CLAYTON, Mo. (CN) - A circuit judge has blocked a new law designed to charge real estate lenders fees and penalties when a borrower forecloses on a loan.
Under the law, which was to have taken effect Friday, lenders and homeowners who request mediation would only have to meet and would not have to reach an agreement on the loan and the lenders would have to pay $500 for the mediation session.
Associate Circuit Judge Brenda Stith Loftin granted the temporary restraining Thursday at the request of the Missouri Bankers Association and Jonesburg State Bank.
"The Court finds plaintiffs will suffer immediate and irreparable financial and property damage if the Defendants are allowed to implement or enforce the Ordinance prior to a determination on the merits," Loftin wrote in her ruling according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Earlier this month in a separate piece of related litigation, The Business Bank of Saint Louis filed a class action against St. Louis County, claiming the new law overstepped state law regarding foreclosure protection.
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