Foreclosure fast-track bill advances to House floor

Homeowners and consumer activists continued to fight legislation Wednesday that would hasten Florida’s foreclosure process, but some opponents acknowledged improvements to the bill and it passed the House Judiciary Committee with bipartisan support.

The legislation has cleared three House committees and now goes to the full chamber for a final vote, with supporters arguing it will help the state’s still recovering real estate market by clearing a backlog of 368,000 foreclosure cases.

Nearly a dozen people came out to protest the bill, which is co-sponsored by Rep. Greg Steube, R-Parrish. Valrico homeowner Mark Stuart expects to be foreclosed on soon. He left his home at 2 a.m. to be in Tallahassee for the 8 a.m. hearing.

“With the rampant amount of sloppy paperwork that’s involved in this we’re moving too quickly,” Stuart said.

Some Democrats who had opposed the legislation noted numerous improvements to the bill. Language was removed that weakened the legal standard in foreclosure cases and prevented homeowners from getting their property back if it was fraudulently taken.