John Rao, an attorney who studies state foreclosure procedures for the Washington, D.C.-based National Consumer Law Center, said this court order is the first of its kind. Some states like California have required foreclosing attorneys to include a statement saying whether the homeowner has been contacted about a loan modification, but the South Carolina order requires attorneys to say why the property isn't eligible.

"Simply contacting a homeowner is easy to do," Rao explained. "I think what's more important is that before they process the foreclosure, a court can look at the file and see exactly why they aren't eligible, so there's some transparency."

The order actually originated from a quirky state law that prompted Fannie Mae, a government-controlled mortgage company, to ask the state Supreme Court for a 90-day delay in foreclosure proceedings for homes it guarantees. Several South Carolina consumer groups filed a response to that request, alerting the court of this backlog in homeowner requests.

Lil Ann Gray of the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs, which wrote to the court on behalf of struggling homeowners, applauded the court order.

Read it all from the front page of the local paper.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Housing/Real Estate Market • Personal Finance • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • * South Carolina

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