|
 Anyone wishing to testify at the public hearing should advise the
committee in writing no later than Friday. Those wishing to offer
written comments should also submit them by Friday.
In April, the foreclosure committee conducted a public hearing to
discuss a nine-point proposal submitted by its practices and
procedures subcommittee.
The committee has also established a loss mitigation and
mediation subcommittee, which has drafted 14 proposed, recommended
elements of mediation and mandatory pre-foreclosure loss mitigation
for comment at the public hearing.
Six proposed mediation program elements under consideration are
outreach, mandatory or opt-in for mediation programs, housing
counseling, legal aid, establishing a pre-mediation process, and
trained mediators. Some of those elements to be discussed are having
the court system reach out to homeowners in foreclosure to increase
awareness of local mediation programs; providing housing counseling
as part of the mediation process; and providing pro bono legal
services to explain the foreclosure process, mortgagors' rights,
possible defenses, and the rights and responsibilities of the
homeowner under the Illinois Mortgage Foreclosure Law.
Under loss mitigation, eight proposed program elements under
consideration are transparency, notice, deadlines, escalation, no
dual tracking, single point of contact, defense to foreclosure and
loss mitigation affidavits. Highlights of some elements are general
transparency between the lender and borrower throughout the loss
mitigation process; the lender establishing an internal escalation
process to deal with denials of loss mitigation; and loan
modification reviews occurring before the foreclosure process has
started and before fees are incurred.
Those wishing to testify in person at the hearing and those
wishing to submit written comments on any of the proposals should
direct correspondence in writing to:
Supreme Court Mortgage Foreclosure Committee
c/o Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts
3101 Old Jacksonville Road
Springfield, IL 62704
The June 8 hearing will begin at 9:30 a.m. in Room C-500 of the
Michael A. Bilandic Building at 160 N. LaSalle St. in Chicago.
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 The proposed recommendations are available on the Supreme Court
website at:
http://www.state.il.us/court/SupremeCourt/
Public_Hearings/Mortgage_Foreclosure/
Practice_Procedures
The Supreme Court established the Mortgage Foreclosure Committee
in April 2011 and charged it with the task of investigating the
procedures currently used throughout Illinois in mortgage
foreclosure proceedings; studying relevant Supreme Court rules and
local rules that directly or indirectly affect such proceedings;
analyzing the procedures adopted in other states in response to the
unprecedented number of foreclosure filings nationwide; reviewing
legislative proposals pending in the Illinois General Assembly that
may affect the present statutory scheme for mortgage foreclosures;
and ultimately recommending to the Supreme Court mortgage
foreclosure rules for statewide implementation -- all with a view
toward ensuring fair and efficient foreclosure proceedings.
The committee consists of 14 people who have been on the front
lines in dealing with the housing crisis and how it affects
home-owning families and well as the lenders. They are judges,
bankers, lawyers, a law professor and an official from the Illinois
Attorney General's office.
Justice Mary Jane Theis is the Supreme Court liaison to the
committee, and Cook County Circuit Judge Lewis M. Nixon is committee
chair. Nixon serves as supervising judge of the mortgage foreclosure
section of the Cook County Circuit Court.
[Text from file
received from the
Illinois Supreme Court] |
