Legislate

The city administration is not backing an ordinance being sought by some city councilors that would establish a mandatory mediation program for most foreclosures involving local owner-occupied homes.

Instead, City Manager Michael V. O'Brien is asking the City Council to endorse legislation filed by members of the local state delegation that would embrace on statewide basis mortgage mediation as called for in the ordinance.     

http://www.telegram.com/article/20130402/NEWS/304029001/1002/business

Thanks to the efforts of Rep. Gail Riecken (D-Evansville), the governor is set to receive legislation that continues to prevent foreclosure.

Under House Bill 1084, Hoosiers will continue to have access to mortgage counseling. The program will be funded through fees charged to the bank that files the foreclosure.

The legislation was thought to be at risk at one point during the day, but Riecken played a key role in reviving the proposal and helping it get final approval in the Indiana House of Representatives.

http://riecken.indianahousedemocrats.org/Press/rep-gail-riecken-fights-to-prevent-foreclosure-for-indiana-homeowners.html

“Mortgage servicers have now admitted that they broke the law by illegally foreclosing on American families and committing numerous other abuses, but regulators refuse to provide even the most basic information about the extent of the abuses that were uncovered,” Cummings said.  

"Since federal regulators now plan to rely on these same banks to determine payouts and deliver settlement funds to borrowers, we need an independent monitor to bring transparency and accountability to this process.”

The Arizona House has given final approval to a bill requiring landlords to notify tenants when their property enters foreclosure.

House Bill 2281 amends the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act to require the owner to provide written notice to tenants within 5 business days of receiving a formal notice of trustee's sale. The law previously only required notice if a provision was in the lease.

http://www.ktar.com/?nid=22&sid=1629622

Banks would be required to go through formal mediation with a homeowner before beginning a foreclosure under the terms of a bill pending in the N.C. Senate.

It’s a response to the continuing trouble borrowers have had in saving their homes, despite a massive legal settlement designed to make the process easier. “To the public, it looks very confusing,” said Sen. Clark Jenkins, a Tarboro Democrat, who introduced the bill. “You’ll find people in absolute horror stories.”

There’s one other important element to Basel III and the Dodd-Frank Act: they assume regulators are up to the task of monitoring big banks. That trust has been undermined by recent events. Regulators didn’t grasp the full danger of the gargantuan derivatives trades at JPMorgan Chase that led to big losses last year. Some analysts are questioning whether the Basel III figures put out by European banks reflect the true riskiness of their assets. And, of course, regulators did little to gird the banks ahead of the American housing bust or the European sovereign debt debacle.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/04/26/the-seductive-simplicity-of-a-new...

Sen. Tim Johnson, D-SD, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs, announced plans to retire and not run for re-election when his current term expires in 2014.

Johnson’s retirement will create a vacant seat at the top of the Banking Committee, leaving the post empty for the first time since he assumed the role in 2011.

http://www.housingwire.com/news/2013/03/26/sen-johnson-retire-leaving-ba...

Under the guise of facilitating mortgage foreclosure litigation, the Florida state Senate is attempting to destroy the rights, defenses, and counterclaims of homeowners without due process; and this is simply because the banks cannot win their foreclosure cases  without cheating.

S.B. 1666 Is the bill that has been proposed and which should be opposed by every citizen including those who have no interest in foreclosure litigation. It sets a dangerous example and precedent for restricting access to the courts and creating an insurmountable burden on homeowners to defend their property against illegal foreclosures.

http://livinglies.wordpress.com/2013/04/17/florida-legislature-shredding...

The Illinois Supreme Court announced Monday that new mortgage foreclosure rules will take effect May 1, and borrower outreach requirements will apply to all cases that have not received judgments, regardless of when they were filed.

Before seeking a foreclosure judgment against a borrower who has appeared in court or filed documents in the case, a lender will have to file an affidavit with the court showing the types of loan modification or other programs available for an individual borrower, what steps were taken to offer that help and the status of those outreach efforts. 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-new-ill-foreclosure-...

On Tuesday, the New York State Assembly Judiciary Committee approved new legislation requiring lenders to file mandatory paperwork early in the process, and with some other rules to prevent “shadow docket.”

Now, what is a “shadow docket” you might ask, and how does it affect the foreclosure process. Well the “shadow docket” is the cesspool where the results of “sewer service” end up, effectively binding the hands of the judiciary from doing anything about the cases.

http://www.jdjournal.com/2013/03/13/ny-assembly-taking-commendable-steps-to-plug-loopholes-in-the-foreclosure-system/#

Senate staff are reviewing a draft of banking legislation that would raise equity funding requirements for financial institutions, pull the United States out of the Basel III accord, and further restrict the Federal Reserve’s ability to bail out the shadow banking sector.

The draft, which you can read below, was prepared by the staff of Democratic senator Sherrod Brown, who is expected to be joined by Republican senator David Vitter in endorsing a final version of the legislation later in April. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/05/senate-bill-too-big-to-fail-ban...

The Illinois Supreme Court is the latest to get in the “Help Stop Foreclosures” game… which by the way can also be played at home… is no fun for the whole family and makes for lovely graft.  (Hey, if that didn’t make you laugh, you should go lie down.)

The new rules are are the result of public hearings and 21 months of work by the “Special Supreme Court Committee on Mortgage Foreclosures,” which was the brian child of Justice Mary Jane Theis.  The committee’s 14 members included judges, a public interest attorney… and get this… bankers and their lawyers.  (Oh, boy… Lucy you got some ‘splaining to do… somebody’s fired for sure.)

http://mandelman.ml-implode.com/2013/02/illinois-latest-state-to-make-foreclosing-much-harder/

On Tuesday, March 5, the Senate Banks Committee held a public hearing on a bill that will, if enacted, provide a new option for the foreclosure process -- foreclosure by market sale. This is an important piece of legislation that will modernize foreclosure practices in our state that have been in place for 300 years and bring them into line with what other states have done to deal with distressed properties.

It is designed to solve some very tough problems that have plagued owners of distressed properties for some time. Here are some examples of the problems it can solve.

http://www.greenwichcitizen.com/opinion/article/Courting-a-new-option-fo...

Senator Charles Schumer has shown no shortage of ambition. So the New York Democrat’s silence about his possible interest in taking over as chairman of the Banking Committee worries large banks. 

If Schumer were to pass on the job, one of the next Democrats in line is Sherrod Brown of Ohio, an outspoken critic of Wall Street who’s behind a move to require the largest U.S. banks to shrink. Schumer, who declined through a spokesman to comment on whether he’s interested in the post, is the Senate’s third-ranking Democrat and is seen as a potential successor to Democratic Leader Harry Reid. 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-04/banks-prefer-schumer-over-sherr...

Legislation moving in the Florida Senate (SB 1666) this year would make major changes to how bank foreclosures are noticed. These changes could be detrimental to many citizens, as we have yet to overcome the digital divide, which disenfranchises large facets of Floridians, and the change proposed in this bill to house the second public notice of foreclosure on the Internet would greatly diminish access to this critical information.

Florida law requires that the first and second notices of foreclosures be printed in newspapers. And effective in July, notices also will be required to be posted on the newspapers’ websites. Moreover, since July 1, 2012, Florida’s newspapers have been required to post their notices to www.floridapublicnotices.com. However, research shows that newspapers have been posting notices to this independent website of the Florida Press Association, where all notices are easily searchable and available at no charge to the public and no additional cost to the advertiser, since 2002.

http://tbo.com/list/news-opinion-commentary/legislation-in-florida-senat...

Vallejo city leaders took a major step Tuesday to combat the blight and crime that has come hand-in-hand with the foreclosure crisis -- an ordinance aimed squarely at the banks.

Vacant foreclosed homes have been the source of an explosion of crime-related problems in Vallejo, which doesn't have the money or manpower to control it. But now the city has a way to make the property owners accountable.

The city of Vallejo says police have responded to one such foreclosed home numerous times. Police say they've removed squatters there at least five times. Neighbors say, for the past year, a woman keeps breaking in and illegally renting the rooms out. 

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/north_bay&id=9025338

With the start of the 77th Regular Session of the Nevada Legislature on February 4, 2013, one of the topics potentially up for discussion is Assembly Bill 284 (AB 284). While not necessarily the most pressing issue facing the state legislature this session, the topic has gained increasing awareness and has played a role in the Silver State’s housing market and economy. The legislation that passed last session increased the regulatory requirements within the foreclosure process commencing on October 1, 2011. This bill was intended to protect homeowners from faulty foreclosures in response to concerns over robo-signing, something that was both necessary and appropriate.

https://nevadasmallbusiness.com/changes-to-foreclosure-requirements-may-...