Florida Senate - 2017                       CS for CS for SB 660
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Judiciary; and Banking and Insurance; and
       Senator Passidomo
       
       
       
       
       590-02718-17                                           2017660c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to bankruptcy matters in foreclosure
    3         proceedings; creating s. 702.12, F.S.; authorizing
    4         lienholders to use certain documents as an admission
    5         in an action to foreclose a mortgage; providing that
    6         submission of certain documents in a foreclosure
    7         action creates a rebuttable presumption that the
    8         defendant has waived any defenses to the foreclosure;
    9         requiring a court to take judicial notice of final
   10         orders entered in bankruptcy cases; providing
   11         construction; providing applicability; providing an
   12         effective date.
   13          
   14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   15  
   16         Section 1. Section 702.12, Florida Statutes, is created to
   17  read:
   18         702.12 Actions in foreclosure.—
   19         (1)(a) A lienholder, in an action to foreclose a mortgage,
   20  may submit any document the defendant filed in the defendant’s
   21  bankruptcy case under penalty of perjury for use as an admission
   22  by the defendant.
   23         (b) A rebuttable presumption that the defendant has waived
   24  any defenses to the foreclosure is created if a lienholder
   25  enters documents filed in the defendant’s bankruptcy case which:
   26         1. Evidence the defendant’s intention to surrender to the
   27  lienholder the property that is the subject of the foreclosure;
   28         2. Have not been withdrawn by the defendant; and
   29         3. Show that a final order has been entered in the
   30  defendant’s bankruptcy case which discharges the defendant’s
   31  debts or confirms the defendant’s repayment plan that provides
   32  for the surrender of the property.
   33         (2) Pursuant to s. 90.203, a court shall take judicial
   34  notice of any order entered in a bankruptcy case upon the
   35  request of a lienholder.
   36         (3) This section does not preclude the defendant in a
   37  foreclosure action from raising a defense based upon the
   38  lienholder’s action or inaction subsequent to the filing of the
   39  document filed in the bankruptcy case which evidenced the
   40  defendant’s intention to surrender the mortgaged property to the
   41  lienholder.
   42         (4) This section applies to any foreclosure action filed on
   43  or after October 1, 2017.
   44         Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2017.