Friday, October 10, 2008

Foreclosure and Eviction

The Sheriff of Cook County, IL is refusing to evict people from their homes based on notifications from the banks. This position comes after realizing that many of the evictions were of people who were current on all their bills and were living in a rental property. It was the owner of the property who was in default, not the tennant!

Proposition: In situations like that stated above, what do you think of the idea of having the government purchase that mortgage at the current value of the property and let the renter take over payments on a path to ownership? The person who has been diligent in payments is rewarded; the person who took the gamble and lost is in fact the loser.

Thoughts?

Click on "comments" below and weigh in.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like the idea and think it has merit. However, there is one thing in the paragraph before the proposition that bothers me, and perhaps someone can shed some light on it.
It notes that the sheriff refused to take action based on notification from the banks. I think I would refuse in these circumstances as well. Actions by the sheriff represent the application of a state's most coercive power, that is the power to seize property or to take someone into custody. These kinds of actions should only be taken on the order of the court after the appropriate hearings as established by law.
While we don't know the exact circumstances, given the information, I believe the sheriff acted appropriately - in other words, he did his job as it is prescribed by law.

C W Douglas said...

Good point. I was able to find more detail than was provided in the CNN interview.

Listed here are two sources and then excerpts from the second source:

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-sheriff-evictions,0,4029330.story

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,434603,00.html?sPage=fnc/us/crime

Dart said that from now on, banks will have to present his office with a court affidavit that proves the home's occupant is either the owner or has been properly notified of the foreclosure proceedings.

Illinois law requires that renters be notified that their residence is in foreclosure and they will be evicted in 120 days, but Dart indicated that the law has been routinely ignored.

"My job as sheriff is to follow court orders, absolutely," he said. "But I'm also in charge of making sure justice is being done here and it is clear that justice is not being done here."

Dart said he believes banks are not doing basic research to determine that the people being evicted are, in fact, the homeowners.

He said that in a third of the 400 to 500 foreclosure evictions his deputies had been carrying out every month, the residents are not those whose names are on the eviction papers.

Nor, he said, are banks notifying tenants that the homes they're renting are in foreclosure. He added that when banks do learn the correct names of those living on foreclosed-upon property, their names often are simply added to eviction papers.

"They just go out and get an order the next day and throw these people's names on there," Dart said. "Whether they (tenants) have been notified, God only knows."