Homeowners facing foreclosure now have another way to try to stay in their homes.
It’s called the Mortgage Foreclosure Dispute Resolution Program and aims to help borrowers and lenders make sure all options are explored before making someone leave their home.
The program came about after a new law called "Act 48" put a moratorium on nonjudicial foreclosures from May until no later than October 1 when the plan had to be in place.
"One of the reasons that we put this program into effect was that there was no face to face, there was no neutral party looking at the facts of the case," said Sen. Rosalyn Baker (D).
The new dispute resolution program establishes a system and that neutral third party that helps owner-occupants meet directly with lenders to see if a loan modification or other alternative could work.
"If there are families in Hawaii who want to fight to save their home, this program will help them get a fair shot at saving their home if they’re in foreclosure," said Kim Harman of Faith Action for Community Equity.
It applies to lenders considering a nonjudicial foreclosure. the department of commerce and consumer affairs says it should be faster than the court-based alternative called a judicial foreclosure.
"From start to finish it’s a little over 4 months. Currently the process for the judicial foreclosures is at minimum 8 months," said Kealii Lopez of the Department of Commerce & Consumer Affairs.
The program will eventually sunset in the fall of 2014. The cost to a lender is $550, all documents from both sides get filed online so nothing can be lost in processing. the dcca says there’s nothing that guarantees every home will be saved — a borrower still must fulfill their responsibilities.
"There are individuals out there that no matter what one would hope to try to do with a modification they might just really not be able to stay in their home," Lopez says.
For more information visit http://mfdr.ehawaii.gov or http://hawaii.gov/dcca/oah/mfdr/mortgage-foreclosure-dispute-resolution-mfdr-program.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
