Lee County Rocket Docket Over?
Are you facing foreclosure in Lee County, Florida? There may be some good news for you. The previous ‘rocket docket’ is said to be over in Lee County, Florida.
What is this Rocket Docket?
Over the past couple of years the civil courts of Lee County have been handling foreclosure files quickly or also known as the ‘rocket docket’. The idea was to process files quickly as to not clog up the judicial system. The state supplemented the local court system with funds to allow them to hire additional staff for case management and to hear foreclosure cases. One possible problem that came along with this were cases being foreclosed upon unjustly or without due process. Even lenders (plaintiffs) complained as well stating that they could not stop foreclosure cases being pushed through via the court systems. Many defendants and organizations have complained about these actions and additional suits have been filed because of this. One such complaint was made by the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) stating that the Lee County Rocket Docket does not allow for defendants to be granted the due process they deserve. To top that, the money that had been provided by the state is said to have run out.
What is happening to the Lee County Foreclosure Cases now?
Foreclosure cases that are ‘sitting’ with the courts have been placed back into ‘case management’ for the most part. Cases that are considered ‘sitting’ are cases where neither the defendant (the home owner) or the plaintiff (the lender) have filed anything recently. Some options* that a defendant has are: Motions to Dismiss, compel, produce or mediate. Some options* that the plaintiff has are: Motion to set for hearing, trial and/or summary judgment. If neither party has taken action the court is now discontinuing with their docket soundings and moving everything out into what is called ‘case management’. Once back in case management nothing really happens with the case until one or the other party files something new.
Can this help you in your situation?
This is good for the defendant who may be working on a loan modification or short sale with their lender. It could give them much more time to work out an agreement with their lender.
It may be bad for our overall real estate market though because it is holding up some inventory. Hopefully more homeowners will be proactive and either sell their house that they can no longer afford, work out a loan modification with their lender or catch up payments and remain in the house. For those that are just going to sit in their house without making payments or without attempting a short sale they are just prolonging the real estate rebound and wasting time and creating additional stress for themselves.
We help many homeowners each month with short sales and enjoy working with proactive sellers. Sellers who cannot afford to keep their houses for various reasons but who want to be responsible and move on from their current situation are our typical customer. These customers are willing to keep their house maintained, gather up the proper documents the lender will need to determine whether or not a short sale will be approved and work with us to sell the home for less than what is owed.
The process of a short sale can be daunting but when handled by a real estate professional with years of experience with short sales it doesn’t have to be a horrible experience by any means. Sure it is not fun to lose your home but by taking proactive steps to sell your house short you can save time, money and future headaches.
If we can be of assistance to you with your Cape Coral short sale please let us know.
If you’ve consulted with your attorney and tax accountant and have decided to sell your property as a short sale we’d love to go over the process with you. I’ve written many articles going over the process of the short sale, documents required, outcomes possible and so much more to assist sellers in this trying time.
We look forward to assisting you with your Cape Coral short sale. You’ll find that we have helped numerous families in our area to a successful short sale.
Always keep in mind that we cannot guarantee your outcome because we are still at the mercy of each individual short sale lender and of course the court system as well but we will do our best to achieve your desired result of a short sale to include a full release and satisfaction with waiver of all deficiency balances.
I hope this helps you with your short sale. Should you be interested in having us assist you with the sale of your property fill out the form for more information: Cape Coral Short Sale
You can read many more heartfelt short sale testimonials from our satisfied short sale customers.
Our most recent short sale testimonial comes from a seller who had worked with other agents previously for over a year and was unsuccessful in their short sale attempts:
“I met Susan by way of personal recommendation. From our first appointment, she handled our sale with sincere care and genuine concern for our situation. To say that Susan worked diligently on our sale doesn’t give her the recognition that she deserves for the amount of work she devoted to selling our home. She responded to every email and phone call promptly but with a measure of compassion that made the entire process much easier to handle. Susan is by far skilled in her profession and her knowledge and expertise in her field is evident by her success. She exceeded my expectations and it is with the highest regard that I would recommend her services.”
~ Kari C
Take a moment to watch our videos on short sales, they may be able to answer many of your questions and take you step by step through the process beginning to end.
Yours in Success,
The Florida Future Realty Team
(239) 542-8521 Local
inquiry@floridafutureagents.com
If you would like to speak with Susan after hours her personal cell phone# is 239-218-2229 or email her at Mail@SusanMilner.com, she is never to busy to help you.
*~ Before you decide to sell your house as a short sale we recommend you contact BOTH a CPA/tax professional & an experienced Attorney to discuss YOUR specific situation. Laws & guidelines change frequently and you want to be sure a short sale is in YOUR best interest! ~
