Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, together with several State Senators and Represenatives, has filed two pieces of legislation aimed at reducing foreclosures and negating some of the negative effects of abandoned properties as a result of foreclosures.
What is Ms. Coakley’s hope? According to the AG website,
“We hope that this legislation can provide for Massachusetts some relief while we wait for action at the national level. The effects of the housing crisis have rippled through all sectors of our economy, and until we tackle the underlying problem of the subprime lending crisis, no bail out package, no matter how big, can appropriately stabilize our economy,” said Attorney General Coakley.
If you are interested in reading the full text of these pieces of legislation, please view the ‘press release attachments’ near the top of the page from the link above. If not, read on for a brief synopsis of each.
The first piece of legislation, titled An Act to Require Commercially Reasonable Efforts to Avoid Foreclosure, will essentially force lenders (creditors) to make loan modifications on owner-occupied primary residences. This is aimed in the right direction, and it should bring hard-working homeowners and their lenders together. It remains to be seen whether this legislation will actually reduce the number of foreclosures in the Bay State, but the initial groundwork is being laid.
The second piece of legislation, titled An Act Regarding Community Leadership, Neighborhood Revitalization and Urban Violence Protection, aims to accomplish two main tasks. First, it would create an abandoned & vacant property registry. Owners of such properties (primarily lenders and service companies) would be required to maintain these properties as they are added to the registry. The hope is that this will reduce dilapidation, building code violations, and different types of criminal activity like drug dealing, theft, and arson.
Secondly, it would establish a second-hand metal registry. Currently, thieves target abandoned and under-construction properties to steal and re-sell copper, lead, building materials, etc. Junk dealers and pawn brokers, many of whom are unlicensed, are the buyers. They would be forced to register with the state and obtain a license. With this additional monitoring, Coakley hopes to reduce such thefts. Sounds like bureaucracy in its purest form to me, but hopefully it too will work.
To get more information about these proposed pieces of legislation or learn about buying a foreclosure, feel free to call or email me.
800.25.BUYER (ask for John)
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