Technology & Litigation

Your friendly neighborhood technology counsel here:  As you likely know, my goal is to become THE Indiana technology lawyer; however, technology is not my only area of interest.  Like many of the  folks at Alerding Castor Hewitt, technology law is a passion, but we all strive to be a full service law firm for all businesses.  Thus, in addition to tech stuff, I also litigate matters for several banking and business clients.  And, as any good lawyer does, when I see changes in the law that may impact my clients, I want to shout it from the rooftops.  One such change that, to date, has gone largely unheralded is an amendment passed to the Indiana "Get Hope. Get Help" statute (Ind. Code 32-30-10.5-8). 

For those that don't know, this provision, enacted originally in 2009, requires a lender to send a written notice to a mortgage holder regarding their default and options to avoid foreclosure before the lender can proceed with a foreclosure suit.  The intended purpose of the law is to avoid unnecessary foreclosure of residential properties by "requiring early contact and communications among creditors, agents and debtors" and "facilitating the modification of residential mortgages in appropriate circumstances."  This is debtor safeguard that lenders have to navigate before they can foreclose on a property.  The letter itself has a large "GET HOPE. GET HELP" header, hence the nomenclature.    

The new provisions amended to the statute in the 2010 session  clarify that any time before a sheriff's sale, a debtor can do one of three things with the property. They can: (1) appeal a finding of abandonment; (2) redeem the real estates; or (3) retain possession of the property until the sale.  These three things already existed in Indiana law, but are now more clearly set out and obvious.  The goal is clearly to make the options abundantly clear to all involved. 

To me the more important change is the requirement that the applicable notice prescribed by the statute must be in 14 point font.  The necessary language is "Mortgage foreclosure is a complex process.  People may approach you about "saving" your home.  You should be careful about any such promises.  There are government agencies and non-profit organizations you may contact for helpful information about the foreclosure process.  For the name and telephone number of an organization near you, please call the Indiana Foreclosure Prevention Network".  

So, all you lenders out there heed the warning of the new statute.  There are procedures that you must follow before you can even get to a court room.  While I understand the reasoning behind these provisions, they are certainly something about which lenders should be aware.  The foreclosure process is a necessarily lengthy one, and you don't want to unnecessarily extend that by using the wrong size font.