Foreclosure Task Force sets out statewide plan.

In an emergency that can't wait for better court funding, the Florida Supreme Court Task Force on Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Cases recommends a statewide managed mediation program that would be paid by lenders, allow plaintiffs to appear by telephone, and require financial counseling for borrowers.

"Many of the borrowers are extremely frustrated from failed efforts to deal with their lenders. It is essential that the mediation manager effectively communicate with borrowers from all walks of life and in multiple languages to explain that this is a court program, that it is safe and not a scam, that it will be free to the borrower," the task force, chaired by 11th Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey, wrote in its final report filed August 17 with the Supreme Court.

"All foreclosure cases involving residential homestead property would be referred to mediation, unless the plaintiff and borrower agree otherwise, or unless pre-suit mediation was conducted," the task force recommends.

"Requiring the borrower to pay a share of mediation expenses is a disaster, unless substantial leverage and increased efforts to shift the playing field away from an overwhelming advantage to the servicer is accomplished," the task force said.

The task force roughly estimates that 100,000 cases could be eligible for managed mediation, and many of these cases involve the same 10 leading foreclosure filers in Florida.

"There was a huge and continued learning curve the entire time the task force was working, and members did a heroic job grappling with unusual issues that the mortgage crisis has brought to the surface," Judge Bailey told the News, praising the hard work on a tight deadline of the 15-member panel appointed by Chief Justice Peggy Quince on March 27.

"This task force did a great job of juggling a terrible situation with limited options and coming up with creative solutions."

Judge Bailey drew from her experience as a coordinating judge with a new managed mediation program for foreclosures facilitated by the Collins Center for Public Policy, presently operating in the First, 11th, and 19th circuits.

The Collins Center mediations cost $750, and are paid up front by the lender, with $350 going to the mediator, $125 to a financial counselor, and the remainder for administrative costs.

While the three circuits are still in the startup phase, "the success rate is impressive," the report says, and 434 cases have confirmed mediation dates. On the down side, the...