SB 1137 will require lenders meet with homeowners facing foreclosure to work out solutions.
On July 8, Governor Schwarzenegger signed SB 1137, a foreclosure protection bill which Consumers Union co-sponsored and worked very hard to get passed. Signed as an urgency measure, the bill needed a 2/3 vote in both houses (tough!) to get to the Governor’s desk.
SB 1137 will require lenders to contact and meet with borrowers to try to work out a solution before they can foreclose. It also protects tenants by requiring lenders to notify all occupants of a property that the dwelling is the subject of a foreclosure action (because landlords are usually the last to tell a tenant about a foreclosure threat), and it requires those who acquire foreclosure properties to maintain them or face stiff fines.
Above is a picture from the signing ceremony. Our own Norma Garcia is pictured at left. Consumers Union was one of two consumer groups invited to attend the signing ceremony, held in Oakland, CA.