He stopped making payments in 2009, he said, and hoped to get a mortgage modification. Instead, his lender, BAC Home Loans Servicing, filed a foreclosure action that BAC later dismissed voluntarily, records show.

Craig Waters, a spokesman for the Florida Supreme Court, said officials aren't counting on a significant increase in foreclosures as a direct result of the ruling. Waters said it was unusual for Florida judges to throw out cases based on the statute of limitations, even before the opinion was released.

For the 2016-2017 fiscal year, the Office of the State Courts Administrator estimates that nearly 61,900 foreclosures will be filed statewide – and the courts office doesn't project that number to increase during the next five years. Still, attorneys and industry analysts say they expect the Bartram ruling will lead to hundreds or thousands of refiled cases that were on hold until the Florida Supreme Court ruling.

During the housing meltdown that began in 2006, lenders filed foreclosures by the tens of thousands, but cases often were dismissed on legal technicalities by lenders or judges. In some instances, mortgage companies didn't have witnesses in place for trial; in others, the judges ruled that homeowners were improperly served foreclosure papers.

Lenders later refiled cases, sometimes after lengthy delays, prompting homeowners to challenge the statute of limitations as a defense. The uncertainty continued to drag out foreclosures, and critics argued delinquent borrowers were benefiting by getting to stay in homes for free while the cases played out.

The Florida Supreme Court heard the Bartram case in 2015 and issued its ruling on Nov. 3. Homeowners who have been delinquent for longer than five years can expect to start hearing again from their lenders. .

Although the court's ruling favors lenders, it does provide hope to owners who want to keep their homes. While lenders can refile cases that were started more than five years ago, they can't collect on missed payments beyond five years.

He cited as an example a hypothetical homeowner who defaulted in 2007. The foreclosure was filed in 2008 but later dismissed. In refiling the case now, the lender can collect only the missed payments going back to 2011. The missed payments from 2007-2010 are wiped out.

Ice said homeowners and their attorneys should make sure the lenders aren't trying to collect more past-due payments than they're allowed.

What's more lenders may be willing to settle these older cases rather than go through the hassle and expense of foreclosure.