Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell is working to build on a foreclosure mediation program that has allowed 70 percent of borrowers who participate to stay in their homes.
Senate Bill 619, which is now before the state senate, makes mediation in all real estate foreclosure cases mandatory. The initial law, which took effect July 1, 2008, expanded mediation services offered through the state’s judicial branch. Since that time more than 25 percent of all foreclosure proceedings have gone to mediation.
Rell is also promoting House Bill 6378, titled “An Act Concerning Relief for Families Facing Foreclosure,” which is now before the House of Representatives, expands eligibility in two existing mortgage assistance programs:
• The Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program (EMAP), which helps homeowners pay a portion of their mortgage for up to five years, will be modified to lower the now rigid eligibility and qualifying standards
• The Connecticut Fair Alternative Mortgage Lending Initiative and Education Services (FAMILIES) program offers refinancing into 30-year, fixed-rate loans through Connecticut Housing Finance Authority to low- and moderate-income borrowers who have adjustable-rate mortgages. The governor’s proposal would allow borrowers who have fixed-rate mortgages to participate as well.
Source: Foreclosure News Report