2010 Indiana State Foreclosure-Related Legislation: HB 1122

Unlike last year, Indiana's General Assembly was relatively inactive with regard to debating and enacting mortgage foreclosure-related laws.  It's my understanding that the only bill with any real significance that passed was HB 1122 - Abatement of Vacant or Abandoned Structures.  Here's a .pdf of the House Enrolled Act, signed by Governor Daniels on 3-17-10, that will be effective 7-1-10:  House Enrolled Act No. 1122. 

The legislation, which amends Ind. Code Sections 24-5.5-1-1, 32-29-7-3 and 36-7-9-12, deals mainly with residential/consumer matters.  For more detail, the Indiana Bankers Association provides a nice Bill Summary for your review.  The one development that appears to have some potential impact on commercial matters involves a governmental enforcement authority's ability to praecipe for a sheriff's sale if a judgment creditor has not done so for 180 days after the entry of judgment.  In such a case, the sheriff must then conduct a foreclosure sale within 120 days of the date of the praecipe. 

The primary purpose of this legislation was to combat problems associated with vacant or abandoned houses.  Although technically the rules appear to apply to non-residential cases, given the law's design, coupled with a commercial lender's inherent desire to push foreclosures to sale, as a practical matter the legislation should rarely if ever impact commercial foreclosures.  Please email or post a comment if you have a different take on the new law, thanks.