Central Florida Lawmaker Proposes Bills to Help Homeowners Fight Foreclosure
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
By: Tom Parkinson

March 13, 2013 | WMFE - Florida consistently tops the list of states with the most home foreclosures. Now a state senator from central Florida is working on a package of measures to protect homeowners threatened with foreclosure.

On many recent surveys, Florida ranks number one in the nation for home foreclosures. State Senator Darren Soto, a Democrat from Orlando, told a press conference Tuesday that the number of foreclosures is “absolutely shameful.”

Soto says changes the state’s foreclosure laws are necessary to protect homeowners from fraudulent practices by banks.  

Soto is introducing a package of bills in the Senate that would impose stricter penalties on banks that use fraudulent documents and would speed up the foreclosure process to help clear the backlogged court system.

But Soto says what’s really needed help for people who are facing the loss of their homes through foreclosure.  

“That’s the vision that’s going to, not only keep families in their house, but prevent a generation of families going into bankruptcy.” Soto said. 

Soto wants the Legislature to direct $100 million dollars in federal funds toward programs to help homeowners reduce the amount of principal owed on their mortgages.

Fellow Democrats on the House side of the Capital, including Representatives Joe Saunders of Orlando and Jose Javier Rodriguez of Miami are working on companion bills in the state House.