Congress Makes Foreclosure Easier for Banks: Up Date

In the cover of night just before it left DC until after Nov 3, the Democratically held Congress passes a bile that would make it easier for banks to foreclose on homeowners. The White House has said they are reviewing the legislation. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have a lot of explaining to do.

Foreclosure Cover for Banks Seen in Bill at Obama’s Desk

A bill that homeowners advocates warn will make it more difficult to challenge improper foreclosure attempts by big mortgage processors is awaiting President Barack Obama’s signature after it quietly zoomed through the Senate last week.

The bill, passed without public debate in a way that even surprised its main sponsor, Republican Representative Robert Aderholt, requires courts to accept as valid document notarizations made out of state, making it harder to challenge the authenticity of foreclosure and other legal documents.

The timing raised eyebrows, coming during a rising furor over improper affidavits and other filings in foreclosure actions by large mortgage processors such as GMAC, JPMorgan and Bank of America.

Questions about improper notarizations have figured prominently in challenges to the validity of these court documents, and led to widespread halts of foreclosure proceedings.

The legislation could protect bank and mortgage processors from liability for false or improperly prepared documents.

The White House said it is reviewing the legislation.

My money is on Obama signing this into Law and screwing Main St. one more time.

h/t Atrios and Big Tent Democrat

Up Date: h/t to Edger in comments who has the link to Big Tent Democrats News that the President was considering vetoing this bill. Since then the White House has released this statement:

   Today, the White House announced that President Obama will not sign H.R. 3808, the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2010, and will return the bill to the House of Representatives. The Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2010 was designed to remove impediments to interstate commerce. While we share this goal, we believe it is necessary to have further deliberations about the intended and unintended impact of this bill on consumer protections, including those for mortgages, before this bill can be finalized.

   Notarizations are important for a large range of documents, including financial documents. As the President has made clear, consumer financial protections are incredibly important, and he has made this one of his top priorities, including signing into law the strongest consumer protections in history in the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. That is why we need to think through the intended and unintended consequences of this bill on consumer protections, especially in light of the recent developments with mortgage processors.

   The authors of this bill no doubt had the best intentions in mind when trying to remove impediments to interstate commerce. We will work with them and other leaders in Congress to explore the best ways to achieve this goal going forward.

I don’t know whose “best intentions” Congress had in mind but it certainly wasn’t the Homeowners who are being defrauded out on the street by the banks.

Thank you, Mr. President, for proving me wrong.

h/t Davis Dayen at FDL