Bill Aiding California Homeowners Advances With Key GOP Senate Votes

Sacramento Bee (CA) (04/29/08); Lin, Judy
California's Senate has passed a measure that prevents mortgage lenders from filing a notice of default against a borrower until 30 days after notifying the home buyer that they have initiated the foreclosure process. Senate Bill 1137, which now moves to the Assembly, stripped the legislation of language requiring borrowers to meet face-to-face with lenders and limited the additional time of notice to only those borrowers who obtained loans between January 2003 and December 2007, which was a request of the mortgage lending industry. "I hope that once this bill passes, that we have as many town halls as we had on the previous bill to let people know we're supportive of making sure people don't lose their homes in the Central Valley," Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Atwater, said on the Senate floor on April 28. Approximately 350,000 to 400,000 families could lose their homes over the next two years, primarily as a result of escalating mortgage rates, according to Senate Democrats.