A lot of the cases that go through RSI’s foreclosure mediation programs end with a temporary loan modification – a trial payment plan in which the homeowner pays a new mortgage amount for a few months. If the homeowner makes the payments on time and in full during the trial period, the homeowner and bank agree to make the modification permanent. This means that a temporary loan modification doesn’t necessarily mean that the homeowner has averted foreclosure. Because of this, I was interested to find out if homeowners in our programs were able to convert their temporary loan modification into a permanent one. Now that a significant number of temporary payment periods have come to an end, I have finally been able to delve into that question. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘court programs’
What Happens to Temporary Loan Modifications Reached in Foreclosure Mediation?
Jennifer Shack, January 26th, 2015Grievance Procedures and Mediation Policy Goals
Jennifer Shack, August 6th, 2014Here’s something I wrote for RSI’s e-newsletter this month that I thought would interest our blog readers as well:
Parties to court mediation in Florida have the opportunity to submit their complaints regarding a mediator to a robust grievance process. The structure includes four stages: committee review to determine whether a complaint is facially sufficient; a preliminary review of rules that may have been violated and the mediator’s response to the complaint, which are used to determine probable cause; a meeting between mediator and complainant; and a formal hearing. In “Mediator Ethical Breaches: Implications for Public Policy” (Penn State Yearbook on Arbitration and Mediation, Vol. 6, p. 107 (2014)), Sharon Press examines this grievance process and finds that the burden of proof required at the formal hearing stage has the potential to undermine the policy goals of mediation programs. (more…)
When It Comes to Mediation, Less Regulation May Be More
Jennifer Shack, June 16th, 2014You’re a judge charged with overseeing a voluntary civil case mediation program in your court. Because you’ve been monitoring your program, you know that, though 75% of cases going through mediation are reaching agreement, the program isn’t doing much to reduce judges’ workloads because mediation generally occurs very late in the case. What do you do?
You have at least three options: (more…)
Illinois Supreme Court Increases Reporting Requirements for Family Mediation
Jennifer Shack, September 24th, 2013Anyone who knows RSI knows that we’re all about data. We believe that courts need good data about their programs in order to make good decisions about them. That’s why we were thrilled when the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Child Custody Issues asked for our help in developing a mediator report and participant survey that will be used statewide for family mediation. We’re even more thrilled that those forms have been adopted and will be required by the Supreme Court. This is part of the Court’s amendments to Rule 905, which went into effect September 1.
The rule, which governs child custody and visitation mediation, now requires that every judicial circuit file a quarterly report with the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts that includes “the number of custody, visitation and removal cases referred to mediation; the outcome of such a referral; number of cases referred on a pro bono basis; and the percentage of cases where the parties expressed satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the process.” The information will be used for what we love best at RSI – review of the mediation program statewide.
A more substantive change in the rule expands mandatory mediation to include a custodial parent’s request to remove a child to another state. It also requires the courts to make a “good faith” effort to provide an interpreter when a non-English speaking parent is involved in mediation and to provide a pro bono attorney when applicable.
