Foreclosure mediations yet to begin

LYNN – Eight months after city councilors passed an anti-foreclosure law before a cheering crowd inside the City Council Chamber, no mediation meetings aimed at preventing home takings have been scheduled and a city lawyer said banks could begin filing foreclosure deeds next week.?That?s when the rubber meets the road,” said Assistant Solicitor James Lamanna.Approved over Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy?s objections last May 14, the ordinance requires banks to designate someone to negotiate an alternative to foreclosure with homeowners and a mediator.With the ordinance?s passage, Southern Essex Register of Deeds John L. O?Brien Jr. vowed to not register Lynn foreclosure deeds in his office unless they included a city certificate of mediation indicating an attempt was made to find alternatives to foreclosure.Lamanna on Friday estimated 35 to 40 Lynn homeowners facing foreclosure since the ordinance?s passage are waiting for mediation meetings to be scheduled. The city has picked a Boston and Salem-based firm to handle mediations, but Massachusetts Dispute Resolution Services urged the council late last year to make adjustments to the ordinance, including a city guarantee to defend the mediator against a “lawsuit brought challenging the legality of the ordinance.”City lawyers advised Kennedy last December that banks challenging the city of Springfield?s mediation law secured an initial court order preventing mediations from proceeding until questions surrounding the city?s law are reviewed by the state Supreme Judicial Court.?If we did proceed, the court – more than likely – would issue a similar order to us,” Lamanna said on Friday.Council President Daniel Cahill said he has discussed Lynn?s mediation law with Kennedy and, along with mediation advocate and Ward 6 Councilor Peter Capano, held meetings to sort through Dispute Resolution?s concerns about the Lynn law.?We continue to have a dialogue on which items need changing. We have not reached an accord on that. Most people are in agreement that we expect legal challenges once (the law) gets up and running unless we can craft it in such a way as to avoid legal obstacles,” Cahill said.Registry First Assistant Kevin Harvey on Friday said O?Brien stands by his commitment to not file foreclosure deeds unless they are accompanied by a city mediation certificate.?If a foreclosure comes forward, we have to ensure the law is followed. We want to do what?s right,” Harvey said.