Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Florida

The short answer is "yes, the bank can get a judgment lien on your homestead", but "no, they can't force the sale of your homestead to enforce the judgment lien".

This is what would have to happen. The bank on the North Carolina property would sue for foreclosure. They would get title to the property, and will probably (but not 0 surely) get a money judgment against the person(s) liable on the underlying loan. If the bank does get a money judgment, the bank can record the judgment in Florida, where it would become a lien on your real property. Such a lien can attach to a Florida homestead, but cannot be used to force the sale of the homestead. In other words, the lien cannot be enforced through a sale so long as the property is homestead.

If the homeowner moves or takes other steps that make the property no longer "homestead" under Florida law, the lien could then be enforced. Note the money proceeds from the sale of a Florida homestead property are themelves protected, so long as they are used to purchase another Florida homestead within a reasonable period of time.

It's hard to say how agreesive the bank would be. If I were rep[resenting the bank I would tell them to record the lien in Florida but not expect to get paid anythime soon.

You could discharge the underlying debt and the judgment lien on your homestead in a bankruptcy case.

I hope this helps.

Robert Wiilcox

(904) 281-0700

Sell the property the NC property. Agree with above advice. Want to know the law? Sign up for our free newsletter on varies areas of the law by sending an email to [email protected] and requesting the newsletter, or go to www.ConsumerLawyerHelp.com.