You might think that with the spotlight on the foreclosure process right now, lenders might start trying to clean up their acts. However, according to the Washington State Attorney General’s office, borrowers who legitimately should be able to stall or even halt their foreclosure process are finding foreclosure trustees, the individuals responsible for careful handling of the foreclosure process, literally impossible to reach. And worse, those trustees are basically “hiding out” to avoid contact[1].
According to Washington AG Rob McKenna, the trustees in question are currently processing “large volumes of foreclosures in Washington.” His office has determined that a number of these foreclosures may be in question due to “inaccurate documents, conflicts of interest, faulty chains of title and failure to provide disclosures and conduct mediations.” Trustees were “reminded” of their obligations and required to suspend questionable foreclosures. However, homeowners dealing with these issues report that the trustees cannot be reached and that the foreclosures are moving forward full speed ahead.
McKenna is encouraging homeowners to attempt in good faith to contact their trustees if they believe they have a legitimate problem. However, “if a trustee is unwilling to stop a foreclosure [or unreachable] then a homeowner needs to file a lawsuit and get a court order before the sale,” said McKenna. Otherwise, the homeowner’s position could be seriously handicapped.
What do you think McKenna should do to help homeowners? Is he doing enough in this situation?
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Let us know what you think should be done with these trustees in the comments below.
[1] http://blog.seattlepi.com/boomerconsumer/2011/04/06/state-investigation-finds-more-problems-with-foreclosure-procedures/
Just another case of the lenders doing whatever they want in order to subvert any opposition to their agenda. I think that the only way to stop this kind of abuse is to punish the lenders. If a foreclosure trustee is not available, and the homeowner has proof of a good faith effort to locate the trustee, the courts should nullify the foreclosure, and award the homeowner free & clear title to the home. Put this in effect, and you can be certain that the trustees will magically slither out from under the rocks.
(Sorry - I don’t mean to demean the snakes, insects, and other lifeforms that legitimately live under rocks.)
Jim Myers
The trustees work for the court. They are going to do what the court tells them to do, and right now the courts are leanning in the Banks direction, and the way the banks are having a problem with the paperwork needed to complete the foreclosurer process, it isn’t a surprise that the trustees are hiding out, they will have to dismiss many of those cases, and the Banks don’t want that.
He (Mr. McKenna) could pass a law requiring lenders to pick up the phone … well, wait! That’s too easy and it would spoil the shroud of mystery and secrecy.
The lenders need to be more accountable - after all, they made these loans so they should face up to them.