Lenders Want to Help You Avoid Foreclosure with Mediation
If you have received a Connecticut Foreclosure Notice (Summons) recently, you should have also received "Homeowner Notice: Availability of Foreclosure Mediation" stating that you may be eligible for mediation assistance from the courts. One of the best things you can do in a foreclosure situation is apply for mediation. It does a couple things for you. First - it gives you more time to figure out what you're going to do to resolve the situation. Second - the mrediationrs are very helpful and are trained on how to deal with the lenders and homeowners to come to an agreement that works for everyone. Hopefully working with a mediator will stop the foreclosure and help you keep your home.
As for the mediation process, you will be scheduled to meet at the courthouse in your area. You will meet with a court mediator and a representative from your lender, most likely an attorney. From what I understand, some attorneys for lenders (like Hunt Leibert Jacobsen for example) actually spend their entire day at the courthouse working on Foreclosure Mediation with homeowners and mediators. They review your present situation and discuss what you would like to see happen. They will most likely make you an offer of some kind. The mediator will ask the attorney to step out ans ask you some questions in private to better help them understand what you are able to afford. Let them know if you don't think you will be able to make payments according to the terms offered by the attorney. The important thig is to be as honest as possible with the mediator about what you can afford to pay.
Do you qualify for mediation? According to the CT Judicial Branch Law Libraries website,
In order to qualify for this program, the borrower/homeowner must be an owner-occupant of a one-to-four family residential property. The property must be the homeowner’s primary residence and located in Connecticut. The lender must serve a Notice to Homeowner, JD-CV-94 and Foreclosure Mediation Request, JD-CV-93 form to the homeowner when it commences the foreclosure action.
If you meet these requirements, follow the instructions on the Mediation Request form and send it in to the court. As with all things related to the foreclosure process - TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE. You must return the mediation request form not more than 15 days from the Return Date on the Summons, or 15 days from service of the Mediation Request Form, whichever is later. More details and information can be found on the CT Judicial Branch website.
