After a Drop in Foreclosure Fees, Fla. Courts Are Projecting $36M Deficit by March
Reduced foreclosure fees, following a national slowdown in filings as banks deal with robo-signing concerns and other issues, have hit the Florida courts hard.
One of the foreclosure capitals of the country, the state is facing a projected $36 million revenue shortfall by March in its court operations, reports the Tampa Bay Times. (Formerly known as the St. Petersburg Times, the newspaper has changed its name.)
Realistically, fees and fines can’t cover all of the court’s operating costs, and general revenue money should be allocated to do so, a working group of a dozen judges and clerks have told a state senate budget committee.
The group’s chair, Polk County Circuit Judge John Laurent, suggests the state use general revenue funds to cover what he terms “due process” services, including salaries for judges, interpreters and court reporters.
The state’s initial filing fee for civil litigation is already one of the highest in the country, the newspaper notes.
