PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell has scheduled a July 8 hearing to address the problems, outlined in a recent appeals court ruling, with his August 2011 order staying foreclosures and evictions in hundreds of Rhode Island foreclosure cases.
The First Circuit Court of Appeals found that McConnell's order was effectively an injunction, and parties must "show probable success" of prevailing as a condition of continuing injunctive relief.
Approximately 700 foreclosure cases under the direction of Special Master Merrill Sherman could be affected by any change to the process.
"The impact is unclear because ... the ball is now in Judge McConnell's court to respond to the First Circuit's opinion," said Steven Fischbach of Rhode Island Legal Services.