100s, Maybe 1000s of Foreclosed Mass. Homeowners Find Out They're Back in the Ballgame Again
Hundreds and maybe thousands of Massachusetts residents who thought they had lost their homes in foreclosure are now finding out otherwise.
When title companies refuse to insure the property, because defective paperwork in the foreclosure case doesn’t make clear who owns the home, a number of lenders are opting to start over again from scratch, reports the Boston Globe.
Puzzled residents then receive letters notifying them of new foreclosure proceedings and informing them that they are, in fact, considered homeowners once again, the article recounts. The situation is becoming increasingly common in Massachusetts because of a 2009 Land Court decision that made clear–unless and until an appeal to the state’s top court results in a reversal–that such paperwork defects, when the case is filed, can’t be cured after the fact.
Meanwhile, as reports of dubious paperwork practices by a number of lenders and lawyers throughout the country have hit the news, negative public opinion is putting increased pressure on lenders to work with struggling homeowners.
“Banks are less and less anxious to go forward in front of a jury,’’ says Maureen McDonagh of the WilmerHale Legal Services Center at Harvard Law School. “People don’t trust the industry.’’
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Evictions Pile Up in Sheriff’s Office, Part of a ‘Populist Revolt’ “
