#166 Summer 2011 — 36th Anniversary

Bank Fees of a Different Kind

A proposed bank accountability bill in California that had received considerable national attention has suffered something of a setback, but that doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of it. Assembly […]

A proposed bank accountability bill in California that had received considerable national attention has suffered something of a setback, but that doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of it. Assembly Bill 935, sponsored by Bob Blumenfeld of Los Angeles, would require mortgage servicers to pay a $20,000 “community reimbursement charge” prior to the conclusion of any foreclosure.

Blumenfeld’s office says the fee would help offset the direct and indirect effects that foreclosures have on a community, including strains on public safety and loss of economic activity. The fee can also be used for affordable housing construction, to encourage small business loans, and to help mitigate losses in funding for public education as a result of losses in property tax revenue and depressed property values. One in five U.S. foreclosures takes place in California, and Blumenfeld’s office contends that the fee would put $12 billion back into the hands of communities hit hardest.

Another California bill, AB 729, would have ended the dual-track system that banks use to move forward on a foreclosure while a homeowner seeks modification. Both failed to move out of committee, but as of Shelterforce press time, both were scheduled for reintroduction.

OTHER ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE

  • Developing Economic, Along with Physical, Health

    March 29, 2016

    Sue Joss and Jason Barbosa might seem to be unlikely economic development partners. She is the veteran CEO of a major nonprofit health care provider in Brockton, Massachusetts, just south […]

  • Housing for Families, Not Just Households

    July 26, 2011

    It’s time to do away with a mortgage-industrial complex that turns “families” into “households” with income earners, credit scores, and debt ratios.

  • Conrad Egan

    July 25, 2011

    What do Saul Alinsky, Students for a Democratic Society, HUD, and the Housing and Community Development Department of Fairfax County, Virginia, have in common? Conrad Egan. Over his five-decade career, […]