Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Pre-Foreclosure Mediation Services

Foreclosure Mediation Group
3125 W. Commercial Blvd. • Suite 100 • Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309
954/548-3933 voice • 954/548-3910 fax

Professionally providing pre-foreclosure mediation services throughout Florida


In December of 2009, the Florida Supreme Court issued an Administrative Order requiring that all residential mortgage foreclosures be mediated before a judge can issue a Final Judgment in a foreclosure case. Each judicial circuit is selecting its own, independent, non-profit mediation group which will receive referrals for all filed cases. As an alternative, it is permissible under the Supreme Court’s Order to have the mediation performed before a foreclosure suit is filed. Since your goal is to find resolution to a defaulted mortgage as quickly as possible, I am recommending that you consider allowing our group to conduct pre-foreclosure mediations on your post-mitigation, pre-litigation loan files. Whether performing pre- or post-filing mediation, the cost remains the same at a Court-mandated $750 per file only levied against those files on which mediations are actually performed. Ordering pre-suit mediation may eliminate the need for a formal foreclosure filing thereby saving your institution thousands in filing fees, attorney fees and several months of time. Potential outcomes of mediation are:

1. Modification of mortgage terms (rate, term, amortization)
2. Partial loan forgiveness or principal set aside
3. Placement of delinquent payments at end of term
4. The coordination or approval of a short sale
5. Deed in lieu of foreclosure with or without a waiver of deficiency judgment
6. A negotiated repayment plan
7. Loan reinstatement under certain conditions
8. Right to Rent in exchange for a non-contested action
9. Impasse and filing of a formal foreclosure

The only change to a standard foreclosure timeline is the addition of three weeks at the front end (prior to filing) to give the pre-foreclosure mediation group time to contact and schedule with the borrower. We expect that through mediation, a great number of cases might be settled and if successful, pre-suit mediation will reduce the time and fees that you are paying to resolve bad loans. Further, by using a pre-filing group, we can guarantee your having a specially trained, mortgage-resolution mediator concerned about a mutually positive outcome, handle every case. We continue to search for ways to expedite foreclosures to help save you money and time.

If you or your Loss Mitigation department wishes to discuss the particulars of the program further, please contact me directly.

Thank you for your consideration,



Bernard Danzansky, Manager
561/212-7563 cell • 954/548-3933 office • barney@equityfll.com