(Wall Street Journal) — A few states are forcing banks to sit down with borrowers facing foreclosure and attempt to hammer out a settlement face to face rather than going to court. The compulsory negotiations, assisted by a third-party mediator, are producing loan modifications and other settlements at substantially higher rates than voluntary-mediation programs that have been implemented in some states. Nationwide, the number of troubled homeowners receiving assistance with their mortgages has been falling. About 470,000 homeowners received loan assistance in the third quarter, down 17% from the second quarter and down 32% from the same quarter a year earlier, federal bank regulators said in a report Wednesday.
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