Coppinger: House of Reps Approves Foreclosure Prevention Measures

On May 16, the Masscahusetts House of Representatives unanimously supported a bill aimed at unlawful and unnecessary foreclosures.

State Rep. Ed Coppinger, D-West Roxbury, supported the foreclosure prevention legislation, which passed 151-0, in the House.

The foreclosure prevention measure would establish a procedure that requires banks must offer a loan modification option to borrowers prior to foreclosure in cases where the lender knew, or should have known, that the borrower would not be able to repay.

"The foreclosure prevention bill that we passed... will go a long way to helping families across the state as well as helping shore up the banking industry in Massachusetts," said Coppinger. "I have had a long career in the mortgage industry so I know firsthand how important it is to ensure that banks work closely with homeowners to prevent foreclosures. This bill makes sense not only because I believe that we should be helping hard working families who have fallen on hard times, but also because it just makes more sense for banks to create affordable payment plans with homeowners instead of foreclosing and selling homes at substantial losses. This bill could help over 100,000 Massachusetts families and it will protect homeowners from the dangers of predatory mortgages." 

The legislation would would help homeowners in instances of borrowers holding “certain mortgage loans,” and this legislation requires lenders to perform an assessment of the borrower’s financial standing and to consider the value of a loan modification, as opposed to the anticipated recovery the lender would gain from foreclosure. The next part of the legislation says that if the loan, as modified, is worth more than the amount the lender expects to recover after foreclosure, the lender must offer a loan modification to the borrower.

The state Senate has to approve the foreclosure prevention bill before it goes to Governor Patrick.