Foreclosure Mediation - Limitations and Concerns

As part of my New Mexico mediation practice, I find I am increasingly being referred residential foreclosure mediation cases.  This is no accident as today, an increasing number of states and/or individual state courts are utilizing foreclosure mediation programs to manage the current "foreclosure crisis." Some states with such programs, either state-wide or local include: Connecticut; Delaware; Florida—various judicial districts; Kentucky—Jefferson County; Maine; Maryland; Michigan; Nevada; New Jersey; New Mexico—First and Thirteenth Judicial Districts; New York; Ohio—various counties; Oregon; Pennsylvania—various counties; Rhode Island—Providence. 

A recurring and thorny dilemma for mediators today is how to conduct and what are the proper parameters for a foreclosure mediation or settlement facilitation.

NM Survey -- Lawyers' Take on State’s Civil Justice System

In the January 12, 2011 edition of the New Mexico Bar Bulletin, State Supreme Court Justice Edward L. Chavez reported the results of a recent survey conducted by the NM Defense Lawyers Ass’n (NMDLA) and the NM Trial Lawyers Ass’n (NMTLA), at the State Supreme Court’s request.  See Bar Bulletin, Jan. 12, 2001, Vol. 50, No. 1.

The NMDLA and the NMTLA are comprised and represent the interests of members of the civil defense bar and the plaintiffs civil bar, respectively.  253 attorneys responded, and the results were interesting both for what they indicate, and the questions they leave lingering.