DC Now Requires Six-Month Mediation Period Before Proceeding With Foreclosure

In Washington, D.C. (a non-judicial foreclosure sale jurisdiction), The Washington Post reports:

• [Last] week, the D.C. Council approved a measure requiring lenders to go through six months of mediation with a homeowner before proceeding with a foreclosure. Mediation allows the borrower and the lender's representative to negotiate, with the guidance of an impartial go-between, over possible alternatives to a foreclosure, such as a loan modification. But neither side can be compelled to agree to a mediated solution.

• Peter Tatian, research associate with the Urban Institute, a social policy think tank, said mediation can be useful in a place such as the District, which does not require courts to review foreclosure cases.

***

• The new D.C. program was proposed by Ward 4 council member Muriel Bowser and will be managed by the District's Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking. The department offers a printed "Foreclosure Mitigation Kit," which can be downloaded from disb.dc.gov.

For the story, see Mediation now required for District foreclosures.

For related information from the District's Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking, see DISB to Deal with Irregularities in Foreclosures.

Thanks to Donald Marritz of the nonprofit law firm Regional Housing Legal Services for the heads-up on the story.