Section 654.4B. Acceleration of indebtedness — notice of mortgage mediation assistance.

  1.  Prior to commencing a foreclosure on the accelerated balance of a mortgage loan and after termination of any applicable cure period, including but not limited to those provided in section 654.2A or 654.2D, a creditor shall give the borrower a fourteen-day demand for payment of the accelerated balance to qualify for an award of attorney fees under section 625.25 on the accelerated balance.

  2.  Prior to filing a petition under this chapter on a one-family or two-family dwelling that is the residence of the owner, the creditor shall inform the owner of the availability of counseling and mediation on a form as the attorney general may prescribe. The notice required by this section shall be mailed by ordinary mail to the owner along with the notice of acceleration or other initial communication from the attorney representing the creditor in the action, and shall also be served on the owner with the original notice and petition seeking foreclosure. If, following application by the owner or on its own motion, the court finds that the notice was not served on the owner as required by this subsection and that the owner desires counseling or mediation, the court shall grant to the owner a delay of the sheriff’s sale or, in the event the sheriff’s sale has occurred and the mortgagee or its affiliate was the winning bidder at the sheriff’s sale, a delay of the recording of the sheriff’s deed. In either case, the delay shall not exceed sixty days. If the affidavit of service for the original notice in the court file indicates that the notice required by this subsection was served on the owner, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the notice was served as required by this subsection. The court may grant an application for a delay pursuant to this subsection ex parte only if the court file does not show service of the notice on the owner along with the original notice. Objection to the failure of the mortgagee to serve the notice is barred unless an application under this subsection is timely filed and is granted before the date of the sale or recording, respectively. If the court delays the sheriff’s sale, the new sale date and time shall be announced orally by the sheriff at the time previously scheduled for sale, and the mortgagee need not republish and serve notice of the rescheduled sale.

2009 Acts, ch 51, §6, 16, 17

; 2011 Acts, ch 134, §17, 29

; 2012 Acts, ch 1134, §17, 21

; 2013 Acts, ch 139, §54