A term that apparently means nothing to the banks of Colorado and the Alliance affiliate, Colorado Progressive Coalition is set to make the banks understand just what that phrase means. But for homeowners: it means a lot more.
A chain of title is the sequence of historical transfers of title to a property. The “chain” runs from the present owner back to the original owner of the property. In situations where documentation of ownership is important, it is often necessary to reconstruct the chain of title.
To facilitate this, a record of title documents may be maintained by a registry office or civil law notary.
Since 2008 the country has seen ‘fix’ after ‘fix’ in the housing market focus on supporting the major banks. If these were to work– they should have worked by now. Perhaps they worked all too well– but at the expense of homeowners. What states need is a Homeowners Bill of Rights.
Homeowners have all too often been on the short end of a legal stick, facing the combined threats of being underwater on their mortgages and foreclosure. The chain-of-title system is so broken in the state that the banks do not even have to prove they own a house before they foreclose on it and this poses a particularly nasty threat to homeowners. HB 13-1249: The Colorado Mortgage Accountability and Housing Stabilization Act would dramatically increase protections from the worst abuses by the banks. Fashioned after a similar Bill passed by California’s State Assembly last year, this new piece of legislation could slow down the number of foreclosures and increase protections for homeowners.
Membership at the Colorado Progressive Coalition has vocalized a strong need to move grassroots interests in the new legislation.Here are major points in the Bill directing more protections to Colorado homeowners:
Restrict Dual Tracking: Under current law, borrowers can be processed for loan modifications and foreclosures simultaneously, resulting in many borrowers who are negotiating for a loan modification wrongfully losing their homes. This bill will ensure that borrowers who submit a completed loan modification application will get a “yes or no” decision from their servicers, with an explanation, before they commence the foreclosure process.
Require Proper and Accurate Foreclosure Documentation: Requires servicers to review reliable evidence to substantiate the borrowers’ default and their right to foreclose. In addition, all recorded foreclosure documents must be properly reviewed and verified for accuracy.
Giver Borrowers an Accountable Point of Contact: Requires servicers to give borrowers who are potentially eligible for a loan modification an accountable point of contact that will provide clear, accurate information to borrowers and coordinate all documents associated with loan modifications.
Provide Strong but Fair Accountability: To ensure that servicers have a strong incentives to comply with these provisions, the bill provides that borrowers may bring legal actions to courts, but only for material violations of the law. Judges can provide only injunctive relief, requiring servicers to stop the foreclosure sale and correct any previous violations.
Take action by calling your Colorado legislator now, and tell them to vote for House Bill 13-1249. For those not living in Colorado, please pass this information on to your friends that do. We need to hold the big banks accountable and protect our homes from wrongful foreclosure.
http://progressivecoalition.org/tell-your-legislator-protect-our-homes