(1)(a) A lienholder, in an action to foreclose a mortgage, may submit any document the defendant filed under penalty of perjury in the defendant’s bankruptcy case for use as an admission by the defendant.
(b) A rebuttable presumption that the defendant has waived any defense to the foreclosure is created if a lienholder submits documents filed in the defendant’s bankruptcy case which:
1. Evidence the defendant’s intention to surrender to the lienholder the property that is the subject of the foreclosure;
2. Have not been withdrawn by the defendant; and
3. Show that a final order has been entered in the defendant’s bankruptcy case which discharges the defendant’s debts or confirms the defendant’s repayment plan that provides for the surrender of the property.
(2) Pursuant to s. 90.203, a court shall take judicial notice of an order entered in a bankruptcy case upon the request of a lienholder.
(3) This section does not preclude the defendant in a foreclosure action from raising a defense based upon the lienholder’s action or inaction subsequent to the filing of the document filed in the bankruptcy case which evidenced the defendant’s intention to surrender the mortgaged property to the lienholder.
(4) This section applies to any foreclosure action filed on or after October 1, 2018.
History.—s. 1, ch. 2018-15.
Structure Florida Statutes
Title XL - Real and Personal Property
Chapter 702 - Foreclosure of Mortgages and Statutory Liens
702.015 - Elements of Complaint; Lost, Destroyed, or Stolen Note Affidavit.
702.03 - Certain Foreclosures Validated.
702.035 - Legal Notice Concerning Foreclosure Proceedings.
702.036 - Finality of Mortgage Foreclosure Judgment.
702.04 - Mortgaged Lands in Different Counties.
702.05 - Mortgaged Lands Sold for Taxes.
702.06 - Deficiency Decree; Common-Law Suit to Recover Deficiency.
702.07 - Power of Courts and Judges to Set Aside Foreclosure Decrees at Any Time Before Sale.
702.08 - Effect of Setting Aside Foreclosure Decree.
702.10 - Order to Show Cause; Entry of Final Judgment of Foreclosure; Payment During Foreclosure.
702.11 - Adequate Protections for Lost, Destroyed, or Stolen Notes in Mortgage Foreclosure.