At the start of October, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Ohio adopted the Mortgage Modification Mediation Program (“the MMM Program”) for all bankruptcy cases. The MMM Program is optional but is available for debtors and creditors to use when a debtor’s property is at risk of foreclosure or other adverse action. The goal of the program is to facilitate communication and exchange of information between the parties with the hope that they will be able to create a beneficial agreement.
The debtor must request participation in the MMM Program and if ordered by the court, then deadlines are set for both parties to provide documents, information, and reports through the program’s online portal. The program uses the Default Mitigation Management LLC (“DMM”) DMMPortal which specializes in loan modifications and online loss mitigation services. Upon the order directing mediation, the parties will have 150 days to work with a facilitator and attempt to reach an agreement. The MMM Program’s website provides extensive information on the program’s procedures, the mandatory forms, and general timeline for the program. The website also features an application for facilitators as well as a registry of certified program facilitators. To be eligible as a facilitator for the program, an applicant must be an Ohio attorney who has been admitted to practice for at least five years and has received at least eight hours of training specific to mortgage modification mediation.
