Consumer Federation of California

Bill Update: After passing the Senate Banking and Finance Institutions Committee (6 to 0, with 1 Abstention) and the Senate Judiciary Committee (5 to 0), the bill won approval from the Senate Appropriations Committee by a vote of 6 to 0 with 3 abstentions on January 17th, 2012. The bill now moves to the Senate floor.

CFC Position: Support

The Consumer Federation of California supports SB 708 (Corbett), because it would extend the provisions of Senate Bill 1137 (Perata, Corbett, Machado, 2008) from its sunset date of January 1, 2013 to January 1, 2018.

The mortgage crisis in California has devastated the economic aspirations of working families in California. The onslaught of foreclosures has pushed Californians out of their homes often without the ability to pursue alternative payment arrangements, little recourse and few options to remedy the negative impact on their credit standing.

In 2008, the legislature took affirmative steps to slow down the wave of foreclosures in California through the adoption of SB 1137, which you joint-authored. This legislation provides significant protections for homeowners who are the verge of foreclosure, and will ensure that foreclosure is an action of last resort.

As an example, SB 1137 requires lenders to explore options short of foreclosure at
least 30 days prior to mailing a notice of default. SB 708 rightfully extends these protections until 2018 giving Californians an opportunity to avoid devastating foreclosure actions. For these reasons, CFC supports this legislation.