Wow

Chicago's sheriff has placed a moratorium on evictions for mortgage foreclosures, angering bankers who say he's breaking the law.
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said he understood he was flouting the law in refusing to have deputies carry out the rising number of eviction requests, but mortgage holders must be accountable.
"These mortgage companies only see pieces of paper, not people, and don't care who's in the building," Dart said.
By halting the evictions, he's preventing about 500 notices that were scheduled over the next 6 weeks.
Mortgage foreclosure cases filed in Cook County are likely to exceed 43,000 this year, compared to some 18,000 in 2006, the sheriff said.
The president of the Illinois Bankers Association, Linda Koch, points out that they have to have the ability to "take over collateral upon default" or they won't make loans—which of course is absolutely true, but may not be the most realistic, or humane, or in this case enforceable, position at this moment in our country's history.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just came from some right leaning web sites who are busy ridiculing this man. They insist that he is not upholding the law. Wow.

I guess I am a liberal, because what he is stating makes perfect sense to me. Mortgage companies are not doing due diligence on these properties, and the end result is a potential buyer is being tossed out onto the street. We are not talking about owners who have been foreclosed on, but rather the renters who in many cases have no idea.

This is a reasonable request by a reasonable sheriff. My hats off to him for standing up to this nonsense and requesting something akin to reasonable notification.

October 9, 2008 at 5:37 PM
Anonymous said...

Banks have procedures and steps to foreclosure process. Bank hires local real estate agent to check occupancy, leave notice, and offer cash for key to owners or tenants. And when owners or tenant do not want to move within 30 days, sometimes after they get money from the bank, bank starts an eviction process and asks sheriff to proceed with eviction. What this sheriff is doing is illegal.

October 9, 2008 at 8:22 PM
VC said...

Screw illegal at this stage of the game. How much would it suck if you were evicted next week and a couple of days later the government bailout buys up all the bad mortgage loans? Like Gramma said "...at this point what difference does two weeks or a month matter. It stays empty and you don't get any money anyway. No skin off of their noses..."

October 9, 2008 at 9:24 PM
wirecutter said...

I've always been pretty right wing but I have to agree with you and the first poster, VC.
Does this mean that I'm a left leaning Conservative or a right leaning Liberal?

October 10, 2008 at 11:22 AM

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