Call Governor Patrick Now: Dangerous Foreclosure Bill Removes Rights Provisions – He Must Act!
Please call the Governor today through Monday, July 30th!
The Foreclosure Bill as passed has almost none of the changes MAAPL and its members have fought for – no mediation, and no other protections for homeowners.
It does make banks test if they would lose more money on a foreclosure than on a loan modification with the homeowner, but this only applies to loans with sub-prime characteristics not yet in default. We think only about 500 loans per year will qualify to receive this bank analysis! But when the bank realizes it will lose money and so offers a loan modification – the homeowner only has 30 days to get their complete modification application mailed to and accepted by the bank. No bank has ever accepted a modification application as complete on the first mailing, and rarely replies with an offer in the next 30 days. The timeline will not work for these homeowners facing foreclosure!
AND the Legislature added a bad, new section to the bill impacting all loans – roughly 10,000 per year facing foreclosure. Frequently the bank does not have the Promissory Note in addition to the mortgage when they foreclose. The new section says the bank must file an affidavit stating they possess the Note before they publish the auction date – but we and the courts have seen the banks lie time and time again on this. If the property is then bought by an investor, even if the homeowner proves the bank did not have the Note, the homeowner cannot sue to get their home back in court! This takes away the fundamental right to get your home back for a legal violation that is rampant in foreclosures.
The bill does set up a legislative task force to study letting homeowners rent from the bank post-foreclosure. But the task force doesn’t have to report on their research until December 31st, 2013 – a year and a half from now. The task force needs to report in December this year, before the next legislative session begins.
What must we tell the Governor? We need the bad section removing homeowner rights taken out of the Foreclosure Bill. We need the task force to report back by December of this year. We need those loans that might benefit from the bank’s required, new test on foreclosure losses NOT to have an impossible loan modification process with the bank.
What to do:
1. Call Governor Patrick at 617-725-4005 or 888-870-7770 (in state)
2. Tell him:
“Please do NOT sign the Foreclosure Bill as is!
• Remove the section that will harm homeowners’ right to sue to get their home back JUST because banks say they had the Note!
• Move the Taskforce on Homeowners Renting Post-Foreclosure to the end of THIS year, 2012
• Fix the loans covered by the “commercially reasonable” cost of foreclosure test, so the time line is realistic and homeowners will be notified of their rights and requirements in this new loan modification process. The process CANNOT penalize the homeowner because the bank refused to accept the application as complete in 30 days.”
3. Please share this post with your friends and ask them to call the Governor too!
4. If you really want to change this bad bill, call your Representative and Senator at the State House, and ask them to contact the Governor to request he make these needed changes! To find out who your Rep. and Senator are and their phone numbers, go to www.WhereDoIVoteMA.com and follow the instructions on the page.
With your help, we can salvage the Foreclosure Bill and keep MA homeowners and tenants in their homes while protecting them from illegal actions and blatantly unfair practices of mortgage lenders!
Call TODAY and spread the word! Thank you for your support and for taking action to protect MA homeowners!
