Clearwater and Pinellas Counties, Florida are entering a different kind of judicial review next week. That’s because Pinellas, Pasco Judge J Thomas McGrady has decided to kick-ass, and clears his Courthouse of the foreclosure cases that are clogging up his system, by making the parties sit down and negotiate.

“We have a crisis,” McGrady said when he announced his project to help people keep their homes. “The program requires the lenders to meet with the borrowers and negotiate in good faith.”

For a long time now the other participants in the foreclosure debating chamber have been objecting to the amount of time banks take to respond to the simplest question. Most interpret this as stubborn unwillingness to speak to clients unable to continue with their mortgage payments.

“The borrowers will benefit the most,” Judge J Thomas McGrady said. “The lenders, I can’t say they are enthusiastic about it, because it’s costing them another $750.”

The few extra dollars that the banks will have to fork out are a whole lot less than the cost of a legal foreclosure. It will also be a considerably quicker process – potentially it could take just a few hours to get a solution done and dusted.

Although some of the repossession cases up for auction in Clearwater last Wednesday dated back two years, the Sheriff wasn’t fazed. We sold seventeen homes, he told me, and all of them back to the banks who don’t want them anyway. The situation is a mess and we need to rethink what we are doing.

The new process introduced by Judge J Thomas McGrady applies only to residential real estate including houses, condos and apartments, in other words properties where the indebted owner lives in the home. These are about third of the Judge’s workload, and surely the most traumatic on his desk.

  • The Court will post letters to troubled residents, that will explain the opportunity and encourage them to attend, as opposed to dropping out

  • A private firm chosen by public tender will facilitate the discussions, receiving a flat fee once the case is settled.
  • The target for completion is speedy resolution following no more than two meetings.

In all of this, Judge J Thomas McGrady is driven by a strong social conscience too. He’s hoping his initiative will improve local neighborhoods. When delinquent borrowers see a chance of remaining on, he told me, they will take better care of that home.

This sounds like a good move, doesn’t it? It seems that everybody will win. Banks save time and money, families’ fortunes should improve, and residents will know their future sooner. Did you enjoy this article? Follow this lead at the site where foreclosures sell – www.foreclosuredatabank.com.

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