Florida’s Fourth DCA Confirms the One-Year Statute of Limitations for a Deficiency Action Brought Within a Foreclosure Case

On December 9, 2020, in Accardi v. Regions Bank, No. 4D20-0662, the Fourth DCA held that the one-year statute of limitations specified in section 95.11(5)(h), Fla. Stat., applies to a motion for deficiency judgment brought within an existing mortgage foreclosure action. The Court also determined the limitation period began with the issuance of the Certificate of Title. 

Prior to reviewing the Court’s ruling, the timeline of events within the case are crucial to the statute of limitations analysis. 

1. August 2015: a Final Judgment of Foreclosure, which retained jurisdiction to seek a deficiency, was entered by the circuit court. 
2. December 3, 2015: the Certificate of Sale was issued in which the bank was the purchaser. 
3. April 2016, the clerk of court issued a certificate of title naming the bank as the title holder.
4. September 2018: the circuit court granted the bank’s motion to tax attorney’s fees.
5. March 12, 2019: the bank moved for the entry of a deficiency judgment within the foreclosure action, which included both the sale deficiency and the attorney’s fees.
6. February 2020: the trial court held a final hearing on the motion for deficiency judgment. The court ruled that section 95.11(5)(h) statute of limitations did not bar the bank’s claim. Final Judgment of Deficiency was entered in favor of the bank in the amount of $558,318.93.

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This case involves the application of the statute of limitations contained in section 95.11(5)(h), which provides a one-year statute of limitations in an action to enforce a claim of a deficiency related to a note secured by a mortgage against a residential property. The statute establishes that the limitations period shall commence on the day after the certificate is issued by the clerk of court or the day after the mortgagee accepts a deed in lieu of foreclosure. 

The Court determined that because subsection (5)(h) applies to “an action to enforce a claim of a deficiency,” it is essential to focus on how Chapter 95 defines an “action.” Section 95.011, provides, in pertinent part: “a civil action or proceeding, called ‘action’ in this chapter… shall be barred unless begun within the time prescribed in this chapter or, if a different time is prescribed elsewhere in these statutes, within the time prescribed elsewhere.”

The Fourth DCA held that a motion for deficiency, even within an existing mortgage foreclosure lawsuit, amounts to a “civil action or proceeding” within the meaning of statute. Accordingly, the statute of limitations to bring a deficiency action relating to a residential foreclosure is one-year from the issuance of the Certificate of Title.