In a prepared statement given at a Feb. 2 press conference, Evans acknowledged that the federal Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), passed by Congress in October as part of the bank bailout, supersedes Michigan foreclosure laws. The sheriff’s office legal staff has determined that the TARP program requires the Secretary of Treasury to provide relief to homeowners.
“Federal law preempts state law, which means that the TARP provision prevents Michigan’s foreclosure law,” Evans said during the press conference. “That in turn means that foreclosures cannot move forward until efforts to modify the mortgages of homes covered by TARP have been exhausted. As a result I have determined that there are sufficient legal grounds for me and for other sheriffs in Michigan to halt mortgage foreclosure sales.”
Evans further stated that the continuation of mortgage foreclosures may actually put him and other Michigan sheriffs in violation of federal law, as interpreted by his legal team.
It is a radical move. But these are anything but normal times. And with it Warren Evans has made his mark on the Detroit Mayoral race.
