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Aug. 10, 2009
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

FORECLOSURE CRISIS: So far, few have applied for mediation

Manager predicts increase as program gains publicity

By ED VOGEL
Las Vegas Review-Journal
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CARSON CITY -- Last spring state legislators were certain the foreclosure crisis in Nevada was so severe that thousands of residents each month would apply for assistance under a new law to help them keep their homes.

But five weeks after the Nevada Foreclosure Mediation Program became law, 10 hearings have been scheduled.

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    • At these hearings, mediators work with delinquent home-owners and their mortgage lenders to determine whether the loan can be modified to keep the family in the home.

    Verise Campbell, the manager of the mediation program, acknowledged last week that 10 is a small number, but she said many more people have called for information about the program after receiving foreclosure notices. Homeowners must pay $200 upfront if they apply for mediation.

    Campbell predicted as many as 1,000 hearings per month will be conducted within six months as the program becomes better known.

    Lenders have been filing 7,600 foreclosure notices per month in Nevada.

    The law went into effect July 1, and the initial mediation hearings should begin in two weeks.

    Some in the banking industry were surprised by the slow initial reaction to the program.

    "I recognize the program is just starting, but for all the hype, I would think there would have been a lot more," said Bill Uffelman, president and chief executive officer of the Nevada Bankers Association.

    Uffelman speculated that so few people are applying for mediation because they cannot even pay the costs of a modified loan.

    "It may be people recognize that all the loan modifications in the world aren't going to help them if they have lost a job and income," he said.

    In some households both spouses worked, he added, but one has lost his or her job and their combined income has fallen so much that they cannot afford a mortgage.

    Uffelman said the $200 charge should not be an obstacle for home buyers to participate in the program.

    If they cannot pay that much money, then they can't pay the costs of a modified loan, he said.

    Homeowners must miss at least three monthly mortgage payments before a lender can file a foreclosure notice.

    During the legislative session, Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, predicted 3,000 homeowners per month would apply for mediation to keep their homes.

    Then in June, as the Supreme Court considered regulations to put the program into effect, Chief Justice Jim Hardesty predicted that number would be 1,250 to 1,500 per month.

    Expecting a large number of residents to apply for the program, more than 420 lawyers, ex-judges and trained mediators applied to serve as mediators. One hundred of them were trained last week in Reno and Las Vegas in foreclosure law and how they might mediate various types of cases.

    Uffelman and other banking industry representatives testified for the program during legislative hearings.

    "We got the original bill amended so we could work with it," he said "The banks I work for will participate in the program."

    Based on studies, Buckley said during the legislative session that the mediation program might keep 17,700 families from losing their homes. Last year, foreclosures were filed on 77,000 Nevada homes.

    Under the law, lenders since July 1 have been required to include applications and information about the Foreclosure Mediation Program when they send homeowners foreclosure notices. The homeowners can request a hearing with a mediator and their lenders to try to work out loan modifications that keep them in their homes.

    Lenders are not required to agree to loan changes, but they must make a good faith effort during the mediation to work out a deal. If the mediator concludes they have not, then Campbell can halt the foreclosure.

    That would force the lender to get a court order to proceed with the foreclosure. The lender also must pay $200 to cover costs of the mediation.

    Information about the program can be found on the Nevada Supreme Court website at www.nevadajudiciary.us or by calling Campbell in Las Vegas at 486-9380.

    Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.

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    Foreclosurenv wrote on August 11, 2009 09:20 PM: A homeowner has 30 days http://tinyurl.com/lsm8q4 to elect mediation after he receives the Notice of Default. You better act fact or you lose your right to mediation.


    J wrote on August 11, 2009 12:50 PM: This and all the other programs are not going to work......forget it!! It is too late to fix what is broken!


    ForeclosureNV wrote on August 11, 2009 11:55 AM: The bottom line is to negotiate a graceful exit. The bank will agree to give you more payment free living time, if you promise to turn the house over in good condition, with no squatters living in there.


    ' wrote on August 11, 2009 11:13 AM: .........................................................................................lkjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj


    joe wrote on August 10, 2009 07:49 PM: Attorneys were supposed to be trained to handle these mediations by the State Bar. Thus far, they have only selected a select few to be trained, leaving all the other ones who could be working out in the cold. It just goes to show, nobody really cares if you lose your home or not....


    Bernadette Santos wrote on August 10, 2009 05:11 PM: The Nevada Foreclosure Mediation Program has legally gone into effect July 1, 2009, BUT!!! the program is not known too many many of the public just yet and the people who will be running it and working for it had to learn what to do prior to it even taking their first case. SO!!! the program has really been more or LESS ready to go as of August 1 - which is merely only 10 days!!!! and not the five weeks as you falsely report! As word of this wonderful program/bill gets out to the public you and Mr. Bill Uffelman and the banks will definitely see an overwhelming amount of people needing mediation immediately. This should have went into effect at least a year ago so many more could have received legitimate help and the trickle down effect could have trickeld up. The question many of my clients (I am a Realtor) have been asking after I tell them about this mediation bill (which they all have never heard of) is when can we go to it? I have to tell them you have to wait until you get your Notice of Default. All of them have not paid for at least five months and none have received the letter. How are these people supposed to be able to apply for the mediation when the banks are not sending out the Notice of Default's? Please report properly and prevent reporting as if you are getting paid under the table by the banks and have biased feelings toward the article of such great importance to the majority of people in Nevada! Thank you. May Our Heavenly Father, Lord Jehovah God bless you with the knowledge and wisdom to report honestly and fairly.
    Blessings,
    Bernadette Santos
    Elite


    Constructive Feedback wrote on August 10, 2009 05:09 PM: Whining, sniveling, cowering, worthless uneducated Nevadans that bought too much house that they couldn’t afford. Low life uneducated losers wanting something for nothing. Unfit adults that are acting like children and can’t even financially take care of themselves, let alone their family!

    (Well, at least I got to talk to my bank and they provided me with this constructive feedback)


    Free Nevada wrote on August 10, 2009 10:36 AM: We may never know how many times the program "worked" by simply being the straw man. That is, just having this program around will allow many to call their lender and say "let's work this out or we're going to mediation." Unless the lender is incompetent, it will transfer the matter to an attorney who will try to work something out so, if nothing else, it has something to show at mediation later on. (Failure to respect the process could result in significant fines or even having the mortgage tossed out by the court!)


    Joe Bama wrote on August 10, 2009 10:04 AM: A lot of these dimbulbs who got into no down payment loans will go into this process expecting to end up with $100 a month for 12.000 months mortgages. When that does not happen they will then cry that the banks refused to work with them.


    patriot wrote on August 10, 2009 09:44 AM: Thanks TB its nice to hear someone actually sees that this was all planned out!!! furthermore that clunkers for cars watch out if you pay attention, to get it you must give total govt control over your computer .allowing them to access any and all, and share with foreign dignitaries, so check it out before you enter in.


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