MAINE TO LAUNCH FORECLOSURE MEDIATION WITH HELP OF COURTS

Maine Public Broadcasting - A common complaint of homeowners facing foreclosure is that it's difficult to reach lenders to modify their loans. The state is trying to help by offering mediation between the parties. Created by the Legislature this year, the program doesn't officially start until January. But it's getting a trial run at York County District Court in Sanford, which has seen the state's highest rate of foreclosures. . .

So far, five judges have volunteered to serve as mediators. Homeowners welcomed the idea of a third party joining in on talks with the lender. They say they were tired of having to work with the banks or mortgage brokers on their own, and getting nowhere.. . .

Under the state program, the homeowner and his lawyer get a half-day of face time with the lender - who would probably participate by phone - and the lender's lawyer. Many of the homeowners had given up any hope of meeting their lender. . .

The state law requires that lenders who want to file foreclosures in Maine have to participate in mediation - or else. "The sanctions could include dismissing the case and barring the refilng of the suit for a period of time," says Andrew Janelle, the Maine District Court judge who is overseeing the program's launch in York County.

Foreclosure mediation programs are already up and running in more than a dozen states. Janelle says Maine's bears the most resemblance to Connecticut's, where a third of foreclosure cases have gone to mediation. In about 70 percent of those, he says, some sort of settlement is reached.