The
Right to Rescind Foreclosure Sales/Limitation of Damages
This bill, aimed at limiting the ability of third party purchasers
to litigate the outcome of foreclosure sales, recognizes the
absolute right of a mortgage lender to rescind a foreclosure
sale within 30 days of the sale, as long as the deed under
power has not been delivered to a purchaser. The lender must
return all bid funds paid by the purchaser within 5 days.
The statute limits damages that a purchaser may receive in
instances involving a rescinded sale due to (i) later discovered
bankruptcy filings, (ii) improperly conducted sales, and (iii)
sales that proceeded despite prior loss mitigation arrangements
with the borrower.
The bill was signed into law on 5/31/03 and is now effective.
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Legislation > |
Manufactured/Mobile
Homes - Change of Status to Real Property
This bill, while acknowledging that manufactured/mobile homes
are considered personal property, provides a welcome mechanism
for converting them to real property, thereby aiding mortgage
lenders in the foreclosure process. Basically, the home will
be considered real property if the home becomes permanently
affixed to the real property and the owner and holder of security
interest execute a Certificate of Permanent Location to be
filed in the real estate records and the motor vehicle records.
Once the Certificate of Permanent Location is properly filed
and the Certificate of Title is surrendered the home becomes
for all legal purposes a part of the real property. Once the
home becomes real property it may not be removed without written
consent of the security holder. The statute also provides
a mechanism to convert a home which was real property back
to personal property.
The bill was signed into law on 5/31/03 and is now effective.
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Legislation > |
Legendary Predatory
Lending Statute Gets “Watered-Down”
This bill revised a prior law that had just about everyone
in the country talking. The original bill, passed in October,
2002, defined classes of loans including "covered loans"
and "high cost loans." Among the changes welcomed
by lenders were the removal of assignee liability if the assignee
can show they performed due diligence to avoid buying loans
the statute classified as "high cost loans." Also,
flipping provisions will only apply to loans which are defined
as "high cost loans," essentially doing away with
the "covered loan" classification. The statute excludes
certain interest and fees paid at closing relating to government
programs from calculations used to define loans under the
statute. The bill was signed into law on 3/7/03 and is now
effective. Read
Legislation > |
Your
Right to Collect a Bankruptcy Arrearage Claim Survives Discharge
In Re Carmen Bateman, Eleventh Circuit case which holds that
a secured creditor's right to a full and complete contractual
reinstatement survives a Chapter 13 discharge, provided you
timely file your claim and it is not successfully objected
to. Thus, in situations where a Chapter 13 Plan is successfully
completed and the case is discharged, you no longer have to
“write-off” a remaining claim balance. In essence,
this outlaws the practice of Chapter 13 Trustees who pay arrearage
claims based upon the amount stated in a confirmed plan over
the amount stated in a mortgage lender’s proof of claim.
The Court also opined that all claims objections must be filed
and resolved before confirmation of the Plan.
This was decided 5/23/03. It applies to all bankruptcy cases
in Alabama, Georgia and Florida. View
full documentation > |
