Happier New Year to come?
Kamala Harris, our State's Attorney General really does seem to be fighting against the monster banks on behalf of the citizens of California!
The
Homeowner Bill of Rights builds upon and extends reforms first negotiated in
the recent national mortgage settlement between 49 states and leading lenders.
Attorney General Harris secured up to $18 billion for California homeowners in
that agreement, and has also built a Mortgage Fraud Strike Force to investigate
crime and fraud associated with mortgages and foreclosures.
“The
California Homeowner Bill of Rights will give struggling homeowners a fighting
shot to keep their home,” said Attorney General Harris. “This legislation
will make the mortgage and foreclosure process more fair and transparent,
which will benefit homeowners, their community, and the housing market as a
whole.”
The Homeowner Bill of
Rights goes into effect on January 1, 2013.
More than one million
California homes were lost to foreclosure between 2008 and 2011—with an
additional 700,000 currently in the foreclosure pipeline.
- Seven of the nation’s 10 hardest-hit cities by foreclosure rate in 2011 were in California.
The California
Homeowner Bill of Rights marks the third step in Attorney General Harris’
response to the state’s foreclosure and mortgage crisis.
- The first step was to create the Mortgage Fraud Strike Force, which has been investigating and prosecuting misconduct at all stages of the mortgage process.
- The second step was to extract a commitment from the nation’s five largest banks of an estimated $18 billion for California borrowers. The settlementcontained thoughtful reforms but are only applicable for three years, and only to loans serviced by the settling banks.
- The California Bill of Rights
Two key bills of the
Homeowner Bill of Rights contain significant mortgage and foreclosure reforms.
The major provisions of AB 278 (Eng/Feuer/Mitchell)
and SB 900 (Leno/Corbett/DeSaulnier/Evans)
include:
·
Dual
track foreclosure ban: Benefit ~ Mortgage
servicers will be required to render a decision on a loan modification
application before advancing the foreclosure process by filing a notice of
default or notice of sale, or by conducting a trustee’s sale. The foreclosure
process is essentially paused upon the completion of a loan modification
application for the duration of the lender’s review of that application.
·
Single
point of contact: Benefit ~ Mortgage
servicers will be required to designate a “single point of contact” for
borrowers who are potentially eligible for a federal or proprietary loan
modification application. The single point of contact is an individual or team
with knowledge of the borrower’s status and foreclosure prevention
alternatives, access to decision makers, and the responsibility to coordinate
the flow of documentation between borrower and mortgage servicer.
· Enforceability: Borrowers will have authority to seek
redress of “material” violations of the California Homeowner Bill of Rights.
Injunctive relief will be available prior to a foreclosure sale and recovery of
damages will be available following a sale.
·
Verification
of documents: The recording
and filing of multiple unverified documents will be subject to a civil penalty
of up to $7,500 per loan in an action brought by a civil prosecutor.
Enforcement will also be allowed under a violator’s licensing statute by the
Department of Corporations, Department of Real Estate or Department of
Financial Institution.
The content of this blog was pulled
directly from the Office of the Attorney General
website which is a fantastic resource.
As always, I'll leave you with this taste of wisdom:
"Any intelligent fool can make this bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius, and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction."
~ Albert Einstein
Until next time, and thank you in advance for remembering me when the topic of real estate arises.
Email me at andy.blasquez@gmail.com
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Click here to reach Macky Hensel.
Please Follow me on Twitter and Re-Tweet these blogs.
Please Add me as a friend on Facebook
Finally, please comment or ask questions. Other readers may be wondering the same thing. I love the feedback, critical or otherwise, and love the interaction: I love this job.
Thank you always for your support.
