Michigan State Legislature works on Home Foreclosure Prevention Act, Are they trying to force lenders to do loan modifications?
Elections are over and the Michigan legislative "lame duck" session begins in earnest in Lansing.
The House legislature is expected to start working on establishing the Home Foreclosure Prevention Act, which would establish a state database on mortgage foreclosures and allow a state commissioner to mediate foreclosure matters.
A bill concerning foreclosures, HB 6615, is before the House Banking and Financial Services Committee for a hearing on Wednesday. The bill would affect foreclosures on primary residences secured by a subprime loan.
You can read the bill below, but my take on it is that the legislature is trying to force lenders to consider more loan modifications by extending the time before starting foreclosure or by requiring mediation to do so. I think it’s a great start in the right direction, especially given the bailout money the Feds have committed to the banking industry.
More of the bailout money needs to trickle down to homeowners instead of winding up as bonuses in the pockets of those that ran the banks and got us all into this mess.
Read the entire bill at http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2007-2008/billintroduced/House/pdf/2008-HIB-6615.pdf
Drew Sygit is President of The Lending Edge and holds mortgage industry designations CMPS, CMLO, CALO and has an MBA. He’s spoken for HUD, has written numerous articles and is a mortgage industry advocate for loan originator licensing and consumer education. He can be reached at 248-356-3739 or dsygit@TheLendingEdge.com.
