Wayne County Sheriff Resumes Foreclosure Sales

""Sheriff Warren Evans"":http://www.waynecounty.com/sheriff of Wayne County, Michigan announced this week that he is resuming foreclosure sales. Evans halted all foreclosure sales in his jurisdiction on February 2nd, in anticipation of a foreclosure relief plan from the federal government. According to Evans, his decision kept 3,500 families in their homes long enough to take advantage of the Obama administration's Making Home Affordable program.
Evans said in a ""press statement"":http://www.waynecounty.com/mygovt/sheriff/newsroom/2009/foreclosure_sales_03-16-09.pdf, ""The stoppage of foreclosure sales in Wayne County that I instituted means new hope has been given to thousands of families at a time when not much else has been going their way due to the economy. From the beginning, my intent was to slow the process down until homeowners could receive the help that was coming from the federal government.""
Less than two weeks after Evans' foreclosure freeze, many of the nation's largest mortgage lenders - Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, CitiBank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, and others - announced their own foreclosure moratoriums in wait of the administration's mortgage relief program. Evans said that the moratoriums imposed by these lenders, which ended on Friday, March 6th, validates his initial decision to afford homeowners in Wayne County a recess in action to ensure they had all the options available in order to circumvent foreclosure.
Evans said, ""Had I not taken the unprecedented step of stopping these sales, 3,500 families would have lost their ability to apply to their lenders, or Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, for relief under President Obama's Homeowner Affordability and Stability Program. They would have lost all rights to obtain a mortgage modification to try to keep their homes.""
Toward the end of February, Evans released information establishing new procedures for the resumption of foreclosures in Wayne County only on properties for which the lender could provide sworn affidavits stating that it received no government funding, or if it had received taxpayer dollars, documentation showing attempts to modify the mortgage prior to foreclosure.
According to Evans, only a ""trickle"" of sales resumed under these conditions - 116 to be exact. Now that the government's Making Home Affordable program is available, as of March 16th, Evans has removed all of the prior restrictions and is resuming normal foreclosures sales.
Evans said, ""Effective immediately, I am discontinuing the requirement for TARP-related affidavits from lenders. I applaud the majority of lenders who imposed their own moratorium of foreclosures, which was a clear indication of their desire to work with distressed homeowners. Now that President Obama's plan is in effect, homeowners should have the protections they need to stay in their homes whenever possible.""
This week, Evans added, his office will be posting information and links on the ""sheriff's official Website"":http://www.waynecounty.com/sheriff to help homeowners and lenders maximize their participation in President Obama’s Making Home Affordable program.