“Colorado is one the 27 states,” in which the foreclosure moratorium is still in effect, BofA spokeswoman Jumana Bauwens told InsideRealEstateNews today in an e-mail. However, the moratorium in Colorado likely will not be in effect much longer. ”We have no specific date yet, but likely (it will end) in the next few weeks,” Bauwens added, regarding resuming foreclosures in Colorado.
BofA halted foreclosure actions in all 50 states on Oct. 8, in the wake of allegations that foreclosure applications by it and other banks were not handled properly. One problem was the wide-use of “robo signers,” that automatically signed documents, instead of properly reviewing them.
BofA, in a press release released on Monday, said that that it has reviewed its process for resubmitting “foreclosure affidavits in the 23 judicial states with key stakeholders, including our largest investors. Accordingly, Bank of America today began the process of preparing foreclosure affidavits for submission in 102,000 foreclosure actions in which judgment is pending.”
Colorado, unlike the majority of states, exclusively uses the public trustee system for processing foreclosures, as opposed to a court system.
State by state review
Next Monday, BofA anticipates “affidavits will be resubmitted to the courts. Upon judgment, foreclosure dates will be set and Bank of America will resume foreclosure sales in such proceedings in the 23 judicial states. We will continue to delay foreclosure sales in the remaining 27 states until our review is complete on a state by state basis. We anticipate over the course of this pause, less than 30,000 foreclosure sales will have been delayed. As was the case for our judicial state review, our initial assessment findings show the basis for our foreclosure decisions is accurate. Our decision to review our process and later, to extend our review to all 50 states, has been an important step to give customers confidence they are being treated fairly.”
In the Denver area, there are only 415 homeowners with BofA loans facing foreclosure, according to an analysis by SKLD Information Systems. A poll on InsideRealEstateNews found that those who voted were about equally divided on whether BofA made the correct decision by temporarily halting foreclosure actions. Some experts feel that it only delayed the inevitable, threatens to worsen the foreclosure crisis, is is a slippery ethical slope, as it not fair to owners still making their mortgage payments, and it was a politically motivated decision. Others, however, believe that banks that helped to create the collapse of the housing market by making irresponsible loans, must follow the letter of the law when undertaking something as serious as foreclosing on a home. Also, some argue that a moratorium on foreclosures will give banks and borrowers more time to find an alternative to returning their home to the lender.
Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com.
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