Mortgage legislation splits California Democrats

Sacramento Bee ^ | 5/7/12 | Jon Ortiz

[SmithL]

The "60 Minutes"-style video climaxes with an assemblyman hustling through a Capitol corridor and down a flight of steps, trailed by a constituent asking where the lawmaker stands on controversial mortgage legislation.

Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, the Sylmar Democrat who is the subject of "What Legalized Bribery Looks Like," says the piece produced by liberal activists is a "lie."

It also highlights how the pitched political struggle over the future of California's mortgage law has roused labor and activist groups into using guerrilla tactics to call out moderate Democrats in an election year.

. . .

The issue is tailor-made for unions and liberal-activist groups that consider themselves defenders of the working class, said Darry Sragow, a Democratic Party strategist and partner with the SNR Denton law firm based in Los Angeles.

Those interests also can parlay the mortgage issue into a test of lawmakers' liberal fidelity, because California's new top-two primary rules and redrawn district lines are tempting some Democrats to move to the center.

"This sends a signal that there may be some risk in doing that," Sragow said.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Lesson Learned: Don’t get yourself caught standing between a Leftist Democrat and their Free House.

[RC51]

“The fight is over legislation sponsored by Attorney General Kamala Harris intended to give struggling property owners more foreclosure protections. The package of bills would, among other things, give borrowers more legal recourse, mandate that lenders provide a single point of contact for information, tighten mortgage documentation rules and ban companies from foreclosing on property owners who are reworking their loans.”

Sounds like a good bill to me. I would take it one step further. How about a law that reads like this:
Any mortgage in the USA where the mortgagee can prove malfeasance or fraud (including document fraud) involving the lender, the mortgage will be rendered null and void, the loss will be incurred by the note holder and the mortgage will retain full title and possession of the property. This is basically the Iceland model.

[Drill Thrawl]

Any mortgage in the USA where the mortgagee can prove malfeasance or fraud (including document fraud) involving the lender, the mortgage will be rendered null and void, the loss will be incurred by the note holder and the mortgage will retain full title and possession of the property. This is basically the Iceland model.

Unfortunately the Feds have settled with the big banks and have declared that it's all good and that the banks are immune for criminal and civil damages.

[RC51]

Even George HW Bush cleaned up the Savings & Loan mess by putting some Bankers heads on pikes back in ‘90.

Goldman Sacs shouldn’t even be in business right now for starters. There isn’t a free market out there and the worst of the worst like Goldman continue to operate on the edge of legality actively under a business model that directly bribes public officials, or runs a revolving door with the govt regulators.

[hinckley buzzard]

Interesting to see so many Occupiers here at FR. Must be the effect of the SuperMoon.