Virginia lawmakers are fighting against “drive-by foreclosures,” saying the foreclosure process in the state is one of the fastest in the nation and needs to be slower and have judicial review.
Bills in the Virginia House and Senate will set out to slow the state’s fast foreclosure pace by increasing the time required for foreclosure notice from two weeks to 30 or 45 days. The goal is to give borrowers more time to challenge the foreclosure if needed.
"We simply don't have enough time to stop a foreclosure because of the fact that it's in 10 days or seven days," Todd Condren, a title insurance lawyer from Vienna, Va., told the House Courts of Justice Committee.
The bills also set out to require lenders to face court review before foreclosing on home owners. Lenders will also be subjected to fines if it's found that any foreclosure was based on fraudulent documents or documents that contained any errors. The proposed bills also will have a requirement that lenders maintain updated real estate loan records in county courthouses and give borrowers an opportunity to avert foreclosure by paying off any delinquency.
Virginia’s banking lobby officials argue that slowing foreclosures and requiring updated county land record filings would just prolong the already four year housing slump.
Source: “Bill Seek Judicial Review of Foreclosures in Va., Better Mortgage Ownership Records,” The Associated Press (Jan. 17, 2011)
