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Rep. Tina Orwall, serving the 33rd District Serving Normandy Park, Des Moines, and parts of SeaTac, Kent and Burien. |
Orwall’s foreclosure measure to benefit homeowners and renters
February 4, 2009
OLYMPIA – A bill that would buy renters time and give homeowners a fairer
treatment in the foreclosure process was introduced Tuesday by Rep. Tina
Orwall, D-Normandy Park.
“One of the effects of this recession is
that too many people are losing their homes; there was a 72 percent increase
in foreclosure filings in our state in just one year,” said Orwall, whose
background in social work largely includes issues of homelessness and
affordable housing. “As more people continue getting laid-off by their
employers the number of foreclosures will continue rising dramatically.
These families need help and they need it now.”
Most foreclosures in
Washington state are called non-judicial foreclosures because they don't
involve the courts. When homeowners fall behind in their mortgage payments,
they receive a notice of default informing them that the foreclosure process
has begun.
If homeowners don't act to correct the problem, at the end
of the non-judicial foreclosure process the home may be auctioned off.
“There’s a lack of communication in this foreclosure process, which puts
the homeowner in a very disadvantaged position and a sense of helplessness.
Homeowners deserve a fair chance to keep their home,” Orwall said.
HB 1942 would:
• Require lenders to have a structured conversation
with owners before they foreclose on their property.
• Require the
trustee, a third party brought in to assist with foreclosure, to act in the
borrower’s best interest and not to work just for the lender.
• Allow
homeowner to sue within a year after foreclosure, regardless of whether he
or she brought in the courts during the actual foreclosure process.
•
Allow homeowner to have the court stop the foreclosure if the lender has not
been responsive to the homeowner’s requests to talk.
.
“Changing
foreclosure laws will also benefit renters—who are also victims in the
foreclosure process. They would have a 60-day notice of eviction, instead of
the much-too-short 20 days they get now,” Orwall added.
The bill has
been referred to the Judiciary Committee, which is expected to give it a
public hearing soon.
A companion bill (SB 5810) was also introduced
in the Senate.