FLORIDA SUPREME COURT RULES ON STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS IN MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE CASE

The Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that each monthly default on a mortgage loan payment resets the five-year statute of limitations for filing a foreclosure suit in Bartram v. U.S. Bank National Association. The mortgage involved had been accelerated by the filing of a foreclosure action. The borrower had argued that the lender was permitted only one acceleration and its failure to successfully foreclose barred further foreclosures. The Court viewed each monthly installment as a separate obligation which began the running of a new statute of limitations.