Proposed Reforms to Help Homeowners Hit by Georgia Foreclosure

The series of reforms contained in the Senate Bill 57, which was proposed by a group of legislators, aimed to curtail the flood of Georgia foreclosures and provide the local governments more power to address the problems caused by the increasing number of foreclosed homes.

The group of legislators made the proposal after they conceded that the state’s housing market crisis may not be fixed by the General Assembly alone.

However, the chief sponsor of the bill Senator Bill Hamrick admitted that there is no measure that can provide immediate solution to the foreclosure crisis.

Hamrick helped develop the proposal after conducting meetings as foreclosures continue to spread around the state.

The number of abandoned and vacant properties in Georgia started its rapid increase in 2007. In fact, Georgia was one of the top states in the U.S. with high foreclosure filings and rates.

According to RealtyTrac, which collects and compiles foreclosure data from more than 2,200 counties in the U.S. there were 26 notices of default and 5,533 notice of trustee sale filed in Georgia in November 2008.

Under the proposed bill, tenants of a foreclosed home and who pay their rent on time, should be given a 60-day notice of eviction. According to housing advocates and local officials, most tenants are routinely evicted after banks or mortgage lenders foreclosed on buildings where they are renting.

The bill proposes to ban those who claim to help an individual avoid losing their homes only to swindle them later. It also proposes to establish disclosures and requirements for brokers who offer subprime loans.

Senator Nan Orrock described the bill as a bipartisan effort to solve the housing market crisis. She added that the effort to resolve the crisis started in the passage of a measure in 2008 that required clarity on holders of a mortgage to allow delinquent homeowners to easily make a deal to save their properties.

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