Foreclosure Crisis Hearing Set for Tuesday

The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee, chaired by Senator David Thomas (R-Fountain Inn), will hold public hearings around the state On Tuesday dealing with the foreclosure crisis, including a hearing scheduled for Columbia.

The hearings are in response to pending state Senate Bill 702, which provides for pre-trial mediation of foreclosures, and imposes requirements on loan servicers that aim to prevent fraud and abuse. 

The Columbia public hearing will be held tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 8, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Capital Senior Center, 1650 Park Circle, Ballroom 2.

"Homeowners who have faced or are facing foreclosure due to a hardship they have experienced as a result of the financial crisis will be heard," said a press release from state Sen. Mike Rose of Dorchester. "They can share the problems and solutions they have experienced with lenders and servicers while trying to save their homes."

The panel will be looking for issues that can be addressed at the State level to help homeowners in distress, according to Rose. Senate Bill 702 was introduced last year by senators Thomas and Rose and was co-sponsored by 28 other senators. 

This bill mandated mediation prior to a foreclosure sale and required lenders/servicers to appoint one person in their company to deal with a borrower.

The mediation mandate has since been handled by an Executive Order issued by South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal, and Federal guidelines are now requiring a lender/servicer to appoint one person to work with a borrower facing foreclosure.

"I received numerous complaints about foreclosure abuses in Dorchester County and, upon investigation, determined there has been much abuse here and throughout South Carolina," said Rose. "In response, S. 702 is an effort to stop the abuse," he said

Such abuses, he said, include: instances of excessive attorney fee awards without legally required documentation; a secretary holding a foreclosure hearing instead of a judge doing so as required by law; intimidation of bidders at foreclosure auctions; and fraudulent paperwork, among other things.

Senator Thomas said many homeowners do not know where to go for help when they are facing foreclosure. Information will be available at the meeting to point consumers in the right direction.

Lenders and servicers, S.C. HELP, the Department of Consumer Affairs, the S.C. Board of Financial Institutions, and the Appleseed Legal Justice Center have been invited to attend to answer borrowers' questions.