North Carolina's Governor Signs 3 Foreclosure Bills

In light of recent soaring foreclosure filings in North Carolina - 24% from June 2008 and 125% from July, 2007 - Governor Mike Easley signed a bill to offer relief to homeowners and banks alike. The North Carolina Foreclosure Prevention Project requires that both homeowners and the state's bank commissioner must receive 45 days notice before a foreclosure is filed and also allows the bank commissioner to extend any foreclosure filing notice by 30 days.  During this time, the state would negotiate with the homeowner and mortgage holder on their loan interest rate and payments. Easley estimates that that the law could help over 25,000 families stay in their homes and prevent losses to the banks which often reach 40% on a foreclosed loan.

In a news release, he said, "The program is the first of its kind in the nation that makes sure homeowners and lenders avoid foreclosures, where everyone ends up a loser. Our goal is to help bring borrowers and lenders together so that the family gets to keep their home and the bank does not lose money on the loan." The program will not cost the taxpayers anything.

Since his days as Attorney General, Easley has fought predatory lenders, promoted legislation to limit the amount mortgage brokers could charge, added buyer protections to adjustable rate mortgages, and required lenders to extend loans it line with a borrower's ability to pay. His efforts have made North Carolina a model in the nation for protecting buyers from unscrupulous lenders. The state has fewer subprime loans, half the national average of adjustable rate mortgages, and significantly less mortgage fraud than the national average.  Since North Carolina ranks second in the nation in the number of financial institutions based in the state, Easley believes that if a plan to ease the impact of foreclosure gets the support of bankers here, it could work elsewhere.

For those people that find themselves in financial hardship or distress and have missed one or more mortgage payments or are about to, there are choices and ways to avoid foreclosure.  If you want to know the price of your home or ask a question, go to www.shortsalesinnc.com and register and I will get back to you right away or contact me at Jodi@TeamJodi.com.  For more detailed information about what is a short sale and how do you qualify also read my post titled, "Can Short Sales or Pre-Foreclosures Work in Chapel Hill, Durham and Orange County?"

See also:

• Jodi Bakst Earns Designation as Short Sale Expert
• North Carolina's Governor Signs 3 Foreclosure Bills
• The Mortgage Report
• Answering the Tough Questions