Philly Sheriff Best Known For The Law He Won't Enforce (To Foreclosing Lenders' Dismay)

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, The Wall Street Journal reports:

• Sheriff John Green has spent 37 years in law enforcement. But these days he's best known around town for the law he won't enforce. With the economy soft and thousands of Philadelphians delinquent on their mortgages, Sheriff Green this spring refused to hold a court-ordered foreclosure auction. His move raised eyebrows on the bench and dropped jaws among lenders and their attorneys, who accuse him of shirking his duty to enforce legal contracts.

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• It also prompted a sweeping, court-endorsed deal, scheduled to go into effect next week, that aims to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. Even as Congress moves forward with a federal plan that could insure up to $300 billion in refinanced mortgages, Mr. Green's unilateral approach has pushed Philadelphia to the leading edge of local responses to the national crisis.

For more, see He's Taking Law Into His Own Hands To Help Broke Homeowners (Trouble Is, He Is the Law; Philly's Sheriff Green Doesn't Do Foreclosures, to Lenders' Dismay).

Go here for other posts on the Philadelphia Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Pilot Program.