Illinois Supreme Court

The Illinois Supreme Court announced on Monday a special committee to study and formulate proposals to help those facing the loss of their homes and improve the judicial process in mortgage foreclosures throughout Illinois. The proposal was brought to Chief Justice Thomas L. Kilbride and the Supreme Court by Supreme Court Justice Mary Jane Theis, who noted the problem isn’t easing. At the end of 2010, there were approximately 70,000 mortgage foreclosure actions pending in Cook County alone. Chief Justice Kilbride was instrumental in bringing a foreclosure mediation program to Will County and is looking at instituting additional programs in his Third Judicial District across north central Illinois. Cook County has a mediation program that was specifically recognized by the White House at a Washington D.C. conference sponsored by Vice President Joseph Biden’s Middle Class Task Force. “These have been important steps forward for those who are faced with the loss of their homes due to declining home values and our nation’s economic crisis, but the problem isn’t going away,” said Chief Justice Kilbride. “The Supreme Court has a keen interest in programs with the strong promise of achieving timely and lasting resolution to tough problems, and we believe this select Committee can come up with specific solutions to help families cope with the emotional and financial burdens of those facing such a devastating loss.” The Committee consists of 14 persons who have been on the front lines in dealing with the housing crisis, how it affects home-owning families as well as the lenders. They are judges, bankers, lawyers, a law professor and an official from the Illinois Attorney General’s office which has joined the nation’s other attorneys general in probing alleged abuses by lenders in their foreclosure filings “While the economy appears to be making some progress the foreclosure crisis remains a serious societal problem,” said Justice Theis. “It is important that the Court try to do what it can to lend some stability and certitude to what is a financially and emotionally chaotic process.  Mortgage foreclosure proceedings in Illinois need to be fair, efficient and final—not subject to later legal challenges. “Many homeowners in foreclosure cases cannot afford to hire a lawyer to represent them. They may not understand the proceedings against them and they don’t know if lenders have taken shortcuts by false documentation.  We need to provide protocols that are uniform and exist throughout the state to deal with the explosion of foreclosures that drive down property values and destabilize neighborhoods.”