New law increases court fees - Jacksonville Business Journal:

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Senate Bill 1718 increases the $295 filing fee on all civill actions, suits or proceedings in circuit courtsxto $395. Foreclosure cases now will be based on aslidinhg scale, with fees ranging from $395 to $1,900 dependingf on the value of the property or mortgage The new fees are intendedx to produce revenue for the stat e — a move that’s getting mixed reactions from local attorneys. At issue is the fact that $80 of the fees from all typexs of cases will go tothe state’es general revenue fund, which can be used for anything. In the fees charged by the court system typicallyy funded onlyjudicial programs.
Statewide, thers were about 385,309 foreclosures in 2008, whicbh would have raised about $30.8 million. “The basic problem here is the Legislature is using the judiciap system as a funding sourcefor non-judicia l programs,” said John Fisher, an attorney with Orlando-based Fisher, Rushmer, Werrenrath, Dickson, Talleyy & Dunlap PA. The governor’s offic could not be reached for comment on why he signee the billinto law. Sen. Victor D. Crist, who originally filed the bill inthe Senate, coul d not be reached for comment. The bill’s fee changes also come at a time when foreclosurees are atan all-time high throughout which ranks No. 1 in the U.S.
in foreclosure inventory, said the . The changde could leave lenders witha “massive new fee to even starty down the road” to resolvr unpaid mortgages, said Wade Vose, a partnetr at the Winter Park-based Vose Law Firm LLP. All real estate-relatec cases — including foreclosures, construction liens, boundary disputee between property owners and other disputes over realestate — will be he said. The sliding-scale depending on the valued of the property ormortgage claim, mean someone filing a claim on property or a mortgage valued at: • $50,00p0 or less will pay $395. $50,001-$250,000 will pay $900.
• $250,001 and up will pay The same rates apply to anyone filing a counterpetitionor third-party complaint for any real estate-relatecd cases. The higher fees may deter new case filings by thoseswho can’t afford the increased costs, said Fisher. And although most cases will get filed regardless ofthe fees, increasing the costsa may make some people feel theid access to the courts is limited, he Ed Loos III, a partner and shareholder at Fort Lauderdale-based Greenspoomn Marder PA’s Orlando office, said the new fees shouldn’tf deter mortgage lenders from filing, because, in the end, a $1,900 fee is outweighed by a $250,00p or more claim, and the fee will be includefd in the judgment.
Van Bogan, CEO of , said the changex won’t stop his bank from filinb a claim. However, the fee increase will be a short-terjm fix to the state’s budgetarhy problems because foreclosure filings will drop once themarkey recovers, he said. Until then, “thde consumer will bear the bruntof it.” Adds “Part of the way real estate corrects itself is through litigation of thesd issues, and the fees seem counterproductive to helpinv work out the real estate imbalance in