Law Gives Foreclosure Victims Extra Time

Minnesota homeowners facing foreclosure now have more time to fight, and maybe even a better shot at saving their homes.

Kristin Siegesmund is from the Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis.

“It gives them an option to catch up on the mortgage,” said Siegesmund. “It gives them more time to come up with five, six or $10,000."

The Legal Aid Society says the new state law will help people who've fallen on hard times, but believe they will be able to repay their delinquent account. The law allows homeowners to postpone their mortgage payment and delay the foreclosure or by five months.

State representative Joe Mullery says the extra time means most homeowners would have a total of about 10 months to catch up on their payments, before the sale.

“I don't want to see people losing their houses because they didn't know about this good new law," said Mullery.

The law went into effect June 15th. Mullery says he's surprised only a handful of people in the metro have filed paperwork and are agreeing to the new option.

Some counties have hosted workshops to inform residents as to how they can avoid foreclosures. There were 7,348 foreclosures in Hennepin County during 2008 and 1,065 foreclosures through February 2009.

New Foreclosure Law
www.hocmn.org