The Foreclosure Settlement Conference – Part II

March 10, 2015 By Elliot S. Schlissel

Pressuring Banks to Grant Mortgage Modifications

The negotiations that take place in the foreclosure settlement conference courtrooms, put pressure on the lending institutions to grant mortgage modifications to homeowners. At the first conference meeting, the attorneys for each of the parties introduce themselves and the court referee or magistrate handling the conferences take into consideration each of the parties’ desires to work out non-foreclosure alternatives through negotiations.

After the first foreclosure court conference takes place, the matter is usually adjourned for several months to allow the homeowners to submit a new mortgage modification package. At the adjourned date, the referee looks into whether all the requirements of the mortgage modification submission have been met and/or whether the financial institution seeks more information. This will usually require a second adjournment for several months. These settlement court conference appearances add a significant amount of time to the foreclosure process. Cases can be in the foreclosure conference part for as long as four months to a year.

If the foreclosure conferences do not result in a mortgage modification or other resolution of the underlying issues in the foreclosure case, the court will refer the case out to a regular court part where the litigation will continue.

Conclusion

Foreclosure court conferences give a homeowner another chance to obtain a mortgage modification. It also slows the court procedures down and allows the families who are not going to get mortgage modifications to remain in their homes for longer periods of time.