California Governor Brown Signs Homeowners Bill of Rights

California’s Governor Jerry Brown recently signed the California Homeowner Bill of Rights, which is designed to stop the abusive tactics of loan servicers and protect struggling homeowners who are trying, in good faith, to renegotiate their mortgages.

The Homeowner Bill of Rights has four major parts:

• Prohibiting “dual track” foreclosures that occur when a servicer continues foreclosure while also reviewing a homeowner’s application for a loan modification;
• Creating a single point of contact for homeowners who are negotiating a loan modification;
• Expanding notice requirements that must be provided to a borrower before taking action on a loan modification application or pursuing foreclosure; and
• Allowing injunctions against foreclosure until violations are corrected and permitting civil penalties against servicers that file multiple, inaccurate mortgage documents or commit reckless or willful violations of law.

These new laws make California the first state in the nation to take provisions in the National Mortgage Settlement, which covered the nation’s five largest mortgage loan servicers, and apply those rules to all mortgage servicers.

C.A.R. opposed this well-intentioned legislation because it will encourage the filing of lawsuits intended for delay and further discourage lending.

While C.A.R. is disappointed in the final outcome, the good news is that what has passed is a much-improved version of the package of bills initially sponsored by the Attorney General, which would have originally halted ALL foreclosures, drying up both REO inventory and even short sales.

C.A.R. will continue to fight for the thoughtful, balanced reform of the foreclosure process.  For example, C.A.R. is sponsoring AB 1745 (Torres) which prohibits “dual tracking” to prevent lenders from selling a property at a foreclosure sale if a short sale has already been approved. C.A.R. has also worked cooperatively with the Attorney General on several of the bills in her “bill of rights.”

If you have any questions about your rights as a Homeowner please feel free to give me a call.

June 2012 Pending and Distressed Home Sales Report

A continued lack of housing inventory and slowing economy sent California pending home sales lower in June, but pending sales were still higher than the previous year for the fourteenth straight month, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today.

Pending home sales data:

C.A.R.’s Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI)* fell 3.8 percent from a revised 126.1 in May to 121.4 in June, based on signed contracts.  Pending sales were up 4.7 percent from the 115.9 index recorded in June 2011.  June marked the fourteenth consecutive month that pending sales were higher than the previous year, although June’s year-over-year increase was the smallest since April 2011.  Pending home sales are forward-looking indicators of future home sales activity, providing information on the future direction of the market.

To read the last of the Market Report please visit C.A.R.

If you have questions about the real estate market and whether it is a good time to buy or sell, please feel free to give me a call at 818-588-5728.