SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS/AP) -- Starting today, banks in California cannot foreclose a mortgage without either renegotiating the loan or giving the homeowner three months notice.
There have been more than 365,000 foreclosures in California since 2007, with many more already scheduled.
KCBS' Doug Sovern reports
“California is ground zero for foreclosures. We’re getting about 80 to 90,000 foreclosure filings every month. That’s one every 30 seconds, so until we start mitigating the number of foreclosures, our economic recovery is going to be hampered,” said Assemblyman Ted Lieu, the Torrance Democrat who authored the bill.
Even supporters acknowledge the California Foreclosure Prevention will not prevent thousands of additional foreclosures.
But Lieu said it was an important step towards a systematic review of delinquent home loans. Lenders would have to demonstrate they had tried to modify the loan.
If the bank does not renegotiate, the home owner still has 90 days until the bank can take the house. That warning period, Lieu said, will grant at least some people having trouble with a mortgage the opportunity to come up with other options on their own.
The bill passed in February is similar to the Obama administration's Making Home Affordable Program that began in March.
Both encourages lenders to cut interest rates or rewrite loans to affordable levels.
(jro)
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