Amendments have been proposed for seven Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. If these amendments take effect, it will change how foreclosures are handled in the State of Florida. Below, please find a synopsis of the proposed amendments and their potential impacts as evaluated by PLG: ​

The Rural Housing Service (RHS or the Agency), a Rural Development (RD) agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a demonstration program that will establish a new loss mitigation retention option, referred to as the Payment Supplement Account (PSA).  Per RHS: “this demonstration program helps struggling borrowers that are delinquent on their mortgage payments are unable to obtain a payment reduction utilizing the currently available loss mitigation options.”

Highlights of the Spring 2024 Unified Regulatory Agenda:
The information contained herein is being provided as a courtesy only and does not constitute financial or legal advice nor is it intended to be relied upon as such.  The information is general in scope. Please note that there may be additional facts, circumstances or jurisdictional considerations not addressed in this communication.

On June 28, 2016, Ohio Governor John Kasich signed House Bill 390 into law thereby authorizing the use of a "private selling officer" to conduct a judicial foreclosure sale in lieu of the county sheriff. This later became codified as Ohio Revised Code §2329.152. 

The primary purpose Ohio Revised Code §2329.152 was not only to cure the backlog and volume of sheriff sale orders and unsold properties caused by the foreclosure crisis, but to create a comprehensive regulatory framework which would operate uniformly throughout all of Ohio’s 88 counties to provide efficient foreclosure procedures, increase the sale prices of foreclosed homes, and reduce the number of vacant properties blighting Ohio’s cities. Tweaked again in April of 2017 and March of 2019, and while not consistently implemented across the state, Ohio Revised Code §2329.152 was still effective in reducing the delay caused by Sheriff’s sales and bringing foreclosure sales into the modern era.

While “squatting” is not considered a large problem in the State of Ohio, it has become an issue in the city of Cleveland in vacant and abandoned homes. While squatters occasionally can be removed simply by reporting the unauthorized occupancy to the county sheriff's office, often times, squatters present or claim a lease or valid tenancy, in which cases, sheriffs’ offices decline to enforce removal. In such cases, homeowners then must bear the burden, time and expense of filing a formal eviction action in the local municipal court. However, that may soon change.
House Bill 478, sponsored by republican lawmakers Jeff LaRe and Jay Edwards, and the nearly identical House Bill 480, sponsored by republican lawmakers Tom Young and Steven Demetriou, seek to end squatting and the sale of fraudulent deeds, as well as to expedite and ease the process of removal of unauthorized occupants in the State of Ohio. Both Bills seek to amend section 2909.07 and to enact sections 1923.16 and 2913.53 of the Revised Code by removing the required use of the court system in eviction of unauthorized occupants.