Massachusetts: Deadline To Preserve Right To Challenge Foreclosures Approaches

http://www.bankerandtradesman.com/2016/12/deadline-preserve-right-challenge-foreclosures-approaches/

By Jim Morrison

Last Friday, Antonio Ibañez – yes, that Ibañez – spoke out publicly for the first time urging homeowners who have been foreclosed-upon prior to 2014 to file paperwork at their registry to preserve their right to challenge that foreclosure for 20 years by Friday, or lose that right forever.

The bill Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law last November cures “Ibañez-like” title defects on foreclosed upon properties, so they can be legally resold and is sometimes referred to as the Ibañez Repair Law.

“This bill hasn’t fixed anything for me,” Ibañez said. “The bill is not a fix and certainly should not have my name on it.”

Grace Ross, of the Massachusetts Alliance Against Predatory Lending, said her organization is offering people who have been foreclosed on the counseling and paperwork they need to file paperwork with their registry, but they have to act quickly. Ross said filing the paperwork is simple and doesn’t mean they have to file suit, it just preserves the right to do so.

“There are 74,000 families just like Antonio’s in Massachusetts who need to know about this and their government is not telling them,” Ross said. “During the worst years of the foreclosure crisis, we had two or three years from when homeowners received notice before things really got rolling. Now they take you to court right away.”

Homeowners foreclosed-upon after 2014 are also encouraged to file the appropriate paperwork with their local registry to preserve their right to challenge the foreclosure, though they have three years from the date of the foreclosure to do so.

For more information, visit http://www.maapl.info/.