A little good news to start the week

Governor Easley signed three important bills today that will help at least some of the state's many endangered homeowners avoid the foreclosure cycle. Here are some excerpts from a Justice Center media release:

Consumer advocates at the North Carolina Justice Center praised Governor Mike Easley and state lawmakers today as the Governor signed three bills into law aimed at helping homeowners avoid foreclosure. The new legislation does three main things:

1. It changes the state's foreclosure process to help mortgage "servicers" and homeowners work to avoid foreclosure,
2. It provides the state Commissioner of Banks with regulatory authority over mortgage servicers, and
3. It prohibits incentives on subprime loans that steer borrowers into more expensive loans.

'These new laws will be critical in reducing foreclosures, will help protect homeowners from abusive mortgage servicers, and will reduce some of the practices that steered borrowers into expensive loans that have contributed to the foreclosure crisis' said Al Ripley, Counsel for Consumer and Housing Affairs at the North Carolina Justice Center….

Carlene McNulty, an attorney at the Justice Center said the new legislation will make a big difference to her clients.  ‘We see a lot of cases where the mortgage servicer is breaking the law and where the foreclosure process is unfairly weighted against homeowners. These new laws will help protect the clients we serve,' McNulty said.