Florida Statutes 494.00135 – Subpoenas
Current as of: 2023 | Check for updates
|
Other versions
(1) The office may:
(a) Issue and serve subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of all books, accounts, records, and other documents and materials relevant to an examination or investigation conducted by the office. The office, or its authorized representative, may administer oaths and affirmations to any person.
Terms Used In Florida Statutes 494.00135
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
- Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
- Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
- Mortgage loan: means any:(a) Residential loan primarily for personal, family, or household use which is secured by a mortgage, deed of trust, or other equivalent consensual security interest on a dwelling, as defined in…. See Florida Statutes 494.001
- Mortgage loan: A loan made by a lender to a borrower for the financing of real property. Source: OCC
- Office: means the Office of Financial Regulation. See Florida Statutes 494.001
- person: includes individuals, children, firms, associations, joint adventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
- Principal place of business: means a mortgage broker's or mortgage lender's primary business office, the street address, or physical location that is designated on the application for licensure or any amendment to such application. See Florida Statutes 494.001
- Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
- Subpoena duces tecum: A command to a witness to produce documents.
- Testify: Answer questions in court.
- Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
(b) Seek subpoenas or subpoenas duces tecum from any court to command the appearance of witnesses and the production of books, accounts, records, and other documents or materials at a time and place named in the subpoenas, and an authorized representative of the office may serve such subpoenas.
(2) If there is substantial noncompliance with a subpoena or subpoena duces tecum issued by the office, the office may petition the court in the county where the person subpoenaed resides or has his or her principal place of business for an order requiring the person to appear, testify, or produce such books, accounts, records, and other documents as are specified in the subpoena or subpoena duces tecum.
(a) The court may grant injunctive relief restraining the person from advertising, promoting, soliciting, entering into, offering to enter into, continuing, or completing a mortgage loan or servicing a mortgage loan.
(b) The court may grant such other relief, including, but not limited to, the restraint, by injunction or appointment of a receiver, of any transfer, pledge, assignment, or other disposition of the person’s assets or any concealment, alteration, destruction, or other disposition of books, accounts, records, or other documents and materials as the court deems appropriate, until the person has fully complied with the subpoena duces tecum and the office has completed its investigation or examination.
(c) The court may order the refund of any fees collected in a mortgage loan transaction if books and documents substantiating the transaction are not produced or cannot be produced.
(d) If it appears to the office that compliance with a subpoena or subpoena duces tecum issued is essential and otherwise unavailable to an investigation or examination, the office may apply to the court for a writ of ne exeat pursuant to s. 68.02.
(e) The office may seek a writ of attachment to obtain all books, accounts, records, and other documents and materials relevant to an examination or investigation.
(3) The office is entitled to the summary procedure provided in s. 51.011, and the court shall advance such cause on its calendar. Attorney’s fees and any other costs incurred by the office to obtain an order granting, in whole or in part, a petition for enforcement of a subpoena or subpoena duces tecum shall be taxed against the subpoenaed person, and failure to comply with such order is a contempt of court.