Foreclosure Mediation

The Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) is an independent state agency that provides an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) to hear cases in which a party disagrees with the action of another State agency. In addition to hearing cases, all ALJs are certified mediators who regularly conduct mediations in many cases.

Maryland's Foreclosure Mediation Law, which applies to foreclosures filed in the court on or after July 1, 2010, offers homeowners facing foreclosure an opportunity to meet with the lender and an ALJ who will assist the parties in an attempt to find an alternative to foreclosure.

Once the homeowner files a mediation request with the Circuit Court and pays the $50.00 fee, the Circuit Court will refer the request to OAH. OAH will conduct the mediation within 60 days after it receives the request from the Circuit Court. OAH will send the parties a Notice of Mediation that will inform them of the time and date of the mediation and of the documents they will be required to produce no later than 20 days before the mediation.

Foreclosure mediations are conducted remotely using the Webex platform. Please carefully review the instructions sent with your mediation notice. You can participate in WebEx mediations by computer or phone, and you do not need a camera. Click here for WebEx FAQs.

If you want to request a change in the format of your hearing (from remote to in-person, or from in-person to remote), please click HERE for instructions on how to file a request.

If a borrower fails to appear for a scheduled mediation, the ALJ will send the case back to the Circuit Court and the foreclosure sale shall proceed.

If the lender does not come to the mediation, the ALJ will send the case back to Circuit Court on the day of the scheduled mediation and the Circuit Court may dismiss the foreclosure action.

The borrower has the right to file a motion to stay the sale of the property and to dismiss the foreclosure action. The motion must be filed with the Circuit Court no later than 15 days after either the date the mediation was held or the date the OAH filed a report with the court stating no mediation was held.

Postponement Requests

A party may request a postponement for good cause. Requests must be in writing and received at OAH no later than 5 business days before the mediation. Include the case name and number, the original date of the mediation, the reason for the request, and any documentation that you have to show why you need a postponement.

Also include 3 dates within the next 30 days when you would be available for a rescheduled mediation and a telephone number where you can be reached Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.