(SACRAMENTO) – Legislation by Senate President pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland) and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) providing immediate relief to homeowners caught in the mortgage crisis was approved today by the Senate on a bipartisan 32-8 vote and sent to the Governor´s desk.
SB 1137 would require lenders to contact property owners to attempt to avoid foreclosure, provide tenants additional time to move from a foreclosed property and mandate maintenance of foreclosed properties to diminish the impact on the value of neighboring homes. The legislation is an urgency measure, meaning it will become law once the Governor signs it.
"Too many people were asleep at the switch or looking the other way as the subprime lending crisis unfolded – we´re not about to add the California Legislature to the list of those who could have mitigated this crisis and didn´t," Bass said. "This bill provides real world relief to responsible homeowners caught up in the foreclosure cycle."
"SB 1137 will make a difference right away," Perata said. "This legislation is an important piece of the puzzle of how to best protect California homeowners and communities from the fallout from the nation´s mortgage crisis."
A summary of the bill is below:
SB 1137 – Perata/Bass Mortgage Relief Bill
This bill was passed is an urgency measure that provides immediate relief to homeowners and tenants whose properties are in foreclosure. The law takes effect once it is signed by the Governor.
Lenders will be required to have contact with homeowners to explore options to avoid foreclosure. This provision takes effect 60 days after the measure becomes law.
Tenants will get notice (in 6 different languages) once a notice of sale has been posted on a property. This provision takes effect 60 days after the measure becomes law.
The bill increases the current notice required to be given to residential tenants of foreclosed properties to from 30 days to 60 days prior to eviction.
Locals can impose $1,000-per-day fine on financial institutions who don't maintain vacant properties if problems are not fixed within 30 days. "Failure to maintain" includes failure to adequately care for the exterior of the property including but not limited to, permitting excessive foliage growth that diminishes the value of surrounding properties, failure to take action to prevent trespassers or squatters from remaining on the property, or failing to prevent mosquito larva from growing in standing water.
The bill limits the scope of the contact requirement so it only applies to loans made between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, when most of the loans that are causing the problems we face today were made.
As a result of negotiations, all opposition has been eliminated, including from the California Bankers Association and the California Mortgage Bankers Association, who are now neutral on the bill.
Supporters of the measure include ACORN, Consumers Union, Center for Responsible Lending, California Reinvestment Society, California Labor Federation AFL-CIO and the Western Center on Law and Poverty.
Foreclosures continue to grow across California.
In May, the most recent month available for statistics, California lead the nation with 71,930 foreclosure filings. Of the nation´s 10 worst cities for foreclosure filings, seven are in California, with Stockton at the top of the list. One in every 75 homes received a foreclosure filing in Stockton in the month of May.
The other California cities in the nation´s top 10 for foreclosures in May were Merced, Modesto, Riverside-San Bernardino, Vallejo-Fairfield, Bakersfield and Sacramento.
SB 1137 would require lenders to contact property owners to attempt to avoid foreclosure, provide tenants additional time to move from a foreclosed property and mandate maintenance of foreclosed properties to diminish the impact on the value of neighboring homes. The legislation is an urgency measure, meaning it will become law once the Governor signs it.
"Too many people were asleep at the switch or looking the other way as the subprime lending crisis unfolded – we´re not about to add the California Legislature to the list of those who could have mitigated this crisis and didn´t," Bass said. "This bill provides real world relief to responsible homeowners caught up in the foreclosure cycle."
"SB 1137 will make a difference right away," Perata said. "This legislation is an important piece of the puzzle of how to best protect California homeowners and communities from the fallout from the nation´s mortgage crisis."
A summary of the bill is below:
SB 1137 – Perata/Bass Mortgage Relief Bill
This bill was passed is an urgency measure that provides immediate relief to homeowners and tenants whose properties are in foreclosure. The law takes effect once it is signed by the Governor.
Lenders will be required to have contact with homeowners to explore options to avoid foreclosure. This provision takes effect 60 days after the measure becomes law.
Tenants will get notice (in 6 different languages) once a notice of sale has been posted on a property. This provision takes effect 60 days after the measure becomes law.
The bill increases the current notice required to be given to residential tenants of foreclosed properties to from 30 days to 60 days prior to eviction.
Locals can impose $1,000-per-day fine on financial institutions who don't maintain vacant properties if problems are not fixed within 30 days. "Failure to maintain" includes failure to adequately care for the exterior of the property including but not limited to, permitting excessive foliage growth that diminishes the value of surrounding properties, failure to take action to prevent trespassers or squatters from remaining on the property, or failing to prevent mosquito larva from growing in standing water.
The bill limits the scope of the contact requirement so it only applies to loans made between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, when most of the loans that are causing the problems we face today were made.
As a result of negotiations, all opposition has been eliminated, including from the California Bankers Association and the California Mortgage Bankers Association, who are now neutral on the bill.
Supporters of the measure include ACORN, Consumers Union, Center for Responsible Lending, California Reinvestment Society, California Labor Federation AFL-CIO and the Western Center on Law and Poverty.
Foreclosures continue to grow across California.
In May, the most recent month available for statistics, California lead the nation with 71,930 foreclosure filings. Of the nation´s 10 worst cities for foreclosure filings, seven are in California, with Stockton at the top of the list. One in every 75 homes received a foreclosure filing in Stockton in the month of May.
The other California cities in the nation´s top 10 for foreclosures in May were Merced, Modesto, Riverside-San Bernardino, Vallejo-Fairfield, Bakersfield and Sacramento.
