Update: MA Senators Postpone Vote on S.1981

On Thursday, July 30th, a scheduled vote on Senate Bill 1981 was postponed to give Senators more time to consider the impact and consequences of the bill. An earlier version of this bill, S.1987, was defeated last summer thanks to the work of the Massachusetts Alliance Against Predatory Lending (MAAPL) and its supporters, as well as action taken by Gov. Deval Patrick to reinstate an amendment to preserve homeowners’ right to sue. S.1981 was filed by the Title Insurance industry to lower their risk insuring foreclosed properties by very significantly narrowing the ability of illegally foreclosed homeowners to sue to regain their homes.  MAAPL, together with the thousands of homeowners who stand to lose their property rights, applaud Senator Jamie Eldridge for his thoughtful tabling of the bill.

On Monday, July 27th, S.1981 was suddenly put on the schedule for a vote Thursday, July 30th by the Massachusetts Senate. In response to this action, several of those directly affected took to the halls of the State House to speak to Senators, and hundreds of calls came from around the state urging the Senators to oppose the bill, which would have stripped homeowners of their constitutional property rights.

MAAPL and its dozens of partners thank the numerous Senators who committed to explore in-depth this incredibly complicated and far-reaching legislation.  MAAPL agrees with them that the three days from when it was reported out of the Senate Ways & Means committee—a period that also included numerous override votes—was inadequate for properly understanding the bill’s language and implications.

Both MAAPL representatives and illegally foreclosed homeowners promise to speak with and provide real life examples and legal information to all interested legislators. “We already have been reached out to by over half a dozen Senate offices,” said a very thankful Grace Ross, Coordinator of the Mass Alliance Against Predatory Lending.

Please check the MAAPL web site for updates and additional information regarding this bill, as well as any related Action Alerts and other news. More information on S.1981, including MAAPL’s Fact Sheets on the Bill and amendments, is available at http://maapl.info/block-s-1981/

About MAAPL

The Mass. Alliance Against Predatory Lending (MAAPL) is a coalition of over 60 housing counseling agencies, legal services groups, social service agencies, and community-based social action groups that have joined together to address the foreclosure crisis in Massachusetts. MAAPL collects and distributes timely information on the foreclosure crisis and its effects to the public and to its member groups, drafts and supports legislation that provides important protections to homeowners and tenants facing foreclosure and eviction, documents the impact of the foreclosure crisis on local communities, networks with related organizations throughout the Commonwealth, and provides tools and information to help people navigate the legal system and advocate on their own behalf more effectively when challenging a foreclosure or eviction in court
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