the state of Florida a bad reputation. But new home sales and investor demand seem to be perking up the coastal state.

Tampa home prices rose 5.9% year-over-year in October, while Miami prices rose 8.5%, according to data from the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index report.

"I wouldn't say we are in a full recovery," said Becky Walzak, president and CEO of Looking Glass Group, a consulting firm for the consumer financial services industry in West Palm Beach, Fla. "But we are in a strong position right now. We have a lot of foreign buyers who come in and pay cash for properties," Walzak said. Snowbirds from the Northeast searching for real estate deals in Florida also have shown interest.

Still, it took a few years for the state to recover from news of massive foreclosure litigation and the launch of investigations targeting some of the state's largest default services law firms.

Fannie/Freddie may have lost $3B to LIBOR manipulation

Alan Fields — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 15:03:33 GMT

Mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may have lost up to $3 billion from the manipulation by several big banks of the global interest rate known as Libor, according to an internal government memo.

That was just one more sign Wednesday of the growing rate-fixing scandal, as federal prosecutors and regulators also announced that Swiss banking giant UBS had agreed to pay $1.5 billion in fines for manipulating the rate. U.S. authorities also filed criminal charges against two UBS employees, the first individuals targeted by the widening investigation.

CFPB Proposes "Trial" Disclosure Programs

Alan Fields — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 19:00:08 GMT

UPDATE: Staff at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau informed ALTA that its trial disclosure program is not intended to be used for the RESPA-TILA disclosures, rather it is part of a larger effort to develop or revamp financial disclosures like credit card and student loan disclosures.

CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU PROPOSES ALLOWING COMPANIES TO RUN TRIAL DISCLOSURE PROGRAMS

Bureau Reaffirms Commitment to Improved Consumer Disclosures through its Project Catalyst Initiative

WASHINGTON, D.C. –The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced its proposed policy to allow companies to test new consumer disclosures on a case-by-case basis. As part of its Project Catalyst initiative, and in line with its statutory authority, the Bureau’s goal is to encourage banks, credit unions, and other financial services companies to propose and conduct trial disclosure programs.

“As part of our efforts to foster innovation in consumer financial markets, the proposed policy will allow companies to conduct real world trials of disclosure alternatives,” said Richard Cordray, Director of the CFPB. “That will help the Bureau identify what works and does not work to provide consumers with the clear information they need to make financial decisions in a marketplace of evolving programs and products.”

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which created the CFPB, authorized the CFPB to facilitate innovation and to approve trial disclosure programs. As a part of that commitment, the Bureau launchedProject Catalyst in November. Project Catalyst is an initiative designed to encourage consumer-friendly innovation in markets for consumer financial products and services.

The Bureau is continuing to foster new ideas with today’s proposal. Under the proposed policy, the Bureau would approve individual companies, on a case-by-case basis, for limited time exemptions from current federal disclosure laws in order for those companies to research and test informative, cost-effective disclosures. The companies involved will then share the results of their trial disclosure with the CFPB. The CFPB will use that information to improve its disclosure rules and model forms. The public will have input through the rulemaking process.

When deciding whether or not to grant a company a waiver from current disclosure requirements, the Bureau proposed policy would evaluate a number of factors including:

· Consumer Understanding: The Bureau will assess how effectively and efficiently the proposed trial will test for potential improvements to consumer understanding about the costs, benefits, and risks of products and services.
· Cost Effectiveness: The Bureau will evaluate how the proposed trial will help develop more cost-effective disclosure rules or policies.

· Minimizing Consumer Risk: The Bureau will evaluate the extent to which the program is designed to mitigate any risk to consumers.

Today’s proposal builds upon the CFPB’s broader dedication to improving disclosures for consumers. Through its Know Before You Owe initiative, the CFPB has been working to create clear, easy-to-understand disclosures that allow consumers to better understand products such as mortgages, student loans, and credit cards. The proposed policy also builds on the Bureau’s streamlining initiative, which intends to update, modify, or eliminate outdated or unnecessary provisions in the Bureau’s inherited regulations.

A copy of the proposed policy can be found at: http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201212_cfpb_trial_disclosures.pdf

California Response to 3rd Party Vetting

Alan Fields — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 15:18:45 GMT

We note with interest the California Department of Corporations' bulletin with regard to Third party vetting -- basically suggesting that use of such a service by either the lender or the escrow agent may be a violation of state and federal law.

See the Bulletin