Mandatory Mediation

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Leah Hendey on May 21, 2009 at 2:22pm

I just heard about Minnesota's mediation legislation, which is waiting for the governor's signature or veto. Here is the link to the legislation: https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/revisor/pages/search_status/sta...

And a link to a news article about it: http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2009/05/18/daily30.html

Permalink Reply by susan lloyd on May 22, 2009 at 5:00pm

Kathryn Dunn of the Helen Bader Foundation is working on this with Milwaukee advocacy and legal organizations, including the courts and Marquette Law School. It's part of the city's larger initiative; for more information on that, you could check with LISC Milwaukee, Select Milwaukee, and the new Milwaukee Housing Consortium.

Permalink Reply by Vijay Kapoor on May 29, 2009 at 12:53pm

I am in Philadelphia where the Court has instituted a mortgage diversion program with mediation-type conferences. We've done some analysis on the process. There is link on my company's web site - www.kapoorco.com to a "Lessons Learned" report. I would happy to speak with you about it or can put you in touch with other people in Philadelphia if you need specific information that I don't have. You can email me at vkapoor@kapoorco.com or call at 215-704-6006.

Permalink Reply by Rebecca Cohen on June 15, 2009 at 10:48am

According to a recent (June 15) Philadelphia Inquirer Opinion article by Bertha Lewis, CEO of ACORN, Philadelphia's mandatory mediation program "has helped 78 percent of its participants avoid foreclosure simply by having borrowers and lenders sit down and talk. The program succeeds where others have fallen short because of its mandatory nature, extensive community outreach, accessibility, housing counselors, fair valuation methods, and support from local allies such as Community Legal Services, the Philadelphia Unemployment Project, and Mayor Nutter's office."

Lewis notes in the piece that "The mayors of Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, St. Louis, and many other cities have joined with ACORN to explore establishing additional mediation programs or strengthening existing ones." Read the full commentary at http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20090615_Mayors_helping_to_s....

Permalink Reply by Penny Trick on June 3, 2009 at 2:21pm

We have optional mediation in CT right now. Approximately 30% of the foreclosure defendants use it. There is a pending bill at the legislature to make it mandatory. It only requires that a defendant file an Appearance and a request for Mediation. The program is patterned after our Housing Specialists program for evictions in housing court (although that does not require an application). Then they schedule a mediation session within 2 weeks. The plainitiff's attorney MUST have a decion-maker available by phone duirng the session. Nothing (defaults, motions, summary judgment, etc.) is allowed to happen in the foreclosure lawsuit for the first 60 days while mediation occurs. Mediation can be extended for longer than 60 days.

I copied this from our judical web site:
For additional information on the foreclosure mediation program, please contact Roberta Palmer, Superior Court Operations, Court Operations Unit at (860) 263-2734 or email her at Roberta.Palmer@jud.ct.gov.

Go to: http://www.jud.ct.gov/foreclosure/

Penny
Housing Education Resource Center
Hartford, CT

Permalink Reply by Barbara Walsh, PP/AICP on June 4, 2009 at 8:35pm

The NJ Courts have implemented a mediation program as described at http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/pressrel/pr081016c.htm

Permalink Reply by Center for Housing Policy staff on June 5, 2009 at 9:59am

Thanks to everyone for the feedback and responses on mediation programs! An upcoming event on June 28 in Chicago may be of interest to those who want to explore this issue further & hear from a representative of Philadelphia's mediation program.

The Solutions for Working Families learning conference is being held in Chicago from June 28 to 30. On the first day of the conference, there is a special day-long Foreclosure Prevention and Neighborhood Stabilization Institute which will include fellow Forum member (and poster of this question), Andrew Jakabovics, as well as Rachel Gallegos, a law clerk in Philadelphia who has been deeply involved in the city's mandatory mediation program. If you want to dig into foreclosure mediation issues a little deeper, share your experience, and hear about foreclosure prevention innovations and lessons learned (including what Andrew has found in his mediation research), then consider making the trip to Chicago for Solutions for Working Families!

Register for the conference here: http://www.housingpolicy.org/learningconference_register.html

Substantially discounted hotel rate available at the Palmer House Hilton. See http://www.housingpolicy.org/learningconference_hotel.html to reserve your room.

Permalink Reply by Maya Brennan on November 30, 2010 at 9:53am

FYI for those interested in more examples of mediation programs, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston has an article it the Winter 2011 issue of their Communities & Banking magazine that looks at foreclosure mediation in Maine. You can access it here: http://www.bos.frb.org/commdev/c&b/2011/winter/Dickstein_forecl...

Permalink Reply by Doug Kleine on December 3, 2010 at 9:36am

In the 1970s there were successful foreclosure mediation programs in MN and IA for the farm crisis.

Permalink Reply by Penny Trick on December 6, 2010 at 9:31am

CT has a successfull foreclosure mediation program which works closely with the housing counselors in the state.