The Maryland Senate held hearing this past Tuesday, February 5, 2008 on a new law that will change the foreclosure process for the better. I was allowed to testify in favor of the bill.

The new foreclosure bill will prevent any lender from attempting to foreclose until a loan is at least 90 days late and then the lender will have to provide a minimum 45 day Notice of Intent to Foreclose to the homeowner before any sale could proceed.  Under current  law,  there is no minimum default time and a sale may be held in as little as 15 days.

Further, the new law will require personal service of a foreclosure proceeding. The current system does not require any service - only that notices are mailed - it does not matter whether the person actually gets the notice.

The improvements are considerable and will provide homeowners both notice and time to address a foreclosure.

It is my belief that the foreclosure rescue scam crisis has been created by the deficiencies of the existing foreclosure system.

I urge everyone to contact their State Senator and tell the to vote in favor of Senate Bills 216, 217 and 218!

At the same time a new bill was introduced in the Maryland House of Delegates - the Richard Atta Poku Right to Appeal Bill. This bill may not help my client Mr. Atta Poku but may help homeowners in the future. Sue Hecht from Frederick is a co-sponsor of the bill.