Springfield, IL– Legislation sponsored by State Senator Silverstein aimed at helping individuals sell their homes while in foreclosure proceedings passed the House on October 26, 2011 and now heads to the governor for his signature.

"Families are not losing their homes to foreclosure because they are dead beats refusing to pay their mortgages," Silverstein said.  "They are people who are struggling to get through the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.  Unfortunately, we are seeing banks stalling the process of a short sale in order to push through foreclosure proceedings, giving families limited options to get out of their mortgage debt." 

When a house has been assessed at less than the value of the debt, individuals can sell the house for less than the amount of debt in a short sale, as long as the bank agrees. Senate Bill 1259 requires that a mortgagee, such as a bank or financial institution, respond to a short sale offer by the owner within 90 days.  The measure also gives courts the authority to hold banks accountable to the 90 day response provision.  Previously, the court had no jurisdiction over unresponsive banks.

"Many individuals trying to get out of foreclosure present a short sale offer to the bank and the bank sits on the request causing hardship for the home owner," Silverstein said.  "Not knowing whether the bank will accept the offer causes distress and it is only proper for the bank to respond. This puts a duty on the bank to respond."