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"SAFE HARBOR" AMENDMENTS TO H319 -- CALL'S PATHETIC EXPLANATIONS |
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An
Opinion By Jan Bergemann Published December 20, 2011
As usual, when the members of the law firm of Becker & Poliakoff realize that one of the legislative changes they are supporting is not much liked among their "clients," they quickly use CALL (Community Association Leadership Lobby), the lobbying arm of Becker &Poliakoff claiming to lobby for associations, to find pathetic excuses to explain their support. Latest example: The so-called "Safe Harbor" amendments to H319, strongly supported at the committee hearing by the lobbyists of CALL, CAN and the CAI.
As soon as these amendments passed, lots of folks raised their voices in opposition to these amendments, which are clearly protecting banks and mortgage lenders even more.
But CALL, in a recent dispatch, claimed that all this opposition was just "aimed at misstating CALL’s position on the issue."
I am not sure how this position can be misstated? The proposed language is very clear: It protects banks from having to pay for anything but "12 months past due assessments or 1% of the original mortgage debt, whichever is less." Let's make no mistake, the agreement to limit the "12 months past due" by 1% of the original mortgage debt did not raise any protest from CALL when it passed in the CALL-sponsored community association bill S1196 in 2010. Everybody in his/her right mind knew from starters that the change from 6 months to 12 months in FS 718 wouldn't increase the liability of banks, because the 1% of the original mortgage debt limitation caused banks' liability to be limited to 4-5 months of past dues in a wide majority of foreclosure cases anyway. It was actually just a PR gimmick without any real financial impact.
But their excuses in this recent dispatch get even more pathetic. Here is a further "explanation": "To put it another way, at the end of a foreclosure case, CALL believes it is more important for the association to collect assessments than for the lawyers and collection agencies to collect fees."
Since
the banks don't have to pay, with CALL supporting to strengthen the
language protecting banks from paying for any charges for attorneys' fees,
costs, interest, and late charges, who do you think pays the fees to these
parties?
This chapter of excuses ends with this statement: "CALL vigorously supports legislative reform to make the lenders pay more than the current safe harbor amount."
That must really be a joke. Not one of the bills sponsored in recent years by CALL made even the slightest attempt to force banks and mortgage lenders to pay more than the "Safe Harbor" amount. But all the bills sponsored by CALL in the last few years made sure that the provisions created higher legal fees, meaning bigger profits for these law firms -- at the expense of the associations and the still-paying owners. Every reform created in the last few years made it necessary for associations to use the help of attorneys to even attempt to enforce these new reforms. How is that for reforms?
The dispatch ended with another statement that should scare community association owners: "CALL supports changes proposed by Rep. Passidomo’s Fair Foreclosure Act and is working for additional changes that will require lenders to complete their foreclosures more quickly and which will give judges discretion to sanction lenders who unreasonably delay their foreclosure case, including ordering banks to pay assessments during the pendency of a stalled foreclosure case."
First of all: Consumers have to be very afraid of bills with fancy-sounding titles. The author normally hopes that most people don't read the actual contents of the bill..
In case you read this bill proposal (H 213) you will quickly realize that FAIR comes at the expense of the owners in foreclosure, not the banks. Many of the provisions dealing with consumer protection that are contained in the foreclosure laws effective today will be removed.
And after all the fraud and robo-signing heaped upon Florida's courts by banks and their attorneys, anybody still trusting them with doing the right thing must be out of his/her mind. Let's not forget: Banks, mortgage lenders and their attorneys so far got away with all their scams and falsified documents, courtesy of Florida's Attorney General. Banks and mortgage lenders created the mess associations and the still-paying owners are in -- no doubt about it.
If CALL supports the banks' agenda -- which is obvious – it is really an insult to people’s intelligence when claiming to lobby FOR associations. Even the most pathetic excuse can't change that! AMENDMENTS TO H319 GET BANKS OFF THE HOOK, AGAIN -- LEAVING ASSOCIATIONS/OWNERS HOLDING THE BAG |