Heard in the Hall

City halts Sheriff's sales again

Philadelphia City Hall and political coverage from the Philadelphia Inquirer City Hall bureau.

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City halts Sheriff's sales again

POSTED: Thursday, December 23, 2010, 3:36 PM

Jeff Shields

Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas President Judge Pamela Dembe has ordered a 30-day stay on foreclosure sales by the Philadelphia Sheriff's Office, in the hope that a new federal program coming online in January will help save some of those homes.

Dembe issued an order this afternoon postponing the Jan. 4 sale of owner occupied homes. It's not clear how many fit into this category. It came after City Councilwoman Jannie L. Blackwell and Curtis Jones Jr. on Wednesday and Thursday urged Sheriff John Green to halt the sales Tuesday at the urging of Hundreds of homes up for foreclosure sale.

The petition is based on the availability of $106 Million in federal funds for Pennsylvania residents to assist with mortgage payments that has not yet arrived at the state, said Frank Keel, spokesman for the courts.

Green previously halted Sheriff's sales in 2008 while the city came up with a foreclosure prevention program that would gain national attention.

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0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 4:11 PM, 12/23/2010

Here's the problem. This has been planned before in many other cities, but until the lenders cooperate and agree to work with their deliquent borrowers nothing will happen. Some major banks work with their clients, and some refuse to.

— thrillaike

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0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 5:31 PM, 12/23/2010

Isn't it ironic that the spokesperson for the Philadelphia Court system in this matter is Keel who is joined at the hip to John Dougherty. Neither Keel nor his business are in Philadelphia. What a joke.

— Optomist

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0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 5:18 AM, 12/25/2010

Great! Now let's give the people TARP money so they can get back on their feet, after all we gave money to wall street after they robbed all of us.

— SouthPhillyDemocrat

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0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 9:28 AM, 12/29/2010

Clearly, to anyone who can read anyway, this is a hault to Sherrif sales of foreclosed properties. Banks aren't making loans because they've returned to guidelines that won't allow risky loans. Banks can no longer make risky loans, pocket the commission, and sell the mortgage to some sucker. Noone is buying. Until demand returns to the economy, it will be difficult for businesses to qualify for loans of any type. If the banks revise the original mortgage so that borrowers can make their payments, it's good for everyone....you'd think. But now banks are making a bundle off fees associated with foreclosures. That's why they string this out. You want the bank to reevaluate the original mortgage? Sure. For a fee. That's where they are making money.

— MikeP