Most foreclosures in our Commonwealth are non-judicial, meaning that all the lender must do to establish the ownership is to give notice, wait a short time (usually 14 days) and then sell the property. The lender does not have to get court approval.
Senator McEachin has proposed a bill to require a judicial procedure before a sale for liens after July 1, 2011. I support this so that there is some sort of oversight. There are too many mistakes and perhaps even bad, fraudulent practices in the foreclosure business. Differences in amount owed, the short period of time and the inability of most poor or middle class homeowners to get an attorney to review the process all speak to a need for judicial oversight.
Here is the bill. Consider if your senator or representative will support it.
About Elwood Sanders
Elwood "Sandy" Sanders is a Hanover attorney who is an Appellate Procedure Consultant for Lantagne Legal Printing and has written ten scholarly legal articles. Sandy was also Virginia's first Appellate Defender and also helped bring curling in VA! (None of these titles imply any endorsement of Sanders’ views)
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Judicial foreclosure is probably a pipe dream for foreclosure reform advocates. It looks like most of the bills this session are being sent to a commission formed by the governor. It seems to me the legislature is an appropriate place to have these discussions rather than an unelected commission. This bill has only a few days to be passed before crossover requires people to wait another year, and there is no counterpart in the House.
My original analysis from before the session started can be found here:
http://northernvirginialawyer.blogspot.com/2011/01/general-assembly-proposals-judicial.html