GMAC foreclosure freeze lifted
A federal judge has allowed GMAC Mortgage Co. to resume foreclosure and eviction procedures in Maine, following a three-week suspension agreement reached between the company and Attorney General Janet Mills.
U.S. District Court Judge Brock Hornby last week denied issuing a temporary restraining order against GMAC aiming to freeze foreclosure sales as part of a class-action lawsuit against the company, according to the Portland Press Herald. Lawyers Andrea Bopp Stark and Tom Cox, who filed the suit against GMAC in October on behalf of several homeowners and want the case remanded back to state court, had requested the restraining order until jurisdiction was decided. Hornby denied the order because the case will likely not be remanded.
Hornby's decision allows GMAC to "proceed with foreclosure sales and evictions in cases where all the relevant factual information supporting foreclosure has been confirmed," the company said in a statement, the Maine Public Broadcasting Network reported. Hornby also denied the plaintiffs' request for damages, Cox told MPBN. The parties must now submit briefs on the plaintiffs' motion for partial remand and on GMAC's motion for dismissal, which are expected to be filed by the end of the month, according to the paper.
Last month, Mills said GMAC agreed to temporarily freeze foreclosure proceedings until concerns about its procedures were resolved. GMAC is at the center of a foreclosure controversy, after an employee admitted to signing more than 10,000 foreclosure documents a month without verifying their accuracy. Assistant Attorney General Linda Conti told MPBN the Attorney General's Office is considering joining the suit or "[bringing] its own action."
For more on Tom Cox's role in the foreclosure controversy, see "Finding a door."
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Go to the article from MPBN >>
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