South Carolina High Court Slams Brakes On Thousands Of In-State Fannie, Freddie Foreclosures

In Columbia, South Carolina, The Associated Press reports:

• South Carolina's highest court has temporarily stopped thousands of pending foreclosure sales so homeowners can take advantage of a new federal program to refinance mortgages. The state Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a restraining order preventing South Carolina judges from finalizing foreclosure sales on properties with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

• The order also applies to any mortgage lender who has signed on to a federal assistance program.

***

• The ruling was in response to a request from a Columbia attorney representing Fannie Mae, who had argued that it was necessary to keep homeowners who might be eligible for federal assistance from being shut out of the process.

• "Absent the injunction, mortgagors eligible for relief under the HMP program could be denied their right to participate because their property was sold at the foreclosure sale," Ronald Scott wrote in his three-page motion. "This qualifies as irreparable injury for which the court should provide redress in the form of a temporary injunction."

For more, see SC court halts thousands of home foreclosure sales.