Mass. Homeowners in Foreclosure Can Challenge After the Fact, State Supreme Court Says
Lenders must prove they legally own a property before they can evict someone, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled yesterday, and borrowers can challenge the validity of the foreclosure after it happens. Housing rights advocates say the opinion will force lenders to negotiate more with homeowners in default, the Boston Globe reports.
Massachusetts doesn’t require courts to sign off on foreclosures. KC Bailey, the homeowner in the state supreme court case, discovered his home foreclosure after finding an eviction notice posted to his fence. He contested the eviction, arguing that the foreclosure process was flawed.
The Bank of New York argued that the housing court didn’t have the authority to consider Bailey’s challenge to the foreclosure after it was already finalized, and the housing court judge agreed. After yesterday’s state supreme court opinion, Bailey’s case goes back to housing court.
“This decision ensures that if a bank is going to walk into court and try to evict a homeowner, it has to prove there has been a valid foreclosure,” Esme Caramello, the deputy director of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau and Bailey’s lawyer, told the Boston Globe.
