On February 13, 2018, the Florida Supreme Court accepted jurisdiction in an appeal emanating from a hot button issue in contested foreclosures can the borrower in a foreclosure secure an award of contractual attorney's fees after successfully defending the foreclosure on the basis that the lender lacked standing to enforce the mortgage contract? Florida law follows the American Rule on attorney's fees, i.e. the loser does not pay the winner's fees, unless there is a basis in contract or statute that provides for fee shifting. The avenue for a borrower to secure attorney's fees in a unsuccessful foreclosure is most often the mortgage's fee shifting provision.
