Judge Jones sees help coming for homeowners

Common Pleas President Judge C. Darnell Jones told City Council yesterday that a moratorium on sheriff's sales is not "required or legal, quite frankly," to deal with home foreclosures prompted by subprime mortgages.

Jones said that the First Judicial District instead is developing a program to offer legal, financial and housing counseling to homeowners at risk for foreclosure.

Council last month passed a resolution calling on Jones to approve a moratorium. Sheriff John Green postponed this month's sheriff's sales and said that he would ask Jones to approve a halt to the auctions for six months.

"Realistically, it's simply not the answer, because it doesn't help anyone," Jones said after yesterday's Council hearing on the judicial system's budget.

"It just postpones the inevitable."

Subprime mortgages, with interest rates that can increase, are often issued to buyers with credit problems who cannot afford conventional mortgages. Some Council members complain that "predatory lenders" targeted minority homebuyers with those plans.

Jones said the new program, being developed by a committee of community groups, counseling agencies and attorneys for mortgage lenders, would focus assistance on owner-occupied homes. The program will exclude commercial properties, houses purchased by real-estate speculators and landlords, and abandoned properties.

Jones said the group hopes to have the plan ready by Monday.

The goal is to help those in need while not postponing legitimate legal actions by unpaid lenders.

"It is unfair to the lenders to paint with a broad brush this need for a moratorium on foreclosure sales," Jones said.

Sheriff's sales are due to resume on May 6. Jones hopes owner-occupied properties will be identified by then and diverted into the new program, sparing them from the auction.

Green yesterday said his deputies this week are visiting every property up for auction to determine which are owner-occupied homes.

"At this point, I'm just looking forward to finding out what comes out of that process and trying to implement it," Green said of the program. "It's good to have partners in this whole fight."

Sheriff's sales have been on the decline since 2004, when Green launched a consumer-education program to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. But Green warns that all sheriff's sales have negative impacts on surrounding neighborhoods.

"I've always been concerned about the one person who may lose their home or the 10 people who may lose their homes or the 100 people who may lose their homes," Green said. *