Mortgage foreclosures continue to rise in Wilkes-Barre, Scranton and Stroudsburg, and in all other parts of Luzerne County, Lackawanna County, Monroe County and Pike County, in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Many who have visited my web site and my blog in the past know that I, with a group of 60 attorneys from coast to coast, lobbied members of Congress in February 2008 to enact mortgage modification legislation that would empower judges to modify the terms of mortgages based on the appraised values of the mortgaged properties so that the escalation of mortgage foreclosures would cease.

Based on our day-to-day experiences in the trenches, we believed that the effect of the enactment of the legislation would result in people being able to stay in their homes and resume affordable mortgage payments, while enabling banks to get at least, if not more, than what they would have gotten had they foreclosed instead.

Real estate values would then become more predictable than they are today and banks could then make loans with less fear of risk, knowing the value of their security was more predictable.

Guess what? Our convictions about the enactment of mortgage modification legislation are stronger than ever, particularly in light of the banks’ failed efforts to engage in “self modification,” the failure of the HAMP program, and the exposure of the bogus mortgage assignment debacle.

Please let me know your thoughts or, if you wish to discuss this issue or learn more, you may call me or send an e-mail. Also, please feel free to log onto my blog from time-to-time, as I will be sending out regular posts to keep you apprised of our efforts.