As expected, the Governor signed SB 16 (as amended by House Amendment #8) into law on Friday. Among other things, the bill expedites foreclosures of abandoned property, provides a “safe harbor” against lawsuits when lenders and servicers enter abandoned properties to preserve and maintain them, and amends the Conveyances Act to override the last year's Crane decision, in which a bankruptcy held that recorded mortgages must include both the interest rate and maturity date. Importantly, HA #8 removed onerous language – which the IBA strongly opposed – allowing municipalities to treat mortgagees as “owners” of abandoned property and to subject them to registration, fees and fines (similar to the Chicago vacant property ordinance).

The new law also increases filing fees for residential foreclosure lawsuits for a temporary period, from June 1, 2013 to December 31, 2017, with the proceeds going to two funds – one for foreclosure prevention counseling, and one for grants to municipalities to clean up abandoned properties throughout the state. The amount of the new fee is based on the number of foreclosure filings that each financial institution initiated during the previous calendar year.