Oregon's foreclosure mediation program launched last July to a lot of fanfare, then promptly fizzled when it got almost no participation.
The do-over starts today.
The program, born out of the recession and housing crisis, was designed to force lenders to meet with homeowners to discuss alternatives before foreclosing on a mortgage. But the rules left a big loophole by not including foreclosures that lenders filed in court, as opposed to the out-of-court system that had been common since the 1950s.
Under the revision that went into effect Sunday, lenders have to sit down with struggling homeowners and discuss alternatives regardless of the method of foreclosure.
That means a program that reached just a tiny fraction of foreclosed borrowers in the past year is likely to reach many more of the thousands of Oregon homeowners in danger of falling into foreclosure.
Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
