Foreclosure Mediation

Foreclosures on owner-occupied homes, investment property, and commercial property have become an unfortunate reflection of the economic times in which we find ourselves.

Our Foreclosure Mediators are all Supreme Court-certified circuit civil mediators specially trained to mediate residential mortgage foreclosure actions, and have extensive experience in bringing the parties together in a forum at which options to foreclosures are able to be discussed. There are government supported modification programs for owner occupied homesteads, and while acceptance into one of these programs is a potential outcome of the mediation, there are also options that exist beyond the federal programs that are helpful to explore.

Sometimes, the mediation may facilitate strategies to leave the home, such as the “turning back” of the property to the lender to avoid a foreclosure action and subsequent credit rating impact. There may also be cash financial rewards to the homeowner for adopting this strategy, which saves the lender the expense of a foreclosure lawsuit. This and other options can be looked at in our Pre-Suit Program.

A recent Florida Supreme Court ruling has mandated that all homestead foreclosure cases will be referred to mediation, and directs the homeowner to participate in a Managed Foreclosure Mediation Program that is run by an agency selected by the courts.

We offer an alternative to participation with the Court selected agency program.

ADR PRE-SUIT MEDIATION PROGRAM

AT ADR Mediation Center, we have established a PRE-SUIT MEDIATION PROGRAM - www.presuitmediations.com that, as allowed for in the Supreme Court Administrative Order, “substantially complies with the managed mediation program requirements”. The benefit of our program is that it is utilized prior to the filing of the foreclosure lawsuit. And, per the Order, our fees are paid by the Lender.

By virtue of our program’s fulfilling the requirement of substantial compliance, if a case is not settled in the ADR Pre-Suit Mediation Program, there should be no need to undergo a second mediation subsequent to the filing of a foreclosure action, and both parties can opt out of mediation at that point.