In 2010, Orlando continued to rank among the top 10 U.S. metro areas for foreclosures during the first half of the year — outpacing even Miami.
When the Supreme Court of Florida ordered mediation programs to be managed by agencies outside of the court system, the Orange County Bar Association became one of the neutral managers maintain a rotating list of Certified Circuit-Civil Mediators, each of whom has completed extensive additional foreclosure training.
When filing foreclosure actions on owner-occupied or Homestead property and the homeowner elects to participate in the mediation program, both sides are required to attend the mediation, including the lender's representative with full settlement authority (though this is often done on the telephone).
Thus far, I was pleasantly surprised to have been able to successfully explore work-out style resolutions in my assigned cases as Mediator.
What has been your experience to date as a neutral or counsel to a party in this process?
