Mortgage lender drops eviction suit

CHICAGO, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- A mortgage lender Friday said it was dropping a lawsuit in Cook County, Ill., seeking to force a sheriff to begin evictions on foreclosed homes.

Accredited Home Lenders filed the lawsuit after Sheriff Tom Dart announced this week that he does not intend to follow court orders to evict Shirley McFarland of Dolton, Ill., from her foreclosed home, even under the threat of contempt-of-court charges, The Chicago Sun-Times said Friday.

Attorneys for the lender had issued a statement saying court orders must be enforced.

"Sheriff Dart may have concerns about the orders that he is charged with enforcing, but he simply cannot refuse to carry them out. The orders of the court must be enforced," the attorneys said. "This lawsuit is necessary to ensure that."

However, Accredited Home Lender issued a statement late Friday saying it has decided to drop the suit

"Upon further consideration of the facts surrounding this matter, we have decided to withdraw our petition against the County and have suspended our eviction action against our former borrower Shirley McFarland," the company's statement said.

At a meeting with Cook County Judge Dorothy Kirie Kinnaird, Dart said deputies frequently are called upon to evict renters who have not received notice that the property in which they reside is in foreclosure. Dart suggested the judge require lenders to file affidavits indicating that homeowners and renters have been given notice of possible eviction before bringing in deputies to carry out evictions.

Kinnaird said she would discuss putting such language in eviction orders, the newspaper said, but a spokesman for Dart said deputies will not enforce eviction notices until details are worked out.