Pa. foreclosure mediation urged
HARRISBURG - The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is asking county court officials to consider adopting a mediation program to help process the large number of home foreclosures in the commonwealth.
HARRISBURG - The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is asking county court officials to consider adopting a mediation program to help process the large number of home foreclosures in the commonwealth.
Such programs generally involve court-supervised attempts to resolve foreclosures through negotiations between lenders and homeowners delinquent on mortgage payments. Courts serve as an impartial third party to meet the needs of lenders and borrowers through the mediation process.
Philadelphia and eight other Pennsylvania counties already have such mediation programs.
The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts said reports indicate that the problem will get worse before improving. At least one study found that more than 10 percent of subprime mortgages were "seriously delinquent in wide swaths of Pennsylvania."
Philadelphia began a mediation program in 2008, and since then, 2,400 foreclosure cases have been resolved through conferences and negotiations between lenders and homeowners, with the assistance of housing counselors and lawyers.
