Senate Democrats are taking another crack at passing legislation to ease the state’s foreclosure crisis, after a nearly united Republican caucus successfully blocked similar legislation in January.
The original bill, SB 926, fell one vote short of passing on the Senate floor, as it required 27 votes (and thus GOP support) to pass with an urgency clause.
Every Democrat and GOP Sen. Abel Maldonado backed the measure.
After the bill failed, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, the author, vowed to try again.
So today a different version of the bill, now SB 1137, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The failed bill required mortgage lenders to notify borrowers by mail 120, 90 and 45 days before any significant hike in monthly payments. It also required an in-person meeting with would-be defaulters.
The new bill has a different set of requirements, chiefly asking that lenders perform “due diligence” before “the filing of any notice of default.”
A key barometer of the bill’s potential to pass is whether the two Republicans on the committee, Sen. Dick Ackerman and Sen. Tom Harman, support the amended measure.
The Democratic caucus has tagged the legislation as a priority bill.
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