Bad Debt Collection Archives - Wetherington Hamilton, P.A.

Collecting on a Foreign Judgment in Florida

Our firm is frequently asked to collect and domesticate out of state judgments in Florida. Debtors often move to Florida from other states when faced with a Judgment due to the unlimited homestead exception in Florida. An out of state judgment is considered a “foreign” judgment in Florida. The Full Faith and Credit Clause of the United States Constitution requires each state to recognize the judgments of the other states except in very limited circumstances.

Florida has adopted the Revised Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgment Act. The Florida enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act (FEFJA) requires the creditor to file an affidavit containing certain information in order to recognize the judgment in Florida. Errors in the filing of these affidavits can result in challenges to the filing. To file the judgment in Florida a lawsuit a case must be filed in the County where the debtor is located. The filing must include a certified copy of the original judgment along with an affidavit. The Affidavit must contain the name, social security number, if known, and the last known post office address of the judgment debtor and of the judgment creditor. The clerk will then send notice to the debtor. Our firm also routinely also sends a notice to the debtor. The debtor has thirty days to challenge the judgment.

REASONS FOR NON-RECOGNITION OF A FOREIGN JUDGMENT IN FLORIDA

The judgment debtor has 30 days to challenge the recording of the Foreign Judgment in Florida. In order to contest the judgment, the debtor must record a lis pendens in the public records and file a new lawsuit contesting the judgment. Just objecting to the judgment being recorded is not enough. A new suit must be filed. In order to successfully challenge the judgment, the judgment debtor will have to show that the law of the state where the judgment was entered was not followed as to jurisdiction. Thus, for example, not following the service statutes in the state where the judgment arose would result in the judgment not being recognized. However, when the foreign state laws allow for the entry of a judgment without service with only mail notice, Florida must recognize this judgment.

STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS

Florida courts have also ruled that the Florida 20 year statute of limitation to a foreign judgment filed in Florida. Thus, although the state where the judgment originated might have a shorter statute of limitations, in Florida the 20 year statute applies once the judgment is recorded in Florida.

In short, the domestication of out of state judgments requires clear knowledge of Florida statutes. Failure to follow these statutes precisely can delay your collections efforts.

By: Theodore J. Hamilton, Esq.

Today, the stock market is at an all time high. American’s are riding a wave of prosperity not seen in a long time. The obvious question on many minds, is when will the stock market begin to decline. Recently, a review of the actions of the FED in lowering interest rates in early 2008 has spurred a new interest in predicting market declines. As an attorney, my experience has shown that the number of commercial loan defaults can assist in predicting a slowdown of the economy.

In 2007, our firm began to see an uptick in its commercial loan collections cases. These cases came from Banks, Leasing Companies and others. It began gradually in the last quarter of 2007 as large institutional clients who had previously sent only a few files a year started to send upwards of a few files a month in 2007. This figure increased dramatically during the first half of 2008. After the collapse in October of 2008, we began to see an avalanche of delinquency cases in our office. In December of 2008 alone our office received large commercial claims on a scale not seen before.

Banks are required to report their loan delinquencies to the Federal Reserve. These figures are available for review here. These numbers are a very good predictor of how the economy is doing. They show not only the income of the banks we all rely upon, but they also show the health of industries that rely on loans from these banks. The good news at this point, is these delinquency numbers are still very low. A review of the 2007-2009 figures shows the dramatic increase and the default increase in the beginning of 2008. We are not seeing these high delinquencies at this point.

Take this advice for what it is worth. We are attorneys not at all investment advisors. However, these figures and our experience handling bad debt and collections for all types of businesses shows a few trends. The best advice, is keep your eye on some of these loan delinquency reports coming out of the FED. If they start to change, beware.

Wetherington Hamilton founding attorney, Theodore J. Hamilton, has over 20 years of experience in handling real estate transactions and litigation. Attorney Hamilton has particular experience in matters involving complex litigation and complicated real estate matters having represented title insurance companies and individuals throughout the state of Florida. He can be reached by phone at (813) 676-9082 or via email at TJH@whhlaw.com.

Collection and Domestication of an out of state Judgment in Florida

Using Commercial Loan Delinquencies to Predict the Next Market Retraction

Wetherington Hamilton, P.A.

Wetherington Hamilton, P.A.

Tag Archive for: Bad Debt Collection

Wetherington Hamilton, P.A.

Wetherington Hamilton, P.A.