Foreclosure bill becomes law.

A bill to speed up the handling of foreclosure cases in Florida courts has been signed by Gov. Rick Scott.

Scott signed HB 87 on June 7 and it became effective with his signature.

He was heavily lobbied on the measure.

Critics contended it didn't provide enough time for defendants with legitimate claims to find lawyers and raise those claims, and in some cases the law would prevent those who are fraudulently foreclosed from getting their homes back.

Supporters said the legislation was needed for courts to attack more than 350,000 foreclosure cases backlogged in the state courts and also give a way for homeowners' and condominium associations to force the completion of foreclosures when they are owed unpaid fees and assessments.

The bill:

* Cuts the statute of limitations for banks to seek a deficiency judgment against a foreclosed homeowner from five years to one year. The amount of the deficiency would be limited to the difference between the amount received in the foreclosure sale and the fair market value of the house at the time of the sale, not the amount of the original mortgage.

* Requires higher paperwork standards for lenders filing foreclosures, to include showing that the plaintiff has the right to foreclose.

* Allows show cause hearings in foreclosure cases using the summary judgment standards to speed the resolution of foreclosure cases, and at those hearings defendants will have to claim a specific, allowable defense to forestall the foreclosure.

* Allows homeowners' and condominium associations with liens on unpaid property assessments to file for a show cause hearing if the lender does not.

* Mandates that "innocent" third parties who buy foreclosed homes cannot be divested of those homes if that foreclosure was later found to be fraudulent. Instead, the original owner will be limited to collecting monetary damages from the lender or party responsible for the fraud.

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"It will accomplish its purposes with undefended cases and to the extent the court needed any help to get rid of those--and I'm not sure they did--it should help get those on to judgment as quickly as possible," said Royal Palm Beach attorney Tom Ice, who defends foreclosures and who lobbied against the bill. "The ones I am concerned about are the ones who have hired counsel and defend [the foreclosure] and expect due process.... It means we attorneys defending homeowners are going to have to be quick on our feet and not miss any...