New Legislation on Foreclosures

With the start of the new legislative session on Beacon Hill, a number of bills have been filed that would effect the process of foreclosures in Massachusetts. As reported by the Boston Globe yesterday, one proposal would require all foreclosures to be first approved by a judge, another would "force lenders to prove they possessed a valid title" and a third would "require foreclosing banks to negotiate with homeowners by sitting down with a third-party mediator."

While there may be near unanimous agreement that foreclosures are a problem, reaching consensus on the causes of the problem or the proper response is more elusive. For that reason, many of the bills of the type described above tend to linger in committee and die a slow death. It's perhaps better to move slowly when amending procedures that have been in place for long periods of time.