About
This section is for attorneys representing lenders who have filed a residential foreclosure lawsuit in Hillsborough County who have been ordered to mediate the case in the RMFM Program. Please refer to the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit’s Administrative Order S-2012-053 and the Uniform Order of Referral to Foreclosure Mediation in your specific case for additional program requirements, procedures, timelines, and forms.
Registration Instructions
All of the borrower’s financial disclosure will be posted and available for downloading on www.rmfmpinterface.com. In order to access these documents, you will need to register as a user and then create a case. Once a case has been created, any documents received from the borrower will appear under the documents section of that case. By creating a case, you will also be able to generate a Plaintiff’s Certification Form and Borrower Contact Form. These documents are also available under Forms for your convenience. Additional instructions on how to register as a user or create a case can be found on www.rmfmpinterface.com or by contacting tech support at 877-822-4083.
Procedure for Submitting a Plaintiff’s Certification Form
1. Please file your original, accurate, and complete Plaintiff’s Certification Form with the Clerk of the Circuit Court, Hillsborough County and electronically transmit a copy to the RMFM Program.
2. The first section of the Plaintiff’s Certification Form requires you to list the documents, items, and forms you are requesting the borrower to complete. Blank forms must be uploaded to the document section of each case on the interface.
3. Plaintiff’s Certification Form may be entered and submitted on the RMFM Program Case Management Interface (www.rmfmpinterface.com) and a paper copy must be mailed to The Center for Financial Counseling with the mediation fee check attached. Plaintiff’s counsel is required to upload the case to the RMFM Program Case Management Interface (www.rmfmpinterface.com) in addition to submitting a paper copy of the Plaintiff’s Certification Form. The Plaintiff may generate a duplicate of Plaintiff’s Certification Form and Borrower’s Contact Information Form on their own word processing system as long the forms are identical to those included on this website.
A Plaintiff’s Certification Form submitted without the case number, complete and accurate borrower contact information, and payment will not be worked. The time frames of the Administrative Order will be held in abeyance until the deficit or defects are cured.
Procedure for Submitting Mediation Fee Checks
The mediation fee must be paid at the time the Plaintiff’s Certification Form is submitted to Program Manager, within ten (10) days of the Uniform Order of Referral to Foreclosure Mediation. Please make each mediation fee check ($325 per hour with a two hour minimum, thus, $650) payable to HCBF RMFMP. If you are filing more than one case and are making multiple payments with one check, please submit a cover sheet or list with each case number and associated borrower name. Write the case number on the check’s memo line. Send a copy of Plaintiff’s Certification Form, a completed Borrower Contact Information Form, both accessible via www.rmfmpinterface.com or under Forms on this site, with the $650.00 mediation fee check attached to the Center for Financial Counseling at the following address:
The Center for Financial Counseling, LLC (RMFM)
P.O. Box 17409,
Clearwater, FL 33762
or
The Center for Financial Counseling, LLC (RMFM)
4910 Creekside Dr., Suite B
Clearwater, FL33760.
The court case number and borrower name must be written or printed on the copy of Plaintiff’s Certification Form, Borrower’s Contact Information Form, and the check that is sent to the Program Manager. Payment must be submitted within ten (10) days of the Uniform Order of Referral to the RMFM Program in order to avoid a Notice of Non-Compliance being filed with the court.
Access to Case Status
Plaintiffs will be able to access the case via the RMFM Program Case Management Interface system (www.rmfmpinterface.com) to check on a case’s status. If you have any issues accessing a case, registering as a user, or any other questions regarding the RMFM Program Case Management Interface, please contact The Center for Financial Counseling at 877-822-4083.
Plaintiff’s Requirement to Attend Mediation
The plaintiff, its attorney, the borrower and her or his attorney, if any, must appear at the mediation conference. Under Rule of Civil Procedure 1.720(b), a party is deemed to appear at a mediation conference if the party, or its authorized representative, is present with full authority to settle without further consultation. A corporate party must send a corporate representative, other than the attorney, with full authority to settle the case. A corporate plaintiff may appear telephonically and will be responsible for calling into the mediation at the designated start time. Legal counsel for the plaintiff is required to appear in person. The requirement to have an authorized representative with full authority to settle applies whether the authorized representative appears in person or by telephone. Failure to have a representative with full authority to settle may result in a cancellation or adjournment of the mediation and an additional rescheduling fee.
The Mediation
Please come prepared with a toll free number to contact your client. If you do not have a toll free number to call your client, tell your client in advance that he or she will have to dial into the mediation conference. It is important to discuss this with your client prior to mediation so that delays and complications can be avoided.
Mediations usually take place on the second floor at the Hillsborough County Bar Foundation, Chester H. Ferguson Law Center, 1610 N. Tampa Street, Tampa, Florida, 33602. The Chester H. Ferguson Law Center is adjacent to the Stetson Law School Campus in downtown Tampa. Nonetheless, the borrower’s circumstances (lack of transportation or disability) may require that the mediation take place at an alternate location approved and assigned by the Program Manager.
The session will typically last between one and one-half hours to two hours. However, the session can continue as long as necessary for the parties to resolve the case. In the event additional mediation conferences are required, the plaintiff will be required to pay a fee of $325 per additional mediation conference.
Cancellations
Written notice to the RMFM Program of any change or cancellation of the scheduled mediation conference must be given at least five (5) business days (excluding holidays) prior to the scheduled mediation conference. The failure to provide timely notice of the cancellation of a scheduled mediation conference will result in the RMFM Program retaining the full mediation services fee. If the parties desire to reschedule a cancelled mediation which was not timely cancelled the party responsible for cancelling the original scheduled mediation conference will pay an additional $325.00 rescheduling fee to the RMFM Program unless the court orders otherwise or the RMFM Program agrees to waive the rescheduling fee. The RMFM Program has the discretion not to reschedule a mediation conference until the rescheduling fee is paid.
Non-Compliance
If at any time after commencement of mediation services by the RMFM Program one or both of the parties (i) fails to timely complete the necessary financial document exchange (ii) fails to make themselves available for mediation in a timely manner, or (iii) cancels a mediation conference at least five (5) days business (excluding holidays) prior to the scheduled mediation conference date and refuses to reschedule the conference for any reason whatsoever, the RMFM Program will retain the full mediation services fee as payment for the mediation services previously rendered. If the plaintiff or the borrower fails to comply with the provisions of the Order of Referral, the RMFM Program will file a Notice of Noncompliance with the court.