About 80 percent of those asking to participate in a new Madison County foreclosure mediation program have been accepted, and 19 of them have kept their homes or renegotiated financing, court officials say. People who want to take advantage of the program are referred to attorney Linda Jun, of the Land of Lincoln Legal Services Foundation.
Most of the people who ask for the service do not have lawyers, and Jun’s effort is to bring the defendant and the plaintiff together to work out an agreement.
“This success is greatly owed to Linda Jun, the program administrator and Associate Judge Stephen Stobbs who presides over the docket,” said Circuit Judge Dave Hylla, who oversees the program.
“This program is a win-win for all parties. I am confident that we can continue to bring homeowners and lenders together, outside of court, and help them achieve successful outcomes to their cases,” Stobbs said.
Chief Judge Ann Callis announced in April that homeowners facing foreclosure can take advantage of the program in the wake of an Illinois Supreme Court ruling establishing the mediation program in Madison County.
In some cases, a loan might be restructured, and in others the homeowner might be able to give up the home and move without the necessity of proceeding with the foreclosure suit, Jun said.
Homeowners facing foreclosure receive information about the program with their court papers. To participate, they must submit a request for mediation and meet certain financial eligibility requirements.
The local rule that established the Madison County Residential Foreclosure Mediation Program is the result of months of discussion among lenders and homeowner interests, Callis said.
Callis headed up a committee that was formed in the fall of 2010 to explore the possibilities of forming the service. Homeowners’ attorneys, banks’ attorneys, mediators, Realtors and judges were involved in the discussions.
