Legislative Developments

In advance of a Senate Banking Committee hearing – which now has been postponed indefinitely – Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) wrote to ask the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study the impact of Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) laws on the real estate sector. Read on for more details.

California Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed into law a bill which provides requirements to be satisfied before the exercise of a power of sale under a mortgage or deed of trust in connection with foreclosure. The bill, SB 818, was sponsored by state Sen. Jim Beall (D-15) and passed the Assembly and Senate by unanimous votes. Among the provisions is a liability to borrowers for material violations of the provisions which would permit a court to award the greater of treble actual damages or specified statutory damages in cases of intention or reckless violations. Read on for more.

During its legislative session, the Alabama Legislature enacted a bill that amends the foreclosure statute by changing the provision regarding the right-of-redemption period as well as the notice provision. Read on for more details.

Maine Gov. Paul LePage signed legislation designed to protect homeowners affected by tax lien foreclosure. Read on for more details.

Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation that would require supervised financial organizations that negotiate the modification of any of the terms of a loan or extension of credit secured by residential real property primarily in one of several languages and offers a final loan modification in writing, to deliver to the borrower, at the time of the final loan modification, a specified form summarizing the modified term in the same language as the negotiation. Read on for more details.

Modifications to the Connecticut foreclosure mediation statute, passed during the 2018 session, are set to go into effect Oct. 1. Read on for more details.

Days after the House Financial Services Committee passed a companion bill, Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and James Lankford (R-Okla.) introduced S. 3443, the Give Useful Information to Define Effective Compliance Act. The act is designed to enhance transparency and predictability to the rulemaking process of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Read on for more details.

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation that reinstates the state’s Homeowners Bill of Rights. Portions of the Homeowners Bill of Rights had been automatically repealed on Jan. 1, 2018. Read on for more details.

California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation that exempts reverse mortgages from the state’s Survivors Bill of Rights (SBOR). The SBOR prohibits mortgage servicers, upon notification that a borrower has died by a person claiming to be a successor in interest, from recording a notice of default until the mortgage servicer gives an opportunity for the claimant to show that he or she is a successor in interest. Read on for more details.

The House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on Sept. 13 to mark up several bills, including H.R. 6743, the Consumer Information Notification Requirement Act. Read on for more details.