Mortgage Deficiency Claim Statute of Limitations
I am often asked by clients how long does a mortgage lender have pursue a deficiency judgment. I have told many people that I have heard different answers from different attorneys ranging from one year to five years after foreclosure. I have also explained to the same clients that I have not seen any case on this issue and that no one has ever hired me to do legal research. That's true until now. Attorney Larry Kosto, acreditor attorney in Orlando, sent me a 2005 court decision dealing with the statute of limitations for mortgage deficiency claims. The case, Chrestensen v. Euoge
st, Inc., held that a mortgage creditor has five years to file a lawsuit for a deficiency judgment and that the five year time limit begins to run from the date of the foreclosure sale. The time period does not begin when the foreclosure case is filed or when a judgment for foreclosure is entered. In this case, the creditor filed a separate lawsuit for deficiency after the foreclosure. The court did not deal with a common foreclosure procedure wherein the lender includes a deficiency claim, or count, within the original foreclosure action. There, the court may close the case if a motion for deficiency is not pursued within one year following the foreclosure sale. The Chrestensen case found at is 906 So. 2d 343.
posted by Jonathan Alper, asset protection and bankruptcy attorney, Orlando, Florida
So does this mean that the foreclosing lender can place a claim on any future property up to five years that the homeowner my be on the deed for? For example; if I have a home in FL that was foreclosed on December 2008 and in June 2009 my mother or someone else would like to place my name on the deed to their property; can the previous lender that I had a foreclosure with place a claim on that property?
I have a question. My husband and I purchased a condo for investment purposes and we can no longer pay on it and our renter left. We are wanted to get a no deficiency claim for this mortgage. What are your recommendations on this.
Thank you for your help
Donna Peters