A West Sacramento man is among the first in the state to use California's new Homeowner Bill of Rights to stop a bank from foreclosing on his home, and experts say the case marks a shift in a legal system that has traditionally favored lenders.
Kevin Singh, a house painter, secured a federal court order earlier this month after Bank of America allegedly engaged in a now-forbidden practice called dual tracking. The behavior, in which a bank proceeds with foreclosure while negotiating with a borrower for a loan modification, has been widely criticized as deceptive.
Experts said Singh's case was the first instance in which a judge issued a preliminary injunction to halt a foreclosure auction under the Homeowner Bill of Rights.
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U.S. District Court Judge Morrison England Jr. granted the temporary restraining order on April 17, and Bolanos asked a colleague to go to the auction at a hotel in West Sacramento to "wave the TRO at the auctioneer."
The sale was stopped, and on May 1 England issued a preliminary injunction halting the foreclosure indefinitely. England noted in his order that Bank of America had not disputed Singh's claim that he never received a decision on his loan modification before the bank moved to foreclose.
"An injunction is in the public's interest as it enforces a recently enacted law designed to protect the public," the judge wrote.
Sacramento Bee, 5/23/13
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/05/23/5441875/west-sacramento-homeowner-uses.html#storylink=cpy
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/05/23/5441875/west-sacramento-homeowner-uses.html#storylink=cpy