Senate Approves Of Bills To Help Homewners Facing Foreclosure

April 3rd, 2008

Lawmakers from Georgia are trying to make life a bit more comfortable for home owners who are in a tight spot. The Senate gave whole hearted approval to two bills which aimed at giving opportunities to combat and avoid foreclosure. According to the terms of Bill 519, the notice a home owner facing a foreclosure would face would increase to a period of 60 days from that of the current period of 15 days.

After the 60 days period is over, their property can be auctioned off. With this extra time the home owners will be able to devise new financial plans with the help of credit counselors and they can also negotiate with the lenders about modification of loans. People speaking in support of homeowners said that the very high rate of foreclosures in Atlanta creates a situation where it is very difficult to entertain requests for modifying loans and also to make financial planning for mortgage payments. These can be done only after the home has actually been taken and is being put up for resale.

The president of the Mortgage Bankers Association of Georgia, Rick Floyd said that his organization was completely supportive of the decision to increase the notice period. The other Senate Bill 531, according to which there would be a public record of the names of mortgage holders, was also widely approved. People speaking in support felt that, if mortgages are being sold repeatedly, then the owners of foreclosed homes lose the opportunity of renewing repayment terms with the lending authorities. As an alternative, they would have to negotiate loans taken from third parties and under circumstances where neither can they modify the rates of loans easily, nor can they extract their homes from foreclosure.

Home owners would prefer to negotiate with a firm who will be able to introduce changes in the terms and conditions of loan repayment. According to Bill Brennan, who is the director of the home defense program of Atlanta Legal Aid Society, it is imperative that they know beforehand when anybody is foreclosing so that they can help the owners to save their homes.

According to Floyd, mortgage bankers would prefer to bring in methods which would be able to simplify the act of tracking the resale of properties. It is hoped that the Bills would be presented to the House, so that they can be discussed in the General Assembly. Brennan says that the Bills would definitely improve the situation and would facilitate the process to a very large extent.