More on the Nevada Foreclosure Prject

The Mercury News is reporting that the Nevada Supreme Court swore in 75 new mediators as part of its Foreclosure Mediation Program.

The Nevada Supreme Court's website shows that more than 3,400 homeowners have requested mediation. 372 mediations have been conducted. 1,401 cases have been assigned to mediators.

We've blogged about the Nevada program before. One of the important questions, to me, is how is a successful mediation and program outcome defined?

If a mediation results in a modified loan, but the homeowner defaults a few months down the road, is that a success? I'll be interested to know the general parameters of the settlements that are reached, what percentage of homeowners and mortgage companies participate, and the satisfaction levels of the mortgage companies and the homeowners immediately after the mediation and 6 months after the mediation.

Nevada Foreclosure Mediation in Effect

Pursuant to state law and Supreme Court rules, the Nevada Foreclosure Mediation Program is underway, having received its first requests for mediation. Click here for the story from KTNV.

The large number of foreclosures in Nevada prompted the state legislature to adopt Assembly Bill 149 this year, which establishes a mediated foreclosure program for owner-occupied residential properties subject to foreclosure notices (only those filed after July 1, 2009). The Nevada Supreme Court adopted rules for the program. The Nevada Supreme Court's foreclosure web page may be found here.

Some interesting aspects of the program:

• The establishment of a new fee of $50.00 to pay for the program;
• Mediation will occur within 90 days of the date the lender records the notice of default;
• The list of mediators includes senior judges, Supreme Court settlement conference judges, and other designees;
• Mediators must be an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Nevada or otherwise "experienced" (defined as having 40 hours of classroom and role playing and 10 meditations as a co-mediator or solo mediator);
• All mediators must participate in a four hour training in mortgages, deeds of trust, promissory notes, loan modifications, and Nevada foreclosure law;
  
• Mediators are paid $400.00, paid equally between the parties and the fee is nonrefundable.

I am looking forward to seeing the results of this program and whether the number of foreclosures decrease, what percentage of loans are modified, and what percentage of modified loans subsequently go into default.